McLeod Ganj, site of the Cholsum Organisation convention

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

Dharamsala, 28 Aug 1998

Even though the ongoing controversial convention of Cholsum Organisation revived the bitterness within the struggling Tibetan community on the Shugden issue, the flared up emotions at McLeod Ganj seem to have calmed down for now. This follows the return of 120 Shugden delegates to their society headquarters in Delhi after failing to seek entry into the convention.

Security is still on the high side in McLeod Ganj to avert any untoward incident in the aftermath of the prevention of the deity’s supporters from entering into the township, which also houses some individual worshippers of Dorje Shugden. According to source, the “two-day long crisis during which the Shugden Society delegates had to be kept under judicial custody in Dehra keeping in view the law and order situation,” could have been avoided had the Cholsum Organisation and the Tibetan government-in-exile got in touch with the local police with all the details of convention well in time.

“We were told just four to five days before the start of the convention, which was supposed to be the hot bed of controversy with religious sentiment of warring Tibetan sections involved in it. We would have even sorted out the issue of security by having discussions with both sides, prior to the event”, said a district police official.

“The local police found it difficult to control the mob of Tibetans in McLeod Ganj on Wednesday night, when they protested against the local administration for having allowed the Shugden members to begin their journey from Delhi to Dharamsala,” he added.

“Police circles here feel that when the Tibetan government-in-exile knew that the event could lead to a disturbance within the Tibetan community as most of the people in McLeod Ganj recognise Shugdens as enemies of Dalai Lama”, it could have even not held the convention to avoid confrontation. The Tibetan government-in-exile has so far adopted a tight-lipped approach on the controversy, maintaining that “the Cholsum convention was purely a private event by a non-government organisation. Fearing a confrontation with Shugdens, the security department had already alerted the district authorities in advance.”

On the other hand, the district police found that there was a dire need of keeping a regular update on the Tibetan government affair, involving its political and religious events requiring security. “A last minute alert is not enough”, said a police officer on terms of anonymity.