Dalai Lama’s associate in money laundering scandal

Reports of Lodi Gyari and his son-in-law’s alleged money laundering have captured the media’s interest

On June 3, 2016, news broke that one of the people close to His Holiness the Dalai Lama has been arrested on suspicions of money laundering. This is just the latest in a series of financial scandals to rock the Tibetan leadership who, over the last two decades, have been accused of facilitating all levels of financial misdirection from corruption and embezzlement, to money laundering.

Whenever it comes to finances, there is never good news from the Tibetan leadership. Having left behind in Tibet centuries of accumulated wealth, when they entered exile the Tibetan leadership found that they could rebuild their coffers by tapping into the sympathy and resources of the West. Thus began 60 years of fund-raising, without any accountability or transparency to the donors.

All levels of the Tibetan leadership have been implicated in some kind of financial scandal. For example:

  1. In 2011, Indian investigators raided Gyuto Monastery where they found USD1mil in 26 foreign currencies, in cash. This resulted in Indian prosecutors initiating criminal proceedings in 2015, charging His Holiness the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley with money laundering (one such report can be found here)
  2. Since 2012, questions have been asked about Penpa Tsering’s connection to one Thinley Kelsang who is accused of operating a human trafficking and visa brokering ring. Penpa Tsering is accused of abusing his position in Dharamsala to obtain visas from the American Embassy in Delhi. He is alleged to have received financial compensation for this (one such report can be found here)
  3. In 2014, the Tibetan exile Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay refused to answer questions about how he had managed to pay off a $227,000 mortgage just four years after buying a house in Boston, USA. Just a week later, he became Prime Minister (the publicly available document that triggered these investigations be found here)
  4. In March 2015, Penpa Tsering stormed out in the middle of a Parliamentary session after he was accused of murder. In the same session, two of his colleagues Dolkar Lhamo and Dawa Tsering were reminded of their involvement in embezzlement schemes and taking public property (one such report can be found here)
  5. In June 2015, Maura Moynihan wrote a widely-circulated letter addressing the International Campaign for Tibet’s (ICT) fondness for huge fundraising efforts, with little difference made seen in the Tibetan situation. In the letter, Ms Moynihan stated that “ICT is hardly a cost-effective model of a non-profit organization representing a small, penniless refugee community… Many Tibet support groups are concerned that ICT has no clear purpose other than self-preservation, raising funds to pay for trips to Asia, comfortable salaries and maintenance of an elegant townhouse in Dupont Circle officially assessed to be worth $2.7 million. Many activists groups have done far more on far less, but ICT remains the top-funded Tibet organization in America.” (her report can be found here)
  6. In May 2016, His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin announced major changes in the succession plan of the Sakya throne holders. In the announcement and directive, he noted that people have accused him of taking advantage of and benefiting from the office and position. (the Sakya Trizin’s announcement can be found here)

Lodi Gyari Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama’s former Special Envoy to Washington has a history of questionable financial dealings.

As anyone can clearly see, these are not minor accusations on the level of a teenager robbing a mom-and-pop store in Dharamsala. They are sophisticated schemes involving connections, power and large sums of money…and these are just the scandals that we know of. Such major financial irregularities have not gone unnoticed by the international community. In 2012, Congressman Dana Rohrabacher wrote to the Tibetan Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay, noting that there have been “serious accusations the US funding meant for Tibetans may have been misspent.”

A large portion of this US funding has come not only from the American government but from private donors, channeled through organisations such as the aforementioned International Campaign for Tibet (ICT). It so happens that the ICT’s previous director was Lodi Gyari Rinpoche whose son-in-law, Phakchok Rinpoche, is implicated in the latest money laundering scandal to hit the Tibetan leadership.

From 1999 to 2014, Lodi Gyari was director of the ICT. To this day, ICT remains one of the largest Tibetan non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the world, and it certainly the top-funded in the USA. Lodi Gyari’s role as director gave him access to millions of dollars in donations as well as connections to wealthy Tibetan supporters in the United States. When he was the Dalai Lama’s Special Envoy to Washington, DC, his connections in Dharamsala also gave him the uncontested access to money-making opportunities for himself and his relatives. It would seem that Phakchok Rinpoche has been one such beneficiary.

Messages have been circulated on social media about the involvement of Lodi Gyari Rinpoche’s son-in-law in the latest financial scandal to hit the Tibetan establishment. Lodi Gyari is the Dalai Lama’s former Special Envoy to Washington and comes from a wealthy, powerful Tibetan family. He has very close links to the Dalai Lama.

Phakchok Rinpoche, whose real name is Tenzin Jigmey Drakpa, is married to Lodi Gyari’s daughter. He holds a number of positions, including the abbotship of Ka-Nying Shedrup Ling Monastery in Nepal and President of Rangjung Yeshe Shenpen Nepal, an NGO. From Phakchok Rinpoche’s various bank accounts, Nepali authorities recently seized NPR15 crores (approx. US$1.4mil). This followed their previous seizure of US$375,000, an act which had alerted them to the even larger sums of money he had been receiving. In this case, the US$375,000 had been sent from the USA to his bank accounts, on the pretext of raising funds for victims of the 2015 Nepali earthquake.

Phakchok Rinpoche, Lodi Gyari’s son-in-law, is suspected of being involved in money laundering.

It requires an active imagination to conjure up reasons why Lodi Gyari and Phachok Rinpoche would need to fatten their wallets. It is well-known in the Tibetan community that the Gyari family is extremely wealthy and powerful, and have been so even when they were back in Tibet.

What this incident shows for certain is that there has been no change to the feudal system of Tibet where the rich and nobility get richer, while the poor continue to languish in poverty. After all, it is definitely not news that the Tibetan leadership exploits and abuses their people. After 60 years in exile, there has been little change to the Tibetan situation – their standard of living has hardly improved, considering the millions they have received in donations. In this case, Lodi Gyari and Phakchok Rinpoche have even abused the goodwill of the international community, raising funds from Western donors for earthquake victims, when the funds never made it to the intended recipients.

Nepali media coverage of this financial scandal, which involves Lodi Gyari Rinpoche’s son-in-law, Phachok Rinpoche being accused of being involved in money laundering. Click to enlarge.

The Tibetan leadership is an old hand at allowing their people to continue to suffer, by stealing money that was intended for their welfare. After all, the Tibetan leadership’s aim is not the betterment of their people but rather to accumulate as much money and power for themselves as possible so that when His Holiness the Dalai Lama enters clear light, they can easily disappear to the West with their foreign passports, checkbooks and American Express cards.

And if the money laundering is taking place at such a high level, it is impossible that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is not aware of what is going on. It seems that His Holiness has somehow become surrounded by people who have been implicated in one financial scandal or another – from his chosen Karmapa Orgyen Trinley, to his Special Envoy Lodi Gyari, to the Speaker of his Parliament Penpa Tsering, to his Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay. Clearly those in the Dalai Lama’s inner circle have made it a habit to exploit the Dalai Lama’s name, reputation and their closeness to him, in order to pad their bank accounts.

With such a bevy of financial scandals under their belt, it is particularly galling that the Tibetan leadership would see it fit to accuse Dorje Shugden practitioners of receiving money from the Chinese leadership. While they accuse Dorje Shugden practitioners of “eating Chinese money”, they themselves “eat” their own people’s funds. Surely stealing from your own family is a more hurtful action, when you abuse their clearly misplaced trust in you.

Whether or not Dorje Shugden practitioners receive support from anyone is a private matter, and there has never been any proof or evidence to support these allegations. In the 20 years Dorje Shugden devotees have been used as a scapegoat for the Tibetan leadership’s failure, not one shred of evidence has been produced to show that Dorje Shugden lamas and their disciples receive Chinese funding. No receipts, no bank statements, no photographs, no check stubs. There has been however, plentiful proof to support allegations that the Tibetan leadership has been stealing from their people, and have engaged in serious financial malpractice – some have even been prosecuted by the Indian government!

While the Tibetan leadership have been accusing Dorje Shugden practitioners of taking money from the Chinese leadership, they themselves have been rather busy stealing from their own people.

Therefore the fact that the Tibetan state and its agents are engaged in money laundering and embezzlement should be of greater concern. The leadership serves everyone, not themselves and they certainly should not be exploiting their people’s unquestioning faith in order to profit from it. The Tibetan leadership also represents their entire people. If they are being consistently implicated in financial scandal, it stains the name of the entire Tibetan people and not just a small subsection of practitioners from such and such a lineage.

The Tibetan people should be similarly concerned that their leadership steals money meant for their welfare, and that they spend it on activities and programs to suppress their community. For example, the leadership has spent money on anti-Dorje Shugden websites to promote a negative view about the deity and suppress their religious freedoms. It is astonishing that a ‘democratic’ government would set up an anti-anything website when it is not the job of the state to police private religious beliefs.

But it is hardly surprising that the Tibetan leadership would fund such activities because the concept of a real democracy has yet to ripen in their minds. For example, in real democratic nations, leaders declare all sources of their income and their financial dealings are constantly under scrutiny, with watchdogs give the authority to oversee all of their funding. There is no such measure in Tibetan society where the leadership acts with impunity, in an authoritarian and dictatorial manner designed to abuse their community.

So what the Tibetan people should be more worried about is the ongoing lack of transparency regarding their leadership’s finances, and how no one is being held accountable for these scandals. And it needs to be asked – why is the Dalai Lama remaining silent in all of this, allowing his community to suffer the actions of the leadership, when he is aware of everything that is taking place? Why does he speak up more about Dorje Shugden and the lamas who refuse to give up the practice, than he does about his inner circle stealing and his people self-immolating?

Dolkar Lhamo, the Member of Parliament accused of embezzlement admitted to her crimes. Rather unsurprisingly, the link that this Facebook post refers to is no longer working, with the article having been removed.

With such overwhelming evidence of the Tibetan leadership’s misdeeds, it is only a matter of time before international support for their works draws to a close. Why make personal donations and direct federal funds towards a regime that has consistently failed to disburse the contributions to the rightful recipients, the Tibetan people? If Western leaders direct funds to the Tibetan leadership thinking that Dharamsala shares their interests (that is, to be an effective thorn in the side of the Chinese), they are sorely mistaken.

China’s popularity and economic strength eclipses anything the Tibetan leadership can do to them and from the already-long and growing list of financial malpractices that the CTA is very quickly adding to, soon it will be clear for all to see what many have known for decades. Ultimately, the Tibetan leadership is and always has been about looking after No. 1 and no matter what they may profess, they have only their own (and no one else’s) interests in mind.

 

Examples of the Central Tibetan Administration’s financial malpractice

 

2011 – His Holiness the Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje (money laundering)

2011 – the Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje prosecuted on charges of money laundering. Click to enlarge.

 

2012 – Penpa Tsering (human trafficking)

2012 – Penpa Tsering implicated in human trafficking ring. Click to enlarge.

 

April 2012 – Chithue Dolkar Lhamo (embezzlement)

April 2012 – Dolkar Lhamo, former President of the Tibetan Women’s Association, admits to embezzlement. Unfortunately, but not unsurprisingly, the original article on TibetSun.com is no longer available. Click to enlarge.

 

November 2012 – the Central Tibetan Administration (financial mismanagement)

November 2012 – US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher writes to the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) to highlight their financial mismanagement and involvement in the Radio Free Asia issue. Click to enlarge.

 

2014 – Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay (corruption / embezzlement)

2014 – publicly available records show that Lobsang Sangay took out a $227,000 mortgage on his home in 2007. It was discovered that he paid off the entire mortgage just four years after purchase, and one week before he was sworn in as the Tibetan exile Prime Minister. Click to enlarge.

 

March 2015 – Penpa Tsering (murder), Dolkar Lhamo (embezzlement), Dawa Tsering (privatising public property)

March 2015 – in the middle of a Parliamentary session, the Speaker Penpa Tsering abruptly resigns and storms out of the session after being accused of murder. In the same meeting, his colleagues were accused of embezzlement and the unauthorised privatization of public property. Click to enlarge.

 

June 2015 – Lodi Gyari (wastage of public funds, financial mismanagement)

June 2015 – Maura Moynihan, the daughter of Senator Daniel Moynihan and a long-time Tibet supporter, accuses the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) of wasting public donations and financial mismanagement. ICT was under the directorship of Lodi Gyari between 1999 and 2014. Lodi Gyari’s son-in-law is now accused of money laundering. Click to enlarge.

 

July 2015 – Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay and the Central Tibetan Administration (financial mismanagement)

July 2015 – Ms Moynihan questions Tibetan Prime Minister Lobsang Sangay’s other financial dealings. Click to enlarge.

 

May 2016 – His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin (corruption)

May 2016 – His Holiness the 41st Sakya Trizin announces major changes to the succession plan of the Sakya throne holders. In the directive, he also addresses accusations that have been directed at him regarding the benefit he has received in his position as the Sakya Trizin. Click to enlarge.

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  1. By now, it should already be clear to all that the entire ‘TibetanCause’ and its casts – the Dalai Lama’s coterie, the CTA and their cronies and affiliates and a whole network of accomplice, are all one huge money making scam.

    The real Tibetan Cause died a natural death a long time ago when the Dalai Lama decided unilaterally to abandon Tibetan independence. From that point on wards, around the 1980′s the ‘Tibetan Cause’ became a business with the Dalai Lama’s family being the biggest shareholders and the CTA, it’s management team with fat cheques and bonus schemes.

    Why on earth would the CTA ever want to give all that up and return to Tibet to govern 6 Million Tibetans and inherit a whole host of problems? Its all about tax free money and all at the expense of the beguiled people of the world.

    None of the scams listed in this article would top how much the Dalai Lama benefited from over 50 years of this lucrative business.

  2. Thank you for the information and evidences of the ‘mismanagement’ of funds raised for the Tibetans in exile.

    One would think that all these controversies of the 2 Kagyu Karmapa, 2 Panchen Lama, 2 Domo Geshe Rinpoche and the Dorje Shugdan ban is created to divert and distract everybody from the hands in the Tibetan national coffers.

    All the accusation of the Chinese funding the Shugden worshippers to create trouble for the Dalai lama is nothing but a smoke screen for what the leaders of the community is doing. When these poor ignorant Tibetans are riled up and hopping mad and screaming about Shugdenpas, they are blinded to other happenings. Good job CTA in keeping the Tibetans ignorant.

    And, it’s sad the world too has not woken up to the fact though a few have started question the fund raising.

    With all these evidence, it’s a puzzle to me why no one has started any action to stop these fund raisers.

  3. The Tibetans (well, those who are ignorant) keep saying Shugden worshippers took money from the Chinese. There is no proof of that so far, I have read the Reuters article and was surprised how it was just propaganda. But their own leadership mishandled so much fund donated by various supporters worldwide, yet they say nothing? I am pretty sure the money go into these individuals’ own pockets.

    Funny how the money for Tibetans are ‘mishandled’ and they say nothing, while the Shugden people getting Chinese money – why is it their business? Lol. Anyway, if China did give money, I am sure it was to rebuild monasteries so that the Tibetans are happy with the Chinese leadership. China doesn’t need to pay to create problems among Tibetans. The Tibetans are doing a good job among themselves.

    Agree with Sierra that the accusation of the Chinese funding the Shugden worshippers is a smoke screen, but how many Tibetans, well, those who can read properly, will understand what is happening?

  4. Tibetan in exile must really wake up to reality, but do they have a chance? Most Tibetans in exile would believe 100% in HH Dalai Lama without question, and with that faith, they will also believe 100% in the CTA.

    And because of the full trust of their people, the CTA is abusing the situation to the maximum. Nobody asked for the details of the money collected, and no check & balance. To make the situation even more controllable by the CTA, the leadership has purposely made their people stupid and cannot think for themselves. They would not know how to question the government to make the governance more transparent.

    If the state oracle can be so fierce towards Lobsang Sangyel and Pensa Tsering, it means HH Dalai Lama would also know about the stuffs that these two have done (since He is Chenrenzig). What amazed me is that, despite all that, HH Dalai Lama chose to keep quiet and didn’t even instruct His government to clarify, and more importantly, to demand for a more transparent governance.

    Why would HH Dalai Lama would allow CTA to continue to abuse the situation and exploit the Tibetans in exile? Would it be the karma of the Tibetans has ripen and there is no turning back?

  5. The money laundering actions listed above are shameful and damaging, to say the least. Allowing the inner circle people to do what they did, one would wonder what the Dalai Lama’s plans are for the future of the Tibetans-in-exile. In a glimpse, I see no hope for the CTA supporters.

    The evidence displayed above clearly illustrated that 60 years of international financial support for democracy has in fact benefited a handful of irresponsible and greedy individuals whose interest are to ride on the power for selfish reasons. No wonder we see no improvement in the living conditions or social welfare for Tibetans-in-exile. Compare to the campaigns and sites to ban Dorje Shugden practice, the sum required to improve the overall living conditions of Tibetans are much higher, so it is easier for the CTA to do the formal, which is minimal, while enjoying the ever flowing funds from international parties. I mean, the CTA need to show some results to trick the donors into believing they are doing something “good” with it. Hence, the Dorje Shugden ban.

    It should be clear to all by now the real intention of the CTA and the purpose of the unlawful ban of Dorje Shugden ban. If we really care for the Tibetans, we should not continue to support the CTA’s dodgy behaviours and demand them to do what they are supposed to do: education, living conditions, security, medications etc. for the Tibetans in exile, providing if we are still confident in their abilities to do anything other than banning a spiritual practice that has nothing to do with politic in the first place!

  6. It is enraging to read the crimes that leaderships of the Tibetan community in exile are capable of.
    Murder. Embezzlement. Human Trafficking. Corruption. Abuse of Power.
    You name it. Everything that is showing on Hollywood mafia movies are having a fair run of repeats right here in the Tibetan in exile community. I am really and terribly ashamed to even hear the words “Free Tibet” nowadays.

    Behind these laments, it is a painful heart to see a society is in such bad shape, only because the people allows it. If the leaders are vile, inhumane, malice, sinister and cruel; it is only because the people are ignorance, greedy, and cowardly. The people must peacefully speak up spread the truth, run awareness campaign and publish true story in international arena.

    With enough international pressure and reduction of sponsorship and funding, hopefully the greedy politicians will stop milking Tibetans.

  7. It is a crying shame to know these so called learned Buddhist would resort to money laundering, murder, embezzlement, trickery, power grabbing and lying. Very often I would question why are these things happening to these so called Buddhist? A simple logical analysis would be that when once one is exposed to such illegal means obtained through criminal activities and have tasted luxuries and enjoying other people’s hard earned money turning back to an ordinary mundane Buddhist life would be a very difficult ordeal.
    It is just like asking a drug addict to give up drugs immediately; I would assume these addicts would answer in the negative. Similarly, it is happening where we find many money addicts here in the CTA context no changes can be foreseen in the immediate future unless the top level untainted high power ministers, the Dalai Lama orders a entire shake up to clean up this disgraceful act.
    Rehabilitation for these greedy Buddhist is an immediate necessity and to reformulate, reorganize and restructured the entire CTA cabinet would somehow negate these criminals. Very sad, sad state of affair at this moment for the Tibetans living in exile. My heart goes out to these unfortunate Tibetans living in exile particularly the Dorje Shudgen devotees.

  8. Wow that’s not a lot of plausible cause… that is a lot of evidence that Tibetan Leadership has been swindling the entire WORLD and basically ROBBING us all right under our very nose, not to mentioned getting us to SPREAD their poor me victimised campaign to basically gain more money for their own pockets!!! And we thought we were doing them some good and we thought we were helping these poor Tibetan get their country back! Yeah right.

    I really don’t think any of these leaders are interested at all in returning back to Tibet. Why would they when they can live just about anywhere in the world, enjoy themselves, great infrastructure, freedom and just collect DONATIONS from the WORLD to fatten up their own bank accounts. Most of all these Tibetan Leaders have already migrated or has a dual citizenship and their families safely migrated to other parts of their country as well. I bet they will all be gone at the drop of a hat when Dalai Lama is no longer around man. And still we have silly idiotic FB groups that dare talk about Shugden and how Shugden people are taking money from China? They should really look in the mirror.

    What about them stealing from their own people and the entire world?! I really hope the world wakes up and stop being fooled. It is high time we really shine the light on these crooks and investigate on the real issue here! There is Free Tibet it is more like Free Money and the spokesperson sadly is the His Holiness Dalai Lama.

    My question is if Dalai Lama is Chenrezig, emanation of a Buddha basically, why does he condone such disgusting corruption and not say a word yet He continues to put down the innocent Shugden people? Why won’t the Buddha of Compassion have compassion and stop these corrupted leaders in His own office? Is He in on it too? Why would He if He is a Buddha… for a greater picture? Like what? One where CTA basically destroys themselves and there will no longer be a CTA to lead the people? Just some random thoughts. As we dig deeper, it is disgusting and how sad we have all been played a fool!

  9. If you are looking for freedom and wellbeing outside of yourself, you can’t find it there. So don’t look for the footprints of the elephant in the forrest but turn your mindfulness towards non-duality/wisdom and compassion/dharma then you will become aware of shunyata and only there you can find freedom and wellbeing.

    It is more helpful for oneself to purify ones own karma by dharma study and practice, based on analytical and resting mindfulness, calm abinding, clear view and meditation than looking what other people have done wrong and not practicing dharma for them to help oneself and others.

    Don’t get lost in this dualistic selfhate nonsence of samsara that starts with ignoring non-duality, duality, harmful views of eternalism and nihilism, harmful thoughs and emotions, harmfull actions of body speech and mind, carmic delusions and keeping this up by continuing this dualistic selfhate nonsence of samsara.

    So please take care of yourself and don’t get lost the illusions of ignorance regarding non-duality, duality, harmful views of eternalism and nihilism, harmful (good and bad) thougts and emotions, harmfull (god and bad) actions of mind, speech and body because you harm yourself that is selfhatered and not loving kindness.

    Take care, love you all.

  10. There is this saying in Chinese “when the water level recedes, the stone will become visible” which means with time, the truth will always be reveals. It is most disappointing that the icon of hope, compassion, tolerance and compassion has been exploited to fuel a feudal system that contradicts every teaching in dharma.

    As the world observes and begin to voice their suspicion, they will dig and look for evidence. From the cases presented, I would say it’s easy to find evidence against tibetan leadership who are corrupted because of the old ways when authority was never questioned. The CTA and it’s cronies need to know that when they take international money, they have to be accountable and transparent. Their arrogance can no longer be. I hope the questioning by world authority will weed out all the bad blood and allow some dignity back for the Tibetan society.

  11. I think officers/ politicians who steal money that was intended for their own people’s welfare are shameless.

    What is appalling is the fact that these incidents now constitute a series of financial scandals, and with so much evidence of the Tibetan leadership’s misdeeds, nothing is being done to resolve this issue, yet the persecution of Dorje Shguden continues as a smokescreen or scapegoat for all the misdeeds.

    it is impossible that His Holiness the Dalai Lama is not aware of what is going on. However, it seems that His Holiness has somehow become surrounded by people who have been implicated of financial scandal.

    I hope more media will showcase this news or article, and that international support and funds for this government or administration would stop or
    draw to a close.

  12. After 60 years of living under CTA, you would think Tibetan people would have smarten up somewhat and realized the current CTA government are only out to fatten up their pockets and curry influence.

    The Tibetans in exile in someways are even worst off than their cousins in Tibet, at least the Tibetans in Tibet they have some access to development and a piece of the development that is happening in Tibet. What do Tibetans inexile get besides momos, chai and upheavel, no peace of mind with all the controversies and problems that on going over and over again.

  13. Although the Dalai Lama’s secretary had previously denied that the Dalai Lama was paid $1 million to speak for Raniere, a trace has been found that the Dalai Lama’s trust has received US$ 2 million in donation ten days after the event. Raniere is the leader of a cult called NXIVM which brands women on their pubic region with his initials and requires them to give him nude photos of themselves and other damaging material in case they reveal the secrets of his cult.

    Although the Dalai Lama office continues to deny that the donation was related to the speaking engagement, one can’t help but wonder whether His Holiness would have received such donation if he did not come to Albany to speak in the first place?

    Dalai Lama Secretary denies $1 million paid to speak for Raniere; Yet Dalai Lama Trust founded 10 days after Albany speech with $2 million in donations
    January 27, 2018 | By Frank Parlato
    The Dalai Lama’s secretary has denied the Dalai Lama was paid $1 million by Clare and Sara Bronfman to endorse cult leader Keith Raniere. That may be true. He might have got $2 million.
    The Dalai Lama’s secretary, Tseten Samdup Chhoekyapa, wrote:
    Clarification in Response to the Daily Mail Story of 24 January 2018
    The 24 January 2018 Daily Mail article by Ryan Parry regarding an appearance by His Holiness the Dalai Lama at an event held in Albany, New York in 2009 contains incorrect statements and untrue allegations. We wish to categorically state that His Holiness the Dalai Lama never takes an honorarium or fee of any sort, nor does he require that any payment be made to charities or organizations, as a condition of his making a personal appearance. Therefore, the reported allegation has no basis. Neither His Holiness the Dalai Lama nor the Dalai Lama Foundation ever received the alleged $1 million in connection with His Holiness’s appearance in Albany. As reported in the Daily Mail, during His Holiness’s talk in Albany in 2009, he called on the media to investigate the allegations made about the NXIVM organization and its founder, and was quite clear that the truth should be exposed.

    It is true, the Dalai Lama asked the media to investigate Keith Raniere. But whether he received money or not is another issue. Let’s parse the above statement a little:
    The Dalai Lama’s secretary said the Dalai Lama “never takes an honorarium or fee of any sort”.
    A donation is not a fee or an honorarium.
    The secretary said: “nor does he require that any payment be made to charities or organizations, as a condition of his making a personal appearance.”
    Again, the secretary says a payment was not required. But he does not say a donation was not made by Clare and Sara Bronfman.
    The Dalai Lama appeared in Albany on May 6, 2009 and he gave Raniere a white scarf onstage. He allowed the Bronfman sisters to sit onstage with him. [For readers unaware, Keith Raniere heads a cult called NXIVM which brands women on their pubic region with his initials and requires them to give him nude photos of themselves and other damaging material in case they reveal the secrets of his cult.]
    The Dalai Lama may have received a donation that was understood to be an ‘unconditional donation” not connected to his speaking engagement in Albany.
    He may have agreed to speak in Albany, and they may have agreed the donation was unconnected to his speaking so, therefore, it not ‘connected’ to his appearance.
    The Dalai Lama’s secretary does not deny that the Bronfmans donated money.  The Secretary said, “Neither His Holiness the Dalai Lama nor the Dalai Lama Foundation ever received the alleged $1 million in connection with His Holiness’s appearance in Albany.” [emphasis mine].
    I get it: He did not receive the $1 million ‘in connection with His Holiness’s appearance’ but, again, the secretary does not say the Dalai Lama did not get $1 million [or possibly more] from the Bronfmans.
    He only states the Dalai Lama did not get $1 million ‘in connection with his appearance’.
    It may have been what is called an ‘unconditional donation.’
    Now let us look at some coincidences:
    The Dalai Lama spoke in Albany on May 6, 2009.
    The Dalai Lama Trust was founded May 16, 2009. [10 days later].
    http://www.dalailamatrust.org/
    https://www.charitiesnys.com
    See the Dalai Lama trust’s IRS return for 2009.
    See also: Dalai Lama Trust certificate of incorporation.
    The IRS return shows $2.2 million in unconditional donations and royalties for 2009.
    It could be a coincidence, but it is peculiar that the Dalai Lama appears in Albany on May 6, 2009 and 10 days later the Dalai Lama trust is formed in the USA which gets $2 million plus in donations etc.
    When I worked for NXIVM/Bronfmans, I was told by a high ranking NXIVM official that, prior to the Dalai Lama’s coming to speak [before he canceled the first time] the Bronfman sisters pledged to donate $1 million to him.
    When he canceled, the sisters, plus Keith Raniere and Lama Tenzin, rushed to India to get the Dalai Lama to change his mind. I was no longer working for NXIVM. But I heard they offered the Dalai Lama another million [making it $2 million]. I never confirmed the second million, and I never saw the checks.
    It may be true the Bronfmans did not donate anything. But it seems far fetched that the Dalai Lama came at his own expense to Albany and got nothing in return. And then a trust suddenly opens in the US just 10 days after his appearance?
    http://artvoice.com/2018/01/27/dalai-lama-secretary-denies-1-million-paid-speak-raniere-yet-dalai-lama-trust-founded-10-days-albany-speech-2-million-donations/#.Wm0_0maB10J

    Artvoice-Dalai-Lama-Secretary-denies-$1-million

  14. What will the all the people around the world and in Tibet do now? Dalai Lama says he is happy that Tibet is a part of China and should remain a part of China. So many Tibetans self-immolated for Tibet to be independent and now Dalai Lama did a 360 degree turn and says he wants to go back to Tibet and China and Tibet should be a part of China. So unbelievable. So many are angry and disappointed.

    Tibetans ready to be part of China: Dalai Lama
    Organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the event was a part of “Thank You India – 2018″ held by the Tibetan community across India to mark 60 years of its exile in the country.
    Indo-Asian News Service
    Bengaluru
    Tibetans are ready to be a part of China if guaranteed full rights to preserve their culture, the Dalai Lama said on Friday.
    “Tibetans are not asking for independence. We are okay with remaining with the People’s Republic of China, provided we have full rights to preserve our culture,” the 83-year-old spiritual leader said at “Thank You Karnataka” event here in the city.
    Organised by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), the event was a part of “Thank You India – 2018″ held by the Tibetan community across India to mark 60 years of its exile in the country.
    “Several of Chinese citizens practicing Buddhism are keen on Tibetan Buddhism as it is considered scientific,” the Nobel laureate said.
    Born in Taktser hamlet in northeastern Tibet, the Dalai Lama was recognized at the age of two as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama, Thubten Gyatso. He fled to India from Tibet after a failed uprising against the Chinese rule in 1959.
    China annexed Tibet in 1950, forcing thousands of Tibetans, including monks, to flee the mountain country and settle in India as refugees.
    Since then, India has been home to over 100,000 Tibetans majorly settled in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh among other states.
    https://www.greaterkashmir.com/news/india/tibetans-ready-to-be-part-of-china-dalai-lama/293109.html

    d

  15. Dear Dalai Lama,

    Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.

    By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.

    It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.

    Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.

    You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.

    No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.

    You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.

    You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.

    After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.

    Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.

    The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.

    Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.

  16. Supreme Court of India JUSTICE Mr. MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) writes that Tibet is much better under the Chinese than it was under the lamas who only wanted to make the populace slaves. It was feudal and it will never return to the backwardness again.

    Time has come to acknowledge that Tibet has vastly improved under Chinese rule
    JUSTICE MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) | 12 August, 2018
    From a terribly poor state hinged on a feudal system, Tibet has modernised and grows faster than the rest of China
    This article has been prompted by Jyoti Malhotra’s article in ThePrint ‘Tibetan government quietly changed its PM’s designation. India won’t be unhappy about it‘.
    China’s annexation of Tibet in 1959, ousting the Dalai Lama, had attracted it worldwide criticism. The Dalai Lama fled and was granted asylum in India, where he set up a government-in-exile with its headquarters in Dharamshala.
    The Chinese claim Tibet on the grounds that it has been part of the country since the Yuan dynasty of the 13th century, which is disputed by the government-in-exile. But let us leave this that matter aside.
    The more important question is whether Chinese rule has benefited Tibet.
    The answer is that it undoubtedly has. As the Reuters’ Ben Blanchard writes: “Today Tibet is richer and more developed than it has ever been, its people healthier, more literate, better dressed and fed”.
    Although Ben goes on to argue that this development masks “a deep sense of unhappiness among many Tibetans”, I will disagree. How can anyone be unhappy if s/he is healthier, better fed and better clothed?
    Under the rule of the Dalai Lamas (Buddhist priests), the people of Tibet were terribly poor, almost entirely illiterate, and lived like feudal serfs.
    Today, Tibet presents a totally different picture. The illiteracy rate in Tibet has gone down from 95 per cent in the 1950s to 42 per cent in 2000. It has modern schools, universities, engineering and medical colleges, modern hospitals, freeways, supermarkets, fast food restaurants, mobile stores and apartment buildings. The capital Lhasa is like any other modern city.
    While the economic growth in the rest of China has slowed down to about 7 per cent, Tibet has had a 10 per cent growth rate in the last two decades.
    Tibet has huge mineral wealth, which was only awaiting Chinese technology to be tapped. Nowadays, it has numerous hydro and solar power plants and industries running with Chinese help.
    Tibetan literature is flourishing, contrary to claims that the Chinese want to crush Tibetan culture.
    Of course, now the lamas cannot treat their people as slaves.
    The so-called ‘government-in-exile’, of which Lobsang Sangay claims to be the President, is a fake organisation, funded by foreign countries. They only want to restore the feudal Tibet, ruled by the reactionary lamas, something which will never happen.
    The writer is a former judge of the Supreme Court of India
    https://theprint.in/opinion/time-has-come-to-acknowledge-that-tibet-has-vastly-improved-under-chinese-rule/97172/

  17. Why doesn’t the United States and its allies end Refugee Status for the useless Tibetans? They have been refugees for 60 years now and don’t tell me they still cannot get their lives back in order?

    Tibetans really know how to put on a good show and use people, take their money and do nothing in return.

    Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians
    In internal emails, Jared Kushner advocated a “sincere effort to disrupt” the U.N.’s relief agency for Palestinians.
    BY COLUM LYNCH, ROBBIE GRAMER | AUGUST 3, 2018, 2:12 PM
    Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, has quietly been trying to do away with the U.N. relief agency that has provided food and essential services to millions of Palestinian refugees for decades, according to internal emails obtained by Foreign Policy.
    His initiative is part of a broader push by the Trump administration and its allies in Congress to strip these Palestinians of their refugee status in the region and take their issue off the table in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, according to both American and Palestinian officials. At least two bills now making their way through Congress address the issue.
    Kushner, whom Trump has charged with solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has been reluctant to speak publicly about any aspect of his Middle East diplomacy. A peace plan he’s been working on with other U.S. officials for some 18 months has been one of Washington’s most closely held documents.
    But his position on the refugee issue and his animus toward the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is evident in internal emails written by Kushner and others earlier this year.
    “It is important to have an honest and sincere effort to disrupt UNRWA,” Kushner wrote about the agency in one of those emails, dated Jan. 11 and addressed to several other senior officials, including Trump’s Middle East peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt.
    “This [agency] perpetuates a status quo, is corrupt, inefficient and doesn’t help peace,” he wrote.
    The United States has helped fund UNRWA since it was formed in 1949 to provide relief for Palestinians displaced from their homes following the establishment of the State of Israel and ensuing international war. Previous administrations have viewed the agency as a critical contributor to stability in the region.
    But many Israel supporters in the United States today see UNRWA as part of an international infrastructure that has artificially kept the refugee issue alive and kindled hopes among the exiled Palestinians that they might someday return home—a possibility Israel flatly rules out.
    Critics of the agency point in particular to its policy of granting refugee status not just to those who fled Mandatory Palestine 70 years ago but to their descendants as well—accounting that puts the refugee population at around 5 million, nearly one-third of whom live in camps across Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza.
    By trying to unwind UNRWA, the Trump administration appears ready to reset the terms of the Palestinian refugee issue in Israel’s favor—as it did on another key issue in December, when Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
    In the same January email, Kushner wrote: “Our goal can’t be to keep things stable and as they are. … Sometimes you have to strategically risk breaking things in order to get there.”
    Kushner raised the refugee issue with officials in Jordan during a visit to the region in June, along with Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt. According to Palestinian officials, he pressed the Jordan to strip its more than 2 million registered Palestinians of their refugee status so that UNRWA would no longer need to operate there.
    “[Kushner said] the resettlement has to take place in the host countries and these governments can do the job that UNRWA was doing,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a member of Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
    She said the Trump administration wanted rich Arab Gulf states to cover the costs Jordan might incur in the process.
    “They want to take a really irresponsible, dangerous decision and the whole region will suffer,” Ashrawi said.
    Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, told reporters in June that Kushner’s delegation had said it was ready to stop funding UNRWA altogether and instead direct the money—$300 million annually—to Jordan and other countries that host Palestinian refugees.
    “All this is actually aimed at liquidating the issue of the Palestinian refugees,” hesaid.
    The White House declined to comment on the record for this story. A senior executive branch official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said U.S. policy regarding the U.N.’s Palestinian refugee program “has been under frequent evaluation and internal discussion. The administration will announce its policy in due course.”
    Jordanian officials in New York and Washington did not respond to queries about the initiative.
    Kushner and Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, both proposed ending funding for UNRWA back in January. But the State Department, the Pentagon, and the U.S. intelligence community all opposed the idea, fearing in part that it could fuel violence in the region.
    The following week, the State Department announced that that United States would cut the first $125 million installment of its annual payment to UNRWA by more than half, to $60 million.
    “UNRWA has been threatening us for six months that if they don’t get a check they will close schools. Nothing has happened,” Kushner wrote in the same email.
    State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said at the time that the U.S. had no intention of eliminating funding for Palestinian refugees, and that it was taking time to explore ways to reform UNRWA and to convince other countries to help Washington shoulder the financial burden of aiding the Palestinians.
    But the following day, Victoria Coates, a senior advisor to Greenblatt, sent an email to the White House’s national security staff indicating that the White House was mulling a way to eliminate the U.N.’s agency for Palestinian refugees.
    “UNRWA should come up with a plan to unwind itself and become part of the UNHCR by the time its charter comes up again in 2019,” Coates wrote.
    She noted that the proposal was one of a number of “spitball ideas that I’ve had that are also informed by some thoughts I’ve picked up from Jared, Jason and Nikki.”
    Other ideas included a suggestion that the U.N. relief agency be asked to operate on a month-to-month budget and devise “a plan to remove all anti-Semitism from educational materials.”
    The ideas seemed to track closely with proposals Israel has been making for some time.
    “We believe that UNRWA needs to pass from the world as it is an organization that advocates politically against Israel and perpetuates the Palestinian refugee problem,” said Elad Strohmayer, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
    Strohmayer said that Palestinians are the only population that is able to transfer its refugee status down through generations.
    The claim, though long advanced by Israel, is not entirely true.
    In an internal report from 2015, the State Department noted that the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees “recognizes descendants of refugees as refugees for purposes of their operations.” The report, which was recently declassified, said the descendants of Afghan, Bhutanese, Burmese, Somali, and Tibetan refugees are all recognized by the U.N. as refugees themselves.
    Of the roughly 700,000 original Palestinian refugees, only a few tens of thousands are still alive, according to estimates.
    The push to deny the status to most Palestinians refugees is also gaining traction in Congress.
    Last week, Rep. Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, introduced a bill that would limit the United States to assisting only the original refugees. Most savings in U.N. contributions would be directed to the U.S. Agency for International Development, the United States’ principal international development agency. But USAID is currently constrained by the Taylor Force Act, which restricts the provision of humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian Authority until it ends a policy of providing aid to families of fallen terrorists.
    “Instead of resettling Palestinian refugees displaced as a result of the Arab-Israeli Conflict of 1948, UNRWA provides aid to those they define as Palestinian refugees until there is a solution they deem acceptable to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Lamborn’s bill states.
    “This policy does not help resettle the refugees from 1948 but instead maintains a refugee population in perpetuity.”
    A congressional aide familiar with the legislation said its intent isn’t to gut UNRWA funding, but redirect assistance to descendants through USAID.
    “The people that are suffering should still get assistance, but through appropriately defined humanitarian channels and aid programs,” the aide said.
    Similarly, Sen. James Lankford, (R-Okla.), has drafted legislation that would redirect U.S. funding away from UNRWA and to other local and international agencies.
    The bill, which has not yet officially been introduced, would require the U.S. secretary of state certify by 2020 that the United Nations has ended its recognition of Palestinian descendants as refugees.
    “The United Nations should provide assistance to the Palestinians in a way that makes clear that the United Nations does not recognize the vast majority of Palestinians currently registered by UNRWA as refugees deserving refugee status,” reads a draft obtained by Foreign Policy.
    Previous U.S. administrations have maintained that the vast majority of Palestinian refugees will ultimately have to be absorbed in a new Palestinian state or naturalized in the countries that have hosted them for generations.
    But the fate of the refugee issue was expected to be agreed to as part of a comprehensive peace pact that resulted in the establishment of a Palestinian state.
    “It’s very clear that the overarching goal here is to eliminate the Palestinian refugees as an issue by defining them out of existence,” said Lara Friedman, the president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace.
    “This isn’t going to make peace any easier. It’s going to make it harder.”
    https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/03/trump-palestinians-israel-refugees-unrwaand-allies-seek-end-to-refugee-status-for-millions-of-palestinians-united-nations-relief-and-works-agency-unrwa-israel-palestine-peace-plan-jared-kushner-greenb/

    DS.com Trump and Allies Seek End to Refugee Status for Millions of Palestinians (1)

  18. While the government of Nepal has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, they have welcomed 30 Chinese NGOs to enter the country. These NGOs will penetrate the country’s social sector at the grassroots level. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal at one time. Nepal is increasingly open to Chinese influence, a sign that ties between both countries are strengthening, while India’s influence is being reduced. The time has passed for India’s monopoly to remain uninterrupted in Nepal as opportunities to engage with China are being welcomed.

    30 Chinese NGOs all set to work in Nepal
    REWATI SAPKOTA
    Kathmandu, July 30
    At a time when the government has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, 30 Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal to penetrate the country’s social sector and the grassroots.
    The Social Welfare Council Nepal and China NGO Network for International Exchanges, an umbrella body of Chinese NGOs, have signed a memorandum of understanding to enable Chinese NGOs to work in Nepal. The agreement was signed yesterday between SWCN Member Secretary Dilli Prasad Bhatt and CNIE General Secretary Zhu Rui in the presence of Minister of Women, Children and Senior Citizen Tham Maya Thapa and Chinese Deputy Minister of External Affairs Wang Yajun.
    The agreement has paved the way for the first batch of 30 Chinese NGOs to work in Nepal for a period of three years. Their contract will be extended based on the consent of SWCN and CNIE. Representatives of these 30 Chinese NGOs were also present during yesterday’s signing ceremony. They have agreed to work in partnership with local NGOs to implement their programmes and projects.
    The Chinese NGOs are eyeing areas such as livelihood, healthcare, education, skill-based training, community development and disaster management. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs has entered Nepal at one time. The Chinese assistance so far in Nepal has largely been limited to development of infrastructure projects. But the entry of these NGOs indicates China is keen on making its presence felt in Nepal’s social sector and the grassroots, which, till date, have remained domains of the West and countries such as Japan and India.
    The MoU signed between SWCN and CNIE states that Chinese NGOs will be mobilised for ‘the benefit of needy Nepalis and to enhance ties between China and Nepal through people-to-people support programmes’.
    “The Chinese NGOs will abide by the law of Nepal in its entirety while carrying out development cooperation in Nepal,” says the MoU, adding, “Chinese NGOs will submit programmes to the SWCN to carry out development activities in partnership with Nepali NGOs and SWCN in line with plans and policies of the government of Nepal.”
    The MoU was signed at a time when the government has drafted the National Integrity Policy to limit activities of NGOs and INGOs, as some of them were found ‘trying to break communal harmony and proselytising Nepalis’. There were also concerns that high administrative cost of many NGOs and INGOs was preventing money from reaching the real beneficiaries. The policy clearly states that NGOs and INGOs cannot spend more than specified amount under administrative and consultant headings. They will also be barred from working against Nepal’s interests, culture and communal harmony and conducting activities to promote their religious, social or other agenda, adds the policy.
    Around 48,000 NGOs are currently registered in Nepal, of which only 1,600 have been receiving funds from INGOs, as per SWCN. The SWCN has directed INGOs and NGOs to spend 60 per cent of the budget to generate tangible results, while the remaining can be used to cover administrative costs and organise training, meetings and seminars.
    https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/30-chinese-ngos-all-set-to-work-in-nepal/

  19. The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.
    Tibetan disunity not in India’s interest
    John S. Shilshi
    Updated: August 7, 2018, 11:00 AM
    India is home to the Dalai Lama and an estimated 120,000 Tibetan refugees. Though this humanitarian gesture on India’s part comes at the cost of risking New Delhi’s relations with China, India has never wavered in ensuring that Tibetans live with dignity and respect. Notified settlements across the country were made available so that they can live as independently as possible and practice Tibetan religion and culture. They are also allowed to establish centres of higher learning in Tibetan Buddhism. As a result, several reputed Buddhist institutes came up in Karnataka, and in the Indian Himalayan belt. In what may be termed as a gesture well reciprocated, and because of the respect and influence His Holiness the Dalai Lama commands, the Tibetan diaspora also lived as a peaceful community, rarely creating problems for India’s law enforcement agencies.
    The situation, however, changed from 2000 onwards when unity amongst Tibetans suffered some setback due to developments like the Karmapa succession controversy and the controversy over worshiping of Dorje Shugden. In a unique case of politics getting the better of religion, two senior monks of the Karma kargyue sect of Tibetan Buddhism, Tai Situ Rinpoche and late Shamar Rinpoche, developed serious differences after the demise of Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, the 16th Karmapa, in 1981. This animosity ultimately led to emergence of two 17th Karmapa candidates in the early nineties. While Tai Situ Rinpoche identified and recognised UghyanThinley Dorje, late Shamar Rinpoche anointed Thinley Thaye Dorje as his Karmapa candidate. Enthronement of their respective protégés at the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim, the supreme seat of the Karma Kargue linage, being their primary objective, both started indulging in activities monks normally are expected to, and bitterness spewed against each other.
    The bitter rivalry assumed a new dimension when UghyenThinley Dorje suddenly appeared in India in January 2000. The competition became fiercer and hectic political lobbying, never known in the history of Tibetan Buddhism on Indian soil, became common place. Apart from pulling strings at their disposal in Sikkim as well as in the power corridors of New Delhi, these senior monks spat against each other with allegations and counter allegations, widening the gaps between their supporters. His Holiness the Dalai Lama, choosing to favour one of the candidates—a decision many Tibet watchers felt was ill-timed—had also limited possible scope of rapprochement. Hence, the Karma Kargyue followers are now vertically divided, while the camps are dragged into a long drawn legal battle.
    Another development that unfortunately split the Tibetans is the controversy over Shugden worshipping, which again is an internal matter of the Gelugpa sect, to which the Dalai Lama belongs. It erupted as a result of the Dalai Lama urging Tibetans to refrain from worshiping Dorje Shugden, a deity believed to be a protector, according to Tibetan legend. Shugden practitioners, who felt offended by the call, describe it as an attack on freedom of religion, a right, which Dalai Lama himself tirelessly fought for. On the other hand, die hard Dalai Lama followers perceived the questioning of the decision as one challenging the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and mounted massive pressure on Dorje Shugden practitioners to relent, with some even demolishing the statues of the deity. The rivalry ultimately led to split in two Gelug monasteries in Karnataka, and Serpom and Shar Garden monasteries in Bylakupe and Mundgod respectively came under the control of Shugden followers. The bitterness associated with the split is exemplified by the fact that till today, members of these monasteries are treated as some sort of outcasts by the others. Thus, for the first time, the Tibetan diaspora in India gave birth to sections opposed to the Dalai Lama, with spillover effects in Tibet and elsewhere.
    For India, with a fragile internal security profile, a divided Tibetan population on its soil is not good news. It has several long-term implications. It is common knowledge that China considers Dalai Lama as a secessionist, one plotting to divide their country. The latter’s claim of “all that Tibetans were asking for, was a status of genuine autonomy within the Constitution of the Peoples’ Republic of China”, had fallen into deaf ears. China also considers him as someone who plays to the Indian tune to tickle China. Therefore, at a time when China has successfully shrunk the Dalai Lama’s space internationally, India continuing to extend the usual space for him is viewed as complicity. Sharp reaction from China when he was allowed to visit Arunachal Pradesh in April 2017, is a recent example. Such being the delicate nature of India-China relations on matters and issues concerning Tibetans, India can hardly afford to ignore the division within the diaspora. Past experience of dubious elements from Tibet having succeeded in infiltrating the Central Tibetan Administration, including the security wing, should be a warning.
    It is also time India understands the reason behind Tibetans seeking Indian passports, despite an existing arrangement for issue of Identity Certificates, which is passport equivalent. Some had even successfully taken recourse to legal remedy on the issue, and left the government of India red-faced. These changing moods should not be viewed as desires by Tibetans to become Indian citizens. They are triggered by the pathetic state of affairs associated with issuing of Identity Certificates, where delays in most cases are anything between six months to one year. Early streamlining of the process will drastically reduce their desire to hold Indian passport. It will also remove the wrongly perceived notion among some educated Tibetan youth, that the cumbersome process was a ploy by India to confine them in this country. While India should not shy from requesting the Dalai Lama to use his good offices to end all differences within the community in the interest of India’s internal security, it will also be necessary to ensure that young Tibetans do not nurse a silent grudge against the very country they called their second home.
    https://www.sundayguardianlive.com/opinion/tibetan-disunity-not-indias-interest

  20. Although the Dalai Lama has offered an apology, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) still expressed their disappointment over his controversial comment on Nehru, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Dalai Lama called Nehru self-centred.

    The Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.

    Dalai Lama should abstain from imparting controversial information to students: Arunachal Congress
    Dalai Lama should know that a spiritual leader like him is shouldering great expectation: APCC
    | DAMIEN LEPCHA | ITANAGAR | August 12, 2018 9:58 pm
    disappointment over the recent statement made by Tibetan Spiritual Leader the 14th Dalai Lama in which he called Jawaharlal Nehru, the former Prime Minister of India as “self-centered” and the one responsible for parting India and Pakistan.
    “Although Dalai Lama expressed regret over his controversial comment, the APCC is extremely thwarted by it. A Tibetan spiritual leader calling names to an Indian leader who sweated most to keep him and his followers safe from Chinese aggression is simply not acceptable. Today, India is home to lakhs of Tibetan refugees who are living in 37 settlements and 70 scattered communities across different states of India,” APCC vice-president Minkir Lollen said in a statement on Sunday.
    “Dalai Lama may have forgotten that India provided a beam of light and hope to Tibetans remaining in Chinese-dominated Tibet and in the neighbouring Chinese provinces politically cut off from the Tibetan heart land. All these happened only because India has great leaders like Gandhi and Nehru who took the responsibility of social burden to shelter thousands of persecuted Tibetans then in 1959,” Lollen added.
    Minkir said Dalai Lama should know that a spiritual leader like him is shouldering great expectation, hope and trust of millions on record and the same are watching his contribution towards the mankind.
    “In such circumstances, Dalai Lama should abstain from imparting partial and controversial information to the students who are the torch bearer of the nation,” the Congress said.
    Further stating that the statement of the spiritual leader could be a politically motivated one and made with an effort to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi for survival of his continuation in the country, the Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.
    https://nenow.in/north-east-news/dalai-lama-should-abstain-from-imparting-controversial-information.html

  21. Too bad for the money laundering Lodi Gyari who is on his deathbed with cancer. He did not do good things while he was well. As a Tibetan living in London, many of my compatriots do not like him and do not trust him. He made his family wealthy with corruption money. We are not happy he is dying but we are do not respect him at all. People like him is what made Tibet lose our country in the first place.

    LONG LIVE TIBET!

    https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2018/10/28/lodi-gyari-in-critical-condition-at-dc-hospital

    Lodi Gyari in a 2008 file photo.

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.…Instead of turning away people who practise Dorje Shugden, we should be kind to them. Give them logic and wisdom without fear, then in time they give up the ‘wrong’ practice. Actually Shugden practitioners are not doing anything wrong. But hypothetically, if they are, wouldn’t it be more Buddhistic to be accepting? So those who have views against Dorje Shugden should contemplate this. Those practicing Dorje Shugden should forbear with extreme patience, fortitude and keep your commitments. The time will come as predicted that Dorje Shugden’s practice and it’s terrific quick benefits will be embraced by the world and it will be a practice of many beings.

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