The National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, in collaboration with The 108 Peace Institute, is organising a guest lecture by Dr Lobsang Sangay titled “The Dalai Lama’s Reincarnation: International Law, Religious Freedom, and Geopolitical Implications” on 10th September 2026, from 2 PM to 3 PM at OAB 102, NLSIU. 

About the Lecture

The Dalai Lama is not only the preeminent spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism but also an enduring symbol of Tibetan identity, resilience, and moral authority. The question of his reincarnation has, in recent years, become increasingly politicised. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), despite its officially atheist orientation, has articulated a calculated framework to assert control over the recognition of the next Dalai Lama for strategic and political ends, thereby undermining the sanctity and autonomy of a deeply revered spiritual process. In contrast, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, in his statement of July 5, 2026, unequivocally reaffirmed that the Gaden Phodrang Trust alone holds the legitimate authority to identify his successor. Furthermore, in his recent work Voice for the Voiceless, he underscored that his next incarnation will be born in a free country, thereby explicitly precluding any scope for external political interference.

India, host to the 14th Dalai Lama and the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamshala, occupies a position of critical importance in this evolving context. Across the Himalayan belt, including Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh, where vibrant Tibetan Buddhist communities reside, the recognition of the next Dalai Lama carries profound religious, cultural, and societal implications. India’s approach to this issue will not only shape regional stability and its bilateral relations with China but also influence the broader trajectory of Tibetan Buddhism. At the global level, the issue raises fundamental questions concerning religious freedom, the right to self-determination, and the protection of intangible cultural heritage in the face of state interference.

About the Speaker

Dr Lobsang Sangay is the founding President of 108 Peace Institute and is a Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School. He was a democratically elected Sikyong (President) of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile and served two terms (2011-21). Dr Sangay completed his BA and LLB from Delhi University and pursued an LLM and SJD ‘04 at Harvard Law School. Dr Sangay received the Yong K. Kim 95 Memorial Prize for excellence in dissertation and contributions to the understanding of East Asia at Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, akin to Track III, he organised seven rounds of meetings/conferences between Tibetan, Western and Chinese scholars, most notably the first-ever meeting between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and 25 Chinese scholars and students.

He was a researcher for the report “Tibet: Human Rights and the Rule of Law”, published by the International Commission of Jurists in Geneva, Switzerland (2008). He also published Legal Autonomy of Tibet: A Tibetan Lawyer’s Perspective, in the Journal of East Asia and International Law and “Education Rights for Tibetans in Tibet and India,” in John D. Montgomery, ed. Human Rights: Positive Policies in Asia and the Pacific Rim, SOKA University Press. He wrote an article, Tibet: The Exile’s Journey, published in the Journal of Democracy (2004). He was selected as one of the twenty-four Young Leaders of Asia by the Asia Society (2006). He has spoken at international conferences such as Forum 2000, Halifax Security Forum, and Oxford Union. He has written numerous Op-eds in major newspapers including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs, and appeared on many international TV networks like BBC and CNN. He was awarded the Gold Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Public Discourse, College Historical Society (CHS), Trinity College, Dublin (2014) and the Salisbury University Presidential Medal for Distinguished Community Leadership (2015). He has visited various capitals and parliaments around the world and played an important role in the passage of the Tibetan Policy and Support Act 2020 signed by the United States Government.

Dr Sangay is currently writing two books:

(1) Democracy in Exile: The New Frontiers of Stateless Governance presents a timely intervention into the study and practice of democracy.

(2) Geopolitics of Reincarnation and the Institution of the Dalai Lama (Co-editor).