NEW YORK, June 24, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Tibet's spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived Sunday in New York to undergo knee surgery, drawing a warm and festive welcome from thousands of followers. Followers, many wearing traditional Tibetan outfits, waited outside the Dalai Lama's Manhattan hotel in crushing heat hoping to catch a glimpse of the man. And everyone was, like, emotional because he's, like, our leader," said one of them, 18-year-old US born Tenzin Pasang, who has now seen the Dalai Lama three times. Last week a group of senior US lawmakers including former House speaker Nancy Pelosi met with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, sparking heavy criticism from China. Many exiled Tibetans fear Beijing will name a rival successor to the Dalai Lama, bolstering control over a land it poured troops into in 1950.
