Lukar’s car vandalized, says his family feel ‘threatened by anti-social elements’

Lukar Jam’s car windows were smashed in. No theft was reported.

On March 23, 2017 the Tibetan community woke up to news that Lukar Jam Atsock, former Sikyong 2016 candidate, had been made the victim of a violent attack of vandalism. Lukar Jam, who had recently been accused of speaking against His Holiness the Dalai Lama, said that as a result of the attack his family now feel threatened by anti-social elements. Sadly, this is not the first time the Tibetan community have reacted in such a manner against someone perceived to be speaking against the Dalai Lama. Dorje Shugden practitioners, for example, have been threatened and harmed for the last 20 years because the Tibetan leadership repeatedly and consistently paints them as traitors of the Tibetan people, the Tibetan cause and specifically the Dalai Lama, although none of this is the case.

Lukar Jam is the latest unfortunate example of how the Tibetan leadership deals with dissent. Those who have thoughts that do not match the leadership’s often find themselves the targets of violent attacks organised by the Tibetan leadership themselves. The modus operandi is always the same – a person or group is identified as refusing to toe the leadership’s policies. The person or group is then talked about by the leadership, in this case either the Sikyong Lobsang Sangay or the Dalai Lama. The person or group are then labelled as ‘anti-Dalai Lama’ or ‘anti-Tibetan independence’, and the leadership strongly implies that these people can be targeted for any kind of consequence (usually violent). In this way, the Tibetan leadership incites their public to do the dirty work for them.

In the case of Dorje Shugden practitioners, they are a group who were identified as refusing to give up Dorje Shugden practice, as per the leadership’s diktats. For over 20 years, His Holiness the Dalai Lama talked about them on repeated occasions, emphasizing that they harm his life or the Tibetan cause, although none of this has ever been proven true. As a result, the Tibetan community turned against them and many Dorje Shugden practitioners have been beaten, threatened, stabbed, had their properties seized and in some cases even murdered.

The world can see clearly now that the Tibetan leadership’s methods are all for political gains, to the point they will pit their own people against one another in a kind of real-life ‘Hunger Games’ to see who emerges the winner. In this case, the winner is usually The Capitol, or the tyrannical upper echelon ensconced in the relative safety of Dharamsala watching as their people tear one another to pieces, in a political game of their own design. Now that the rest of the world has entered the 21st century, it is time that the Tibetan leadership, a self-proclaimed democracy, learns the proper and correct way of dealing with dissent and certainly, directing violence against their own people is not the way to go.

 


 

Lukar’s car vandalized, says his family feel ‘threatened by anti-social elements’

Phayul [Thursday, March 23, 2017 19:18]

By Tenzin Dharpo

Police inspecting the car following Lukar’s complaint/FB page/Pema Choedon

DHARAMSHALA, MAR. 24: Tibetan writer and former Director of the Gu-Chu-Sum organization, Lukar Jam Atsok, who has been at the center of controversy and condemnation for an alleged troll against the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama has said he and his family – his wife and two children – feel “threatened by anti- social elements”.

The statement from the man who was also one of the candidates for the last Tibetan general elections came after he found his car vandalized by unidentified miscreants last night near his rented house near Norbulingka institute in Sidhbari area here.

Lukar Jam and his wife Pema Choedon have filed a police complaint regarding the matter. In their complaint letter addressed to the Superintendent of Police, Kangra at Dharamsala, the couple appealed for a thorough investigation saying that “anti social elements fulfilling other party’s agendas may be active within the community.

The copies of the letter have been sent to SHO, Dharamshala Police station, the Indian Intelligence Bureau, as well as the Security Department of the exile Tibetan government (known officially as the Central Tibetan Administration).

Jam found out about his car’s broken windows early this morning after his neighbor informed him. In his complaint with attached pictures, Jam wrote that the windows and wind shield of his car was broken with a rock. Jam’s wife Pema Choedon wrote on her Facebook page that she was certain it was not a random act of vandalism or attempt at thievery. She also wrote that the “attack on property” was preceded by incidents when her husband was openly “challenged, warned of physical harm”. However, the family said that they suspected the culprit to be anti social elements within the (Tibetan) community although they have “no specific suspects”.

The former political prisoner was recently in the center of a much debated issue regarding his poem that many alleged made an undue reference to the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalia Lama. Earlier last month, Jam posted a eulogy dedicated to the late Tibetologist Prof. Elliot Sperling on his Facebook page. The English translation of the original Tibetan language post which was also posted on the same page stated, “Not out of loyalty, but speaking of your ethical courageous position, you (Elliot Sperling) are the one who should have lived for 113 years”. Although the post had not made any direct reference to the Tibetan leader, the post has since been condemned by many Tibetans and attracted comments, many critical of his view.

The Tibetan PM Lobsang Sangay on March 10 said, “Lukar’s remarks were objectionable and unfortunate. Such statements sow discord in the Tibetan community and gives reasons for adversaries to rejoice.” In the ongoing session of the Tibetan Parliament, PM Sangay said that Lukar Jam has a history of making denigrating remarks to the Tibetan leader. A lengthy discourse followed in the Tibetan parliament where opinions were divided on the issue.

Speaking to Phayul, Jam said, “I suspect the crime was perpetrated by someone who did not agree with my recent post or by an opportunistic agent of China aiming to plant discord within the Tibetan community. Either ways, the responsibility of the incident rests upon the CTA leadership who made public statements on the issue as well as individuals and proxy accounts online that created a ‘misunderstanding’ between him and the general public.” He also said he will leave the issue in the hands of the Indian law enforcement authorities.

Lukar Jam Atsok is a former Tibetan political prisoner who also served at the helm of the non-governmental organization Gu-Chu-Sum, a political as well as a welfare organization for former political prisoners, based in Dharamshala.

Earlier in 2016, he stood in the Tibetan general elections for the Prime Ministerial post of Central Tibetan Administration and was the sole candidate that stood for complete independence of Tibet as his core stand for the resolution of the Tibetan issue. During his campaign, he was alleged that he had made reference to the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama in poor light although he has denied it later.

 

Originally posted on Phayul (http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=38833&article=Lukar%27s+car+vandalized%2c+says+his+family+feel+%27threatened+by+anti-social+elements)

 

A copy of the police report lodged regarding the incident

A copy of the letter submitted to the Police Superintendent of Dharamsala regarding the incident

A copy of the letter submitted to the Police Superintendent of Dharamsala regarding the incident

Police on the scene

Click to enlarge

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  1. This is all the Central Tibetan Administration and Sikyong’s fault for criticizing Lukar Jam. Now the Tibetans are against Lukar Jam because of the poem that they think denigrates the Dalai Lama, although it was just an expression that Sperling’s demise came too early.

    The CTA has won in their effort to ostracize and demonize Lukar Jam from exile Tibetan community. Despite Lukar’s clarification that his expression has no political connotation, 1 group & another association, བོད་ཀྱི་རྩ་དོན་གླིང་སྐད་འཕྲིན་ཚོགས་པ། and དྷ་ས་ས་གནས་མདོ་སྨད་རྒྱུན་ལས། declared Lukar as the “enemy of the Tibetans” by saying he works in the “ways of Communist Chinese” .

    What happened to the democratic society that HH the Dalai Lama envision? What happened to all talk about Tibetan unity after the election?

    I call on ALL TIBETANS to speak up for His Holiness’ democracy, one that gives genuine freedom and the empowerment of the individual, not the current Dharamshala’s version of it.

  2. I do hope sufficient security will be given to Lukar jam’s family, in the coming days by the Indian police. Lukar Jam had gone to jail for the Tibetan cause, he is a patriot.

    CTA has proven again and again, they do not resolve issues, but make a mountain out of a molehill, and makes things worst. I say let Lukar Jam fight in the elections and try to bring solutions and practicality to resolve deep divides between Tibetans.

  3. Thinking of Lucas Jam’s case, I guess in a way he is ‘lucky’ that being on Indian soil, CTA is limited to inciting others to do the dirty work for them. By Indian law, these perpetrator dare not do too much yet. Otherwise, back in Tibet under the past governance, CTA would have directly accused Lukas Jam on some trumped up charge and tortured him to death, just because Lukas dared to challenge the seat. Look at the case of Methar, innocent but was skinned alive by the Dalai Lama’s Ministers for the “hidden riches” of the monastery that Methar holds account for. To the civilised West, this would be called barbaric.

    After almost 60 years of living in exile under the auspice of Indian Government and with the past 20 years under an elected government, CTA, the mentality of many living within the refugee communities are still very much feudalistic and thats how CTA wishes to keep them, slaves to their edict. No wonder the living standard of many are kept low so that they spend most times eking out a living and not on logical thinking. With CTA’s method of rule, they expect sympathy? They expect China to accept their demands to return to Tibet with obvious blatant bad governance and who uses their citizens to do their dirty work of harassing and attacking someone not their liking or considered a threat to their comfort? Hmm CTA lead by a Harvard graduate Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, either are ignorant of public opinions worldwide or ignorant that laws apply to them as well. Wonder how long can CTA carry on as it is before the walls bear down on them and they become none.

    Wake up CTA, change your rule, lift the ban on Dorje Shugden, give equality back to your people, stop all the propaganda attacks on Dorje Shugden practioners and China. Start dialogue with China before you have not basis to have the dialogue.

    May Lukas Jam and his family be safe and protected under the Indian laws. This is a good platform to bring attention to audience worldwide of the true nature of CTA rule.

  4. No doubt this is nothing new and everyone knows this could happen to anyone that going against the CTA but it’s really unacceptable act. How could the government treat their own people as such and this is the fact why CTA has been failing to bring back their country. A government that create separation among their people, targeting their people with harm and violence. How could they gain respect in the eye of the world? This act is totally shameful.

    I can’t see how CTA can achieve anything with this mindset. Even the young and educated tibetan has been questioning CTA nasty act and ask protection for Lukar Jam through the open letter. The world already can see how Tibetan leadership work here but only CTA still thinking that they are still the god of all Tibetan.

    How could they get support from other country for freedom when they don’t even practice it with their own people. CTA still thinking to get support from other country? On what basis?

    Tibetan leadership already lost their country and now they are splitting their people and only left those people that act violent and follow blindly. What is the future for them? The next generation will not buy in anymore with such action.

    Who is jeopardising His Holiness Dalai Lama reputation here? Who is the traitor here. Everyone can think.

  5. No doubt this is how the leaders of Tibetan exile government in Dharamshala operates. You cannot speak against them or they will find a way to demonize you and have you completely segregated. No one stops this fierce corruption and absolute power masquerading under the name of democracy. We will see more of this occurring in future as more Tibetans will speak out.

  6. In the past 50+ years, CTA has successfully make their people more and more stupid, and make them not able to think on their own. What did CTA teach their people throughout the years?

    If CTA wants to implement democracy, why not teach your own people the real meaning of democracy? The only reason why CTA tells the world they want to practice democracy is because they can continue to scam other countries to give them donations. In actuality, they do not want democracy. They do not allow different thoughts other than the thoughts come from CTA. Then how is this different from communist?

    Do yo think CTA will try to catch the culprit? No, because CTA wants to instil the fear in people and stop people from thinking for themselves. Shame on you CTA!

  7. Every government has responsible to protect its own people’s safety and prevent from the harm caused by other individuals or groups. For this instance, the relevant authorities should protect Lukar’s safety and properties based on the human rights and their entitlement to have the fairness treatment like other Tibetan community.
    Many countries have paid attention to the Tibetan cause about the Dorje Shugden issue and the people treatment. The CTA leadership has a choice whether to continue or stop for taking action against those who have thoughts that do not match the leadership. A liberty and good leadership will not exclude anyone and caused people to suffer.

  8. Judging from the policy, the CTA and leadership from Dharamsala is clearly Fascism, intolerant of alternative views and freedom of expression. Tibetans in exile, in the true state of things are governed under Fascism led by a strong leader, HIs Holiness, who is responsible to forge national unity and maintain a stable and orderly society. Any alternative views than His will automatically be deemed as antagonist, such in the case of Lukar Jam Atsock. And political violence is being viewed as a mean to achieve their goals. Therefore it put His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the same light with Mussolini and Hilter. I wonder has His Holiness’s think tank ever thought about this?

    Perhaps it is time for CTA and the leader in Dharmasala to restudy the sutra and Buddha Dharma, and put into practice the tenets of Buddha’s teaching, for example ACCEPTANCE and Be Kind and Honest with the people. Stop using malice underhand tactics to manipulate ignorant foot soilders to conduct violence against people who think or act differently.

  9. Poor Lukar Jam, he contributed so much towards the freedom of Tibet, he fights tirelessly for the free Tibet cause and was even imprisoned by the Chinese and this is what he gets in return. Good job Tibetan leadership! This is how you treat someone who has sacrificed his life to help your own country and people.

    This reflects how the Tibetan leadership operates, they are nice to you when you’re obedient and useful, but once your view slightly differs from theirs, they will make your life a living hell. So much of a ‘democratic’ country… Shame on the Tibetan leadership. No wonder they have not improved much, they are still not independent enough to sustain their own economy and have to leech on to other countries for funds… This has to change…

  10. You have to see this clear video showing His Holiness the Dalai Lama instructing the monasteries to expel monks that practice Dorje Shugden. Click here to watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTgYWidYw3U

  11. CTA democratic governance my foot!!! Once your fellowmen have different view and different practice from yours, you make their life difficult and terrorise them. Karma is catching up on you. Oh I don’t think you believe in karma from the way how you treat your own community.

  12. Nechung is ZUMA 👎 before I m think he is one of d best when I m watch dis video By Geshe Dorjee la but now I m think is not d truth n he is lie to Tibet people we r not back to Tibet yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDZLzXIgW8 Chithue Tenpa Yarphel la tq for talk about truth of Nechung . I m watch to this video many time la https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if2dFMKIr_8 n after I hear you talk I m not belief to Nechung

  13. 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

  14. 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.

  15. 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)

  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. 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/

  18. 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

  19. 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

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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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