Dalai Lama draws frustration and love from Tibetans

By Jonathan Allen

DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - Tibetan protest leaders said on Monday they are disappointed in the Dalai Lama's conciliatory approach to China and that his "middle way" stance is not shared by the majority of Tibetans.

But still they revere him.

Dharamsala, the Indian home of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile, has been the epicentre of angry protests by exiled Tibetans after Chinese troops and police locked down Lhasa, Tibet's capital, to break up violent protests.

"The middle way has been in existence for 20 years and nothing has come out of it," Tsewang Rigzin, president of the Tibetan Youth Congress, told reporters in Dharamsala.

By night, hundreds of Tibetans here in Dharamsala have been holding candle-lit rallies in streets and monasteries.

In New Delhi, hundreds of protesters shouted slogans and burned Chinese flags. Police detained at least 50 of them when they tried to enter a United Nations office.

Thousands of Buddhists also marched in Ladakh, a cold desert region in Indian Kashmir, and shut down markets, offices and schools to show solidarity with Tibetan protesters in Lhasa.

The region has some 15,000 Tibetans, most of whom fled Tibet after the failed rising there.