China rejects Dalai Lama's charge on 'annihilating Buddhism'

Refuting Dalai Lama's charge that China is "deliberately annihilating Buddhism" in Tibet, Chinese official media today hit back, saying the religion is being practiced without any hindrance in the region.     Alleging that the Nobel Laureate has an ulterior political motive in making such allegations, the official Xinhua news agency said most of the monasteries and Buddhist temples were actively conducting religious activities.    Speaking at an event in Dharamsala in India marking the 51st anniversary of a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, Dalai Lama accused Beijing of trying to deliberately "annihilate Buddhism" in Tibet by conducting a campaign of patriotic re-education in monasteries there.         "Today, the Chinese authorities are conducting various political campaigns, including a campaign of patriotic re-education in many monasteries in Tibet. They are putting the monks and nuns in prison-like conditions depriving them the opportunity to study and practise in peace," he said in a statement.    "Dalai Lama's remarks confound black with white," the news agency quoted Sun Yong, vice-director with Tibetan Autonomous Region's Academy of Social Sciences as saying.    China regards Dalai Lama as a separatist leader who is seeking independence for Tibet. The Dalai Lama, who fled Tibet shortly after the failed uprising, heads a government-in-exile from Dharmsala.