Hundreds of Tibetan political leaders, activists and individuals from all over the world have just begun a meeting in Dharamsala, India.

Below is an article published by BBC News:

As many as 500 exiled Tibetan leaders are meeting in the Indian hill town of Dharmsala this week [November 2008] to discuss the future of their fight for their homeland.

It is a critical time, as they face up to the fact that their decades-long call for "meaningful autonomy" for Tibet has pretty much fallen on deaf ears in China.

Last month [October 2008], Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said he was losing hope that his deliberately moderate "middle path" policy with Beijing - seeking autonomy but not full independence - would yield results.

He has now called together Tibetans from around the world to spend the next six days discussing what they do next.

The "brain-storming session" could lead to a more hard-line strategy, Tsering Tashi, the Dalai Lama's representative in London, admits.

"It's possible they will push for outright independence," he told the BBC. "Tibetans have a right to independence. Our history is evidence of that."

But one aspect will not change, he stressed.

"The Tibetan struggle will not want to take a violent stance."

'Hot debate'

The meeting comes at a time of crisis for the exiled Tibetans and their leadership, says Tibetan analyst Robert Barnett, of Columbia University in New York.

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"The best outcome of this meeting, in the short term, is that they overcome the divisions. It will be quite impressive if they produce some unity."

Many Tibetans believe any criticism of the Dalai Lama's strategy is criticism of His Holiness himself.

This has made it difficult for a younger, more activist generation to have their calls for full independence taken seriously.

The Dalai Lama realises it is time to have that debate, which is why he has removed himself from this meeting, Mr Barnett says.

Tsering Palden, head of the New York branch of the Tibetan Youth Congress, which is pushing for full independence, believes there will be a "hot debate" next week [Nobember 2008].

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"Our strategy is to educate Tibetans around the world, to make them more politically aware and to make sure that our voice continues to be heard on the global stage," he said.

"We know this will take many years, possibly generations, but nothing lasts forever. We believe times will change; China will change. Already we see people in China who are sympathetic to our cause."

Successor

Another, perhaps unspoken, issue at the heart of this meeting is the question of a successor to the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan leader is now 73 and has suffered bouts of ill health. In September [2008], he was hospitalised for four days with stomach pain.

Last year [2007] he said he was considering breaking with centuries of tradition by choosing a successor, rather than awaiting rebirth which can take many years.

There is reason for his caution. When he picked a six-year-old boy in 1995 to be the Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Tibetan Buddhist, Beijing rejected the choice and selected a pro-Chinese replacement.

Robert Barnett says Beijing believes the whole issue of Tibetan independence will disappear once the Dalai Lama dies, taking with him his skilled leadership and ability to court the West.

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Tsering Palden hopes that a possible successor will emerge from next week's [November 2008] meeting.

"The Dalai Lama has a special place in the hearts of every Tibetan. If we can find someone who is endorsed by the Dalai Lama himself, then it will make the transition of leadership, when it happens, easier," he says.