Dalai Lama blasts 'brutal crackdown' in Tibet

China has launched a "brutal crackdown" in Tibet since protests shook the Himalayan region last year, the Dalai Lama said Tuesday in a speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the failed uprising that sent him into exile.

Tibetan culture and identity are "nearing extinction," he said in this Indian hill town, where the Tibetan spiritual leader and the self-proclaimed government-in-exile have been based since shortly after fleeing their homeland. "The Tibetan people are regarded like criminals, deserving to be put to death."

"These 50 years have brought untold suffering and destruction to the land and people of Tibet," he told about 2,000 people, including Buddhist monks, Tibetan schoolchildren and a handful of foreign supporters. The group gathered in a courtyard that separates the Dalai Lama's home from the town's main temple, and monks blowing enormous conch shells and long brass horns heralded his arrival. "Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them," the Dalai Lama said.