There is trouble in paradise as Tibetan President Lobsang Sangay (center) is accused of sexual assault and Information Secretary Dhardon Sharling (right) abruptly resigns leaving Tibetan politics in tatters. Sharling was once considered Sangay’s “protégé” and touted as the main executor of his political agendas.

The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to [email protected].

By: Shashi Kei

The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the 14th Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile based in Dharamsala, is falling apart. The Sikyong (President) of the CTA, Lobsang Sangay has been globetrotting under the guise of reigniting interest in the Tibetan cause which has waned considerably after commanding the world’s attention for 60 years. But instead of trying to rekindle foreign support for the CTA, Sangay should have been more concerned about the state of his own administration in Dharamsala.

The cracks that have been building up in the CTA became visible when Lobsang Sangay publicly clashed with Penpa Tsering (ex-Speaker of the CTA and also Sangay’s main rival for the 2016 Sikyong elections) after the latter raised questions about financial irregularities in North America’s Tibet House whilst under the charge of its previous administrator, Kaydor Aukatsang. As an appointee of Lobsang Sangay, it was understood that Aukatsang only took instructions from Lobsang Sangay, who appears to have circumvented proper protocols. Penpa Tsering was unceremoniously sacked on what he regarded as trumped-up charges and has since filed a suit against Lobsang Sangay for defamation in the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission. The rivalry that has been building up between Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering has now become acrimonious with a lot of bad blood continuing to accumulate.

As a firestorm continues to brew over the Sangay-Tsering estrangement, signs are that the fallout from their confrontation will be more severe than anticipated. We know this when ambitious politicians like Dhardon Sharling suddenly decamps the CTA like a rat fleeing a sinking ship. On 12th December 2018, Dhardon Sharling announced her resignation from her somewhat vaguely formulated designation of ‘Secretary equivalent’ of the CTA’s Department of Information and International Relations (DIIR). Dhardon Sharling is regarded as Lobsang Sangay’s lieutenant and her official title was literally created by Sangay to keep Sharling in his administration after she was voted out by the Tibetan parliament-in-exile as a Minister in the Cabinet for having misled the government on an age prerequisite. Dhardon Sharling cited an interest to further her studies in the US being the reason for her to suddenly relinquish her post. But the rumor is that she has been manoeuvring to escape being caught in the middle of Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering’s looming showdown. It is a showdown that started with a fractious rivalry during the 2016 Sikyong elections, and has most recently escalated in Penpa Tsering filing legal suits against the Tibetan Cabinet and Lobsang Sangay.

Dhardon Sharling was voted out of the Tibetan parliament in-exile after lying about her age. It was only after the intervention of Lobsang Sangay that she was given the position of Information Secretary which Lobsang Sangay created specifically for her.

Dhardon Sharling rose out of obscurity in October 2016 as the de facto head of the DIIR. The CTA’s website states that the DIIR’s purpose is to “educate the Tibetans and international public opinion on the political, human rights and environmental conditions in Tibet”. However, it is well known that under Dhardon Sharling, the DIIR only served to carry out Lobsang Sangay’s personal agenda and propaganda campaigns.

For the most part, Dhardon Sharling’s time in the DIIR was utilized in driving the CTA’s persecution of Dorje Shugden worshippers. Dorje Shugden is an ancient Tibetan Buddhist practice observed by virtually all followers of the Gelugpa lineage of Tibetan Buddhism which accounts for the largest percentage of Tibetans inside China and in diaspora. While the Shugden practice is apolitical, the oath of spiritual allegiance sworn by Dorje Shugden practitioners to their lineage masters, as is common for any tantric practice, represents a hindrance to the CTA’s desire to dominate that space. So Lobsang Sangay criminalized the religion, another painful milestone in an already 20-year campaign that infringes on the basic human rights of Tibetans and Dorje Shugden adherents worldwide. It was Dhardon Sharling’s job to launch one disinformation campaign after another against Dorje Shugden Buddhists causing a complete disintegration of the Gelugpa lineage. That, in turn, fractured the Tibetan community in general, a prime factor in the disempowering of the Tibetan struggle when the Tibetan people became distracted in sectarian conflicts and lost sight of the Tibetan struggle to regain their homeland.

Lobsang Sangay (center) and Dhardon Sharling (right) launching another anti-Dorje Shugden propaganda book. The pair have concentrated their efforts on denying the Tibetan people their religious rights instead of fighting for the Tibetan cause and improving the lives of Tibetan refugees in their charge.

As for Dhardon Sharling’s real job, her brief two years in office did not yield much result with some of her programs ending in disaster, for example the ‘2018 Thank You’ campaigns which was supposed to be a series of events for the CTA to thank countries that have supported the Tibetan cause. In reality, the project was an effort by the CTA to curb fading alliances with world nations against the trajectory of China’s rise. Dhardon Sharling’s ‘Thank You India’ campaign fizzled with the Indian government instructing top officials to avoid participating in any CTA-organized functions. In the meantime, for the ‘Thank You Taiwan’ campaign, Dhardon Sharling arranged for the placement of billboards with the Dalai Lama’s image all over major cities of Taiwan, the release of books in Chinese containing the Dalai Lama’s talks and also various paraphernalia purporting to support the Tibetan struggle. A few months later, these steps resulted in a major swing against Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) that had gone along with Dhardon Sharling’s campaign. In the recent local elections, the DPP suffered a crushing defeat, losing 15 out of the available 22 cities they contested for. Under Sharling, CTA events became the kiss of death.

Thank You Taiwan posters with the Dalai Lama was placed all over major cities in Taiwan. The CTA’s often fights its anti-China campaigns on foreign soil to the detriment of welfare of countries sympathetic to the CTA.

Dhardon Sharling’s ignoble legacy will be that she gained notoriety by trickery and colluding with Lobsang Sangay; that instead of using her time in office to advance the welfare of the Tibetan people, she injected enmity into Tibetan communities worldwide and denied many Tibetans their most basic freedom; that she irreparably damaged Tibetan unity; and that when the Tibetan struggle was on its knees, she abandoned the cause and fled for the United States on her Indian passport which she procured at the same time the CTA was telling common Tibetans that to do so would undermine the Tibetan struggle.

Dhardon Sharling’s resignation is not an isolated case. A few months before, Tenzin Palkyi of the Office of Tibet in Washington similarly resigned suddenly. Even before that, in 2016, seasoned CTA politician Dicki Chhoyang resigned from Sangay’s Cabinet. In a press conference, Chhoyang alluded to being gagged by Sangay from addressing matters that should be of concern to the Tibetan people. In the same year, another Tibetan official in Sangay’s Cabinet, Dongchung Ngodup joined the list of people exiting from Sangay’s administration. Even the State Oracles of Tibet in trance of the deities Pehar and Tseringma have expressed disapproval of Sangay’s administration for lacking in integrity.

Allegations of Lobsang Sangay’s sexual abuses will discredit the Tibetan cause further.

Coincidentally Dhardon Sharling’s resignation came one day after a #MeToo movement was launched against her boss Lobsang Sangay, claiming that he sexually assaulted a number of women. It began with a news article in the Tibet Star reporting that allegations of sexual assault by Lobsang Sangay can be traced back to as early as 2011 when he sexually violated a young American intern at the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). It is alleged that Sangay has in fact sexually assaulted even more women, mainly Tibetan nationals, exploiting his position as Sikyong of the CTA. The Tibet Star is a Tibetan-focused news site operated by Mila Rangzen known to be an outspoken commentator on Tibetan issues, and who has reliable contacts within the Tibetan leadership. It remains to be seen whether the “MeToo” movement on Sangay will uncover more incidents of abuse. However, Sangay who came to power in 2011 is not without scandals and controversies of his own making. These include:

Due to Lobsang Sangay and the CTA’s ongoing glorification of self-immolation as a viable form of protest against China, Tibetan suicides continue to rise.

1. Launching a book that glorifies self-immolation in 2012 and supporting a member of his government in publishing a four-step guide for Tibetans to self-immolate effectively. That resulted in the highest number of Tibetan self-immolations that year with 86 Tibetan people burning themselves to death. Lobsang Sangay proved his preparedness to sink to barbarity in order to serve his political objective.
2. Travelling into China using an Overseas Chinese Visa, an act which raised many eyebrows. When queried, Sangay initially lied but subsequently recanted while insisting that travelling on an Overseas Chinese visa does not make one a Chinese national. In his rebuttal, the renowned Tibetan author and activist Jamyang Norbu responded, “But although the Overseas Chinese visa does not make you a citizen of the PRC (People’s Republic of China), it clearly makes you of Chinese birth or descent (or partial Chinese ancestry) living outside the PRC, and resident or citizen of another country…but to travel to China, to Beijing, on an OC visa for something as unimportant as meeting some run-of-the mill Chinese academics (not “great scholars” khelwang) clearly demonstrates that the person has no problem being regarded as Chinese.”
3. Attempting to damage Sino-Indian relations during politically uncertain times. In July 2017, when Sino-Indian relations were extremely volatile due to the Doklam conflict, Lobsang Sangay unfurled the Tibetan flag at the border of India and China. Sangay hoisted the Tibetan flag as a taunt, knowing full well that it would enrage China. Ex-Indian diplomat R.S. Kalha noted that Sangay’s act at Pangong Tso was an overtly political move that took advantage of the fact India was at its weakest point in the standoff with China. Therefore it was a calculated and self-serving move from Lobsang Sangay, designed to drive India deeper into conflict with China, thereby making the ‘Tibetan card’ ever more significant to India. Lobsang Sangay’s mistake would cost the Tibetan struggle dearly as a few months later India began to shift its stance on the Tibetan cause, deciding that in the final analysis, it is not worth a war with its mighty neighbor. The Dalai Lama’s efforts to return to China lost considerable traction due to Sangay’s frivolous provocations.
4. Undermining the Dalai Lama’s efforts to improve Sino-Tibetan relations. It has not escaped observation that Lobsang Sangay’s has been quietly undermining of the Dalai Lama’s efforts, including leaking news of Samdhong Rinpoche’s secret mission to China, made on behalf of the Dalai Lama to resurrect dialogue for the return of the Tibetan people to Tibet. It is worthwhile to note that on such a vital mission, the Dalai Lama chose to send the ex-Prime Minister of the CTA, Samdhong Rinpoche and not the current President Lobsang Sangay. And earlier this year, the Dalai Lama’s attempt to build a bridge with the Beijing authorities by recognizing the China-enthroned Panchen Lama was duly undone by Sangay. It is no secret that the relationship between Lobsang Sangay and the Dalai Lama is at its lowest since the Dalai Lama started taking active measures to regain Beijing’s trust, something the aging Dalai Lama has had to resume doing because of Sangay’s negligence of his duty as the Sikyong. It has been reported that in recent times, an ongoing war of words between Lobsang Sangay and the Dalai Lama has struck up behind closed doors.

An aging Dalai Lama who is said to be at odds with Lobsang Sangay now.

It would be difficult to find news of Lobsang Sangay initiating projects to improve the lives of the Tibetan refugees, or taking concrete steps to foster Tibetan harmony or undertaking tangible measures that could lead to the realization of the Dalai Lama’s dreams for the Tibetan people to return to their homeland. Sangay’s Presidency is characterized by his various breaches of the Tibetan democratic Constitution, his denial of the Tibetan people’s human rights to practice the religion of their choice and to exercise their freedom of opinion, his manipulation of election rules to ouster rivals, his appointment of cronies to key positions, his misuse of funds meant for the Tibetan refugees, his empty and grandiloquent speeches to foreign officials, his vicious fights with political rivals like Penpa Tsering and now, his sex scandals. The lives and future of 150,000 Tibetan refugees depend on the CTA, as does the survival of the Tibetan heritage and the continuance of the Tibetan people to regain their freedom. Lobsang Sangay was entrusted by the Tibetan people to perform an important task and by right, his time in power should have been invested to support the Dalai Lama’s initiatives and to prepare for the next phase of the Tibetan struggle, one that will take place in the absence of the Dalai Lama. But with such serious improprieties, a focus on his personal agendas and culture of deceit and dishonesty that Sangay has sowed with his internal politicking, how can the Tibetan cause ever hope to survive? Only time will tell.

Tibetan investigative journalist Mila Rangzen
launches “Me Too” campaign

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Dhardon Sharling submits resignation letter

Click to enlarge (Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2018/12/12/dhardon-sharling-submits-resignation-letter)