DHARAMSHALA, April 14: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that the People Republic of China’s “totalitarian, blind, unrealistic” policies in Tibet are responsible for the ongoing wave of self-immolations in Tibet.

The Dalai Lama was speaking to a media crew of the Taiwan based Next TV at his exile residence in Dharamshala, north India.

“This problem (self-immolations) has been started by the totalitarian, blind, unrealistic policies,” the Tibetan leader said. “So, the people who created these policies must think seriously.”

Responding to a question on young Tibetans setting themselves on fire, His Holiness said: “That’s very sad, very sad, very sad.”

Since 2009, the wave of self-immolations in Tibet has witnessed 33 Tibetans set their bodies on fire demanding the return the Dalai Lama from exile and freedom in Tibet. Major protests involving thousands of Tibetans in recent months have been brutally suppressed with indiscriminate firing and arrests.

“Now, the concerned people should carry realistic work and look for the causes of these self-immolations. That’s important,” the Dalai Lama said. “All these problems are happening due to certain conditions and certain causes.”

The 76-year old exiled Tibetan leader called for greater transparency in China and noted that the Chinese people have “every right” to know the reality.

“These hardliners, narrow minded people deliberately suppress the truth and create a lot of wrong information,” the Dalai Lama said.

“1.3 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality, whether good or bad. They must know. They can judge what is right and what is wrong.”