Commentary: For whom is Tibet a "hell on earth"?

He also slandered the Chinese government as having killed hundreds of thousands of Tibetans and transformed the plateau region into a "hell on earth.

"The Tibetan people are regarded like criminals, deserving to be put to death," the spiritual leader said.

The Dalai Lama might have staged some fanfare in front of the "Tibet independence" forces overseas, and bewitched some Westerners with his assumptions that though groundless, sometimes sell well internationally -- the "nearing extinction" of the Tibetan culture and identity, for instance.

The Dalai Lama calls Tibet a "hell on earth." But many Tibetans I know, particularly the elderly people who still remember the past, say Tibet is at its best stage of development. Why do the opinions vary so much?