The town of Dharamshala in India’s Himachal Pradesh is bustling with celebration and anticipation as the 14th Dalai Lama is set to turn 90 on July 6. Although, as the spiritual and political head of Tibetan Buddhism, the Dalai Lama’s birthday is in itself a hugely significant event, this time, it holds far-reaching importance as His Holiness is expected to share details of his successor. This is not just going to be a spiritually or religiously loaded revelation, but something that the future of the Tibetan people, who have been resisting Chinese control for decades, depends on.

Since the Dalai Lama’s exile to India in 1959, along with thousands of others, in the wake of the Chinese occupation of the Tibetan plateau, he has emerged as a globally recognised and revered embodiment of Tibetan resistance, cultural distinction, and humanitarian values. A Nobel laureate, the Dalai Lama, or Tenzin Gyatso, was born as Lhamo Dhondup in 1935 in northeastern Tibet, and in two years, he was identified by sacred religious search parties as the incarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama. This is a centuries-old practice within Tibetan Buddhism wherein the reincarnation of top spiritual leaders is decided after their death based on visions and signs interpreted by senior Lamas. This process could take years, resulting in a spiritual and political........

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