Click to enlarge. (Source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?article=Defendant+seeks+extension+at+the+first+hearing+of+Case+No.+20&id=41495)

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2019/06/05/penpa-tserings-case-against-cta-president-defendant-asks-more-time)

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Penpa Tsering Vs Lobsang Sangay Case in Tibetan Court (Breaking News)

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31 July 2018

Wherever Lobsang Sangay has turned up for public engagements, he has been greeted with protestors who are unhappy with the corruption exhibited by the Tibetan leadership.

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

By Solaray Kusco

It has been a trying few months for the President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Sikyong Lobsang Sangay. Since he trounced political rival Penpa Tsering in the 2016 Sikyong elections, nothing has gone right for him. Post-election tensions ran high between the former candidates so to pacify him, Penpa Tsering was given the consolation post of North America’ donjo (the Dalai Lama’s representative). This position is highly coveted amongst the upper echelons of the Tibetan leadership because it comes with wealth and privilege, thanks to plentiful opportunities to meet liberal American sponsors and donors.

However, in November 2017, after Sangay’s sudden and unexplained dismissal of Penpa Tsering from the donjo post, his ratings took a real nosedive and have not recovered since. Things continued to go from bad to worse as nearly one hundred Tibetans, calling themselves the “Truth Seeking Volunteers”, have been protesting Sangay wherever in the world he has travelled to.

Most recently, they camped outside the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile for ten days (March 14^th to 24^th), protesting against Sangay while the Parliament inside debated about the Penpa Tsering issue, although they were supposed to be discussing budgetary concerns. The protestors’ demands include greater clarification regarding Penpa Tsering’s dismissal, as well as an explanation for the US$1.5mil which went missing from the Tibet Fund and appears to have been mis-accounted for at best, and embezzled at worst.

It was not until the tenth day that 14 members of parliament met with representatives of the protestors, appearing in their personal capacity to listen to the concerns of their constituents. The fact that the target of the protests, Sangay himself, refused to meet with anyone is a clear indication that he would rather attend to more financially lucrative endeavors, and he has no interest in resolving issues that actually concern those who voted him into power. Not only did Sangay snub his constituents but he added salt to the wound when he haughtily challenged them to take him to court if they were unsatisfied with the Cabinet’s decisions.

Sangay’s behavior confirms the opposition’s claims that he does not behave like a democratically-elected leader of the people, but is more akin to an arrogant, self-serving dictator who sees no need to be answerable to the electorate. Hence, due to Sangay’s ego, he is willing to waste even more Tibetan taxpayers’ money and time in fighting his own Tibetan people in court. Has he not done enough damage already with his other divisive policies like the ban on Dorje Shugden, and his refusal to given equal parliamentary representation to the Jonangpas?

One of the nine hunger strikers of the followers of the Jonang sect. They are outside the CTA’s (Tibetan Parliament) office in Dharamsala demanding for the discrimination against their sect to end. The CTA or Central Tibetan Administration are well known for their corrupt and unjust ways of handling their people. The Jonang sect was banned in Tibet by the 5th Dalai Lama for over 400 years until recently. Now they want representatives in the Tibetan Parliament which is not allowed to them. The same discrimination and much more is also targeted against Dorje Shugden followers.

Would it not just cost less for Sangay to answer his people’s questions face-to-face, or is honesty really that difficult for him? This kind of typical behavior from the Tibetan leadership shows Sangay’s lack of foresight and care for the CTA’s image as a whole. As it is, the Tibetans in exile are facing more challenges than ever before, with their main sponsor and host country India dumping them in favor of relations with China. Yet, instead of uniting the Tibetan people, Sangay chooses to divide them further by challenging his own people to sue him. Does he not think something like this will reflect badly on the Tibetans, not to mention the Dalai Lama, when everyone sees Tibetans fighting one another so publicly, forever airing their dirty laundry?

Now we see the truth about the Tibetan leadership’s undemocratic ways. Real democracy allows the people’s voices to be heard and good leadership means facing these voices and answering them. Unfortunately, the Tibetan leadership has no experience at being held accountable for anything since no one has ever dared to speak up against the injustices they commit. But that was in the past, at a time when it was unthinkable for Tibetans to protest against their leaders.

The world nowadays is a very different place and protests have become commonplace. If the once-unthinkable protests show no signs of abating, then Sangay would do well to realize it is only a matter of time before he will be forced to make good on his fighting words. There are plenty of Tibetans who are angry with him, and who possess the resources to take him up on his challenge. And let’s not forget the ever-watchful eye of the Dalai Lama, who may just step in and oust Sangay if the protests grow too large, and the protestors grow too vocal.

It is time for Sangay to step up to the plate and start making real amends or step down as leader, because his behavior is, to put it simply, bad for business. Yes, the world and the Dalai Lama are watching so Sangay, it is your move.

Tibet Sun: What if the protesters bring Lobsang Sangay to court?

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2018/04/02/what-if-the-protesters-bring-lobsang-sangay-to-court)

Phayul: Protestors demand impeachment of President Sangay, MP Yarphel

Click to enlarge. (Source: http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=40270)

The Siasat Daily: Tibetans protests against government amidst strained relations with India

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.siasat.com/news/tibetans-protests-against-cta-president-amidst-strained-relations-india-1330963/)

Sikyong Lobsang Sangay launched a CTA-sponsored book that glorifies Tibetan suicide by self-immolation.

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

By: Shashi Kei

It has been 60 years since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet to set up an exile government in Dharamsala, North India. As a third generation of Tibetan refugees drift with uncertain futures in exile, most of them today have not seen, let alone lived in, their homeland. And yet a deep ultranationalism accompanied by animosity towards China persists due to very effective indoctrination that has been championed by the Dalai Lama’s exile Tibetan leadership, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

Faced with a powerful nemesis and finding itself with no military or economic might, the CTA has instead co-opted two very powerful weapons in its assault against China – the Dalai Lama and the Buddhist religion. In the name of the Dalai Lama, the CTA commandeered Buddhism as a political tool and with that, created pockets of anti-China agitators in every place in the world where the Tibetan Buddhist faith is being practiced.

According to the CTA’s narrative, the proper practice of the Buddha’s teachings compels unquestioning compliance with all of the Dalai Lama’s thoughts, which by extension, translates into the CTA’s policies and its political aspirations. The Dalai Lama is presented as a Buddha and hence all Buddhist adherents owe him a duty of obedience. In doing this, the CTA places the Dalai Lama at risk of being compared to the infamous Pope Boniface VIII, the megalomaniacal pontiff who decreed that salvation was not possible unless the people subjected themselves to him completely. Similarly, one is not a proper Buddhist unless one supports the Dalai Lama ergo, the CTA. This is notwithstanding the fact that the Dalai Lama is not even the absolute spiritual head of his own lineage, the Gelug school, let alone of Buddhism overall.

The CTA has subtly encouraged Tibetan self-immolation as a means to create sympathy for its political agenda. Over 150 Tibetans have perished unnecessarily over the years. When will the CTA finally speak up strongly to discourage the Tibetans from self-harm?

Being in exile accorded the Dalai Lama more power than any of his predecessors or any other Tibetan Buddhist figure, as the world became intoxicated with the Shangrila myth. It is upon this privilege and power that the CTA draws its legitimacy. In the decades since the Dalai Lama escaped Tibet, the Tibetan leader has commanded immense vogue and created a significant global space within which the CTA has increasingly worked its mischief, often undermining the Dalai Lama’s efforts.

The Sabotage

A number of incidences bear testimony to this. For instance, in July 2017 amid a tense standoff between India and China, the President of the CTA Lobsang Sangay decided it was an opportune time to assert Tibetan independence, and to raise the Tibetan flag at Pangong Tso (Pangong Lake), which lies between India and China. Sangay’s taunt of China was all the more provocative given it was done within eyeshot of Tibet. That injudicious act infuriated China, a result at odds with India’s seeking of a peaceful solution to its border woes. To redress the injury, the Indian Foreign Secretary subsequently instructed all Indian government officials to refrain from participating in Tibetan events organized to mark the 60^th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s exile in India. In essence, the CTA significantly diminished almost 60 years of goodwill the Dalai Lama had built with the CTA’s generous host.

More recently, the Dalai Lama’s efforts to close the gap between Dharamsala and Beijing with accord on spiritual matters has been brazenly thwarted by his own Tibetan government-in-exile. In April 2018, the Dalai Lama acknowledged that the China-enthroned Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu is in fact the “official Panchen Lama”, a statement that effectively endorses China’s legitimacy in recognizing and enthroning high lamas. This represents a complete reversal of the Tibetan leadership’s past stance, which asserted that Gyancain Norbu is merely a political stooge and a false incarnation of the popular 10^th Panchen Lama. Given the importance of the Panchen Lama, deemed to be the highest-ranking Tibetan lama in China, the Dalai Lama’s acceptance of the Chinese Panchen Lama was clearly designed to thaw relations with Beijing and draw parties back to the negotiation table. The head of the CTA, Lobsang Sangay was with the Dalai Lama when his proclamation on Gyancain Norbu was made and so there cannot have been a miscommunication.

His Holiness the 11th Panchen Lama, Gyaincain Norbu.

Nevertheless, just two days later, the CTA saw it fit to publish on its official website an article critical of the Chinese Panchen Lama and demanded the release of their authorized Panchen Lama candidate, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima whom they claim had been kidnapped by China in 1995. To ensure that their point was not lost, another two stories were published on the CTA website in May 2018, both critical of the Chinese Panchen Lama. In essence, these stories demolished whatever foundations of friendship the Dalai Lama was constructing with Beijing.

Co-opting Buddhism

Not content with undermining the Dalai Lama’s diplomacy on the domestic front, the CTA has gone international with its attempts. In his recent speeches made during world tours, Lobsang Sangay has framed the Sino-Tibetan conflict as the struggle between Communism and Buddhism, masquerading the fact that it is more accurately a quarrel over who has dominion over the Tibetan nation – a communist regime or a feudal theocracy to whom the Tibetan people were regarded as mere chattel prior to 1959.

The CTA’s misuse of Buddhism is subtle but delivers devastating effect. An example is the Tibetan leadership’s 1996 ban on the worship of a popular Tibetan Buddhist deity, Dorje Shugden. The 2004 Human Rights Watch Report on Tibet dedicates an entire section to Dorje Shugden, articulating how the CTA’s diktat on the Shugden practice created deep divisions amongst Tibetans in the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) and worldwide. Banning the worship of Dorje Shugden was a calculated and deft strategy. Dorje Shugden, an ancient deity worshipped by many Tibetan Buddhist schools, was carefully chosen from amongst the thousands of deities in the Tibetan Buddhist pantheon due to the popularity of his practice.

The International Shugden Community, whose members comprise of Shugden practitioners from all over the world, have suffered discrimination

The CTA conceived the idea of Dorje Shugden being an instrument of the Chinese, constructed with the aim of destabilizing the reign of the Dalai Lama. In this way, Tibetans were pitted against one another. Dorje Shugden practitioners on the one hand were summarily painted as anti-Tibet, anti-Dalai Lama and pro-Chinese traitors while non-Dorje Shugden practitioners were pro-Tibet and pro-Dalai Lama. The result of all this was unrest within the TAR, precisely what the Chinese government fears most due to the tendency for unrest to escalate into uprisings in China’s frontier regions. It was a clever ruse on the part of the CTA, turning Tibetan Buddhists worldwide into de facto Tibet activists, intent on suppressing Dorje Shugden practitioners with the TAR and across the globe, all for the sake of the so-called ‘Tibet cause’.

A Noxious Assault on Freedom

Whilst effective, this strategy exacts a very high attrition on communities dragged into supporting the CTA’s agenda, namely discord and disharmony in erstwhile peaceful societies not involved in Sino-Tibetan aggressions. Still, it is a cost the CTA seems prepared to inflict as we see in its recent interference in Taiwanese spiritual affairs. Since 1949 Taiwan and China have had fraught relations. As tensions renewed between the two nations under Taiwan’s new President, Tsai Ing-wen, the CTA waded in to introduce further enmity and mistrust between the small island nation and the juggernaut China.

In August 2018, CTA representative Dawa Tsering proudly launched a new anti-Shugden book in Taiwan, titled “Tibetan Dharma Protectors, Deities and Demons”

In August 2018, the CTA via its agency Snowland Publications in Taiwan published Tibetan Dharma Protectors, Deities and Demons. The book was written in Chinese with a foreword by Dawa Tsering, the CTA’s representative in Taiwan. At first glance, the publication of an educational book on Tibetan Buddhism seems benign enough. However, on closer inspection, it bears all the hallmarks of good propaganda material created with one intention – to use the Dorje Shugden issue to divide the community and blame China.

With chapter titles like “How did Tulku Drakpa Gyaltsen [who arose as the said divinity Dorje Shugden] become an evil spirit”; and “The Poison of Dolgyal [a derogatory name for the deity]” and “The Consequences of Propitiating Shugden” there is no doubt what the objective of the book is. Not a single page acknowledges the fact that the highest lamas of the Gelug and the Sakya, including the 14^th Dalai Lama, had worshipped the deity.

Dawa Tsering said in an interview with Radio Free Asia that Dorje Shugden “violates Buddhism” while sidestepping the fact that the very idea of a book that disparages a religion and seeks to create disharmony in a foreign state violates the simplest concept of freedom and decency. This is the CTA once again undermining the Dalai Lama’s work to portray the Tibetans as harmless and soulful citizens of a heavenly Himalayan nation.

Not only is it suspicious that an official of the supposedly democratic CTA is again conflating religion and politics, but now the CTA is stirring trouble in another country whose religious affairs are of no concern to any foreign government, let alone an exiled and stateless administration whose primary preoccupation should be the welfare of its refugee populace and the fulfilment of the Dalai Lama’s wish to return to Tibet.

Prior to the new Taiwanese publication, Lobsang Sangay had launched yet another anti-Shugden book in 2016, written with the purpose of segregating and creating further divisions within the Tibetan community.

The CTA’s latest anti-Shugden book purports to expose Taiwanese Buddhist groups that it claims have been infiltrated by the Chinese government. The basis of this allegation is purely on account of the groups’ worship of Dorje Shugden, the deity that the CTA had pre-emptively outlawed despite claiming to be a democracy. According to the book’s line of thought, the evil government of China has corrupted Buddhism in Taiwan and therefore, even if a Buddhist practitioner has no interest in Sino-Tibetan politics, he should still oppose China as a means of defending the integrity of his faith. That makes him a supporter of the Dalai Lama and CTA by default.

The CTA’s act has far-reaching consequences:

• To begin with, it trespasses on Taiwan’s spiritual affairs, rightly an internal issue that the CTA should have no say over.
• It specifically targets certain Taiwanese Buddhist groups. Thus, the CTA is implying that all good Taiwanese Buddhists should disregard Taiwan’s laws that provide for freedom of religion, and instead obey the CTA’s decrees.
• It attempts to criminalize Taiwanese citizens who choose not to abide by the CTA’s diktats regarding Dorje Shugden.
• It conflates spirituality with politics, implying that a Taiwanese citizen’s personal choice of worship is somehow a reflection of their private political beliefs.
• It brings to Taiwan the same unrest it created within the TAR and in other Tibetan Buddhist communities worldwide.
• It is an external administration passing judgement on Taiwanese citizens, thereby disregarding the sovereignty that Taiwan claims for itself and its people. How is that any different from, say, Germany passing a decree about Greek citizens? Or from China making decisions on Taiwan’s behalf, to put it into a context a Taiwanese citizen can relate to?

The CTA’s own treatment of Shugden Buddhists is nothing short of draconian. For instance, it publishes on its official website a series of notices and parliamentary resolutions that criminalizes Shugden worship and compels the Tibetan populace to apply pressure on Shugden Buddhists to give up their faith. Now the CTA wants the people of Taiwan to similarly turn on their own countrymen and splinter the Taiwanese Buddhist community. The deeply divided Tibetan community worldwide and the unrest in the TAR such as that reported by the Human Rights Watch in 2004 bear witness to the damage suffered by those who have listened to the CTA.

The official website of the Central Tibetan Administration carries material that undemocratically accuses Dorje Shugden practitioners worldwide to be “Chinese spies” and “criminals in history”. Click to enlarge.

What the CTA aims to do – constrain the people’s choice of belief while planting dissension and bringing strife upon Taiwan’s Buddhist community – contravenes the most fundamental international laws that prohibit a State from interfering with the internal affairs of another State thereby compromising its sovereignty. This is notwithstanding the fact that the CTA is not legally a State by the definition of established International Law, although it behaves and demands to be accorded the privileges and status of one. In fact, for 60 years, the CTA has acted outside the ambit of every global regulatory body and the reach of international law, a convenience they have exploited fully. Next, and given prevailing tensions between Taiwan and China, the CTA’s book that accuses Shugden Buddhists of being Chinese agents serves to induce further sentiments detrimental to the development of peaceful reunification between Taiwan and China. Stirring anti-China sentiments can only damage cross-strait ties at a time when they are already frail.

A Simple Business Decision

It may perplex some to see how a government that claims to base its policies on Buddhist values such as ahimsa (non-violence or non-injury) engage in such treachery to serve its political agenda. This is especially so when the Dalai Lama became famous off the back of touting messages of peace all over the world, even being awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. But there is a simple explanation – the CTA is after all an exile government and as such, its reason for existing holds only as long as the 150,000 or so Tibetans who followed the Dalai Lama into exile continue to be refugees.

The CTA’s locus standi ends the moment the Dalai Lama’s spiritual and political plans are accomplished, symbolized by his return to China-controlled Tibet. The success of the Dalai Lama’s work comes at the demise of the CTA, which will simply have no role in the TAR. It is highly unlikely China will consider, let alone allow, for a separate administration to operate autonomously with its own set of rules, especially one that has spent six decades actively seizing every opportunity to destabilize the region.

The CTA will have to dissolve its core and supporting structures including the countless Office of Tibet premises around the world that have drawn, according to conservative estimates, an annual average of USD50 million into the CTA’s coffers for the past 60 years. This money is supposed to be applied towards improving the standard of living of the Tibetan refugees but, given the string of global propaganda campaigns that keep resentment towards China at a peak, critics cannot help but wonder if the donations and grants have been used to bankroll the CTA’s schemes instead.

Should the Dalai Lama manage to draw the Chinese government into a settlement, this gravy train would come to an abrupt halt and career politicians like Lobsang Sangay would lose all prestige accorded him. He will instead have to return to his position as an assistant lecturer, given the lack of demand in the otherwise lucrative lecture circuit for a failed President who has no achievements to call his own. Which politician-businessman would seek such an end? There are such incongruities between what the CTA portrays and its actions that lend credence to China’s labelling of the CTA as a “separatist government”. The Dalai Lama has called for a cessation of CTA hostilities towards China saying that it is foolish to regard China as the enemy and that the past is past. Clearly, the CTA disagrees. It cannot afford not to.

中国染指“凶天”渗透分化海外藏人

Source: https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/hx1-08202018101135.html. Click to enlarge.

By: Tyr Beswick

Since they entered the country over 60 years ago, the Tibetans have had free reign to carry out their activities, whether religious, social or political. Led by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; the Tibetan leadership based in Dharamsala, North India), they have taken full advantage of this kindness granted to them by the Indian government. However, instead of using this platform to benefit India, the CTA has exploited India as a platform to carry out their political agendas. Thus, the last 60 years have seen Tibetans using India as a base from which they can repeatedly provoke China on the issue of a Free Tibet.

The CTA has always shown a total absence of care for their host country’s political relations with other nation states although it is India who has been kindest to them. In 1959, when no other nation came to their aid, and no one else was open to hosting 95,000 exiled Tibetans, it was India who opened up her borders. However, the CTA has not shown India the gratitude she deserves.

Hence given the CTA’s behavior, it is unsurprising to learn that they have damaged their host country’s relationship with China on many occasions. But now India is pushing back against this Tibetan exploitation, and using the CTA and the Tibetans in-exile as a tool to improve ties with China instead. Most recently:

1. Vijay Gokhale, India’s Foreign Secretary met with both the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Prime Minister, Lobsang Sangay to tell them to move the “Thank You India” events out of Delhi, as India gears up to appease China. The instruction was a surprising one, as the events were supposed to be a way for the Tibetans to show their gratitude to India. But it does not seem like the Indians were interested, preferring instead to find ways of reaching out to China. Perhaps this show of Tibetan gratitude was too little, too late. Regardless, the CTA went ahead with their event anyway but had to hold it on a much smaller scale at their local temple in Dharamsala.
2. Gokhale went so far as to inform government officials not to attend any Tibetan events, even issuing a memo to this effect. The memo was leaked, an act which some think was intentional. This hints at two possibilities. First, it was a ploy to unofficially let China know that India is changing its stance towards the Tibetans, so India can get into China’s good books. Second, it was India’s way of letting ordinary Tibetans know she is serious about reaching out to China.
3. Some have also speculated that the upper echelons of power in Delhi were displeased by the CTA’s insensitivity towards the current state of bilateral relations between India and China. Having lived in India for the past 60 years, the CTA is fully aware of the necessity of maintaining the delicate balance of Sino-Indian ties. Yet, they went ahead with their “Thank You India’ celebrations without coordinating with the relevant Indian ministries and without any due consideration of how it could impact India’s foreign policy.

So just why is India changing its stance after 60 years of supporting the Tibetans in every manner possible? A brief look at recent global events makes the reasons behind India’s turnabout very clear — this is not the first time that the CTA have pulled a stunt like this with potentially huge negative repercussions for India.

1. It has been said that Samdhong Rinpoche’s secret visit to China last year contributed to India’s renewed sense of urgency in improving their relationship with China. Although no details have emerged about Samdhong Rinpoche’s visit, it is widely assumed he visited China to strike a deal about the Dalai Lama returning to Tibet. In the past, China has made it clear that any deal of this nature will only be approved if the CTA acknowledges that Tibet has always been a part of China. India sees this acknowledgement as problematic because it would call into question the legality of the McMahon Line. This is the border that Tibet and British India agreed upon during the 1914 Simla Conference; if the CTA admits Tibet was never independent, the Simla agreement becomes null and void, thus throwing into question the India-China border and opening up all kinds of territorial disputes. These are border territories that India is not willing to accede so building positive bilateral relations with China now, is a method for India to reduce the risk of potential territorial disputes in the future.
2. Staving off potential border disputes with China is just one of many incentives for India to improve relations with their giant neighbor. At home, the Indian leadership are finding that the CTA themselves are creating incentives for India to rescind her support of the Tibetans. In the last 60 years, the CTA have done very little to assist India with her many domestic and foreign challenges. Oftentimes, the CTA has even added to them, especially in stirring up trouble between China and India during sensitive times. We saw this most recently during the 2017 Doklam standoff, when Bhutan and China were locked in a territorial dispute over the Doklam area. India, claiming to act on Bhutan’s behalf, sought to intervene since Doklam is in their northeastern border and any instability there could spill over into Indian territory. As a result, China became upset at India’s presumed interference and the two nations nearly came to blows.
3. Despite the tense situation, the CTA President Lobsang Sangay decided to take a trip up to North India anyway. There, he unfurled the Tibetan flag at Pangong Lake, which is on India’s border with China’s Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). China saw this as a deliberate act of provocation since the flag symbolizes Tibetan independence and, by extension, the CTA’s dangerous ‘separatist’ activities to destabilize the TAR. And of course, they blamed India for allowing Lobsang Sangay to travel there, thus worsening India’s relationship with China.

With the relationship between India and China already so bad, any leader worth their salt would have been respectful and stayed away. Yet Lobsang Sangay deliberately sought to make matters worse, an indication that the Tibetans are definitely not innocent. Their need for one-upmanship over China has always overridden Indian welfare, and their actions reflect their ingratitude for India’s past kindnesses and disdain for her brighter future. It is this disdain that has caused India to react skillfully, outmaneuvering the Tibetans as they advance their aim of creating closer ties with China. The CTA thought it was safe, thought they could continue using India without apprise. However, the Indian government can only be taken advantage of so many times before this powerful, sophisticated democracy tires of their manipulation and games. The Tibetan leadership should realize one thing – while India may talk about a “sensitive time” with China, the same can be said of their relationship with the CTA, who should tread very, very carefully lest they lose Indian support altogether.

Is Trump Politics Inspiring Modi to Change His China Policy?

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.dailyo.in/politics/tibet-india-china-doklam-xi-jinping-dalai-lama-narendra-modi/story/1/23232.html)

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

By: Steve Lee

In an opinion piece, Lobsang Wangyal, the owner of TibetSun.com and a well-known commentator of Tibetan affairs, paints a realistic but very bleak picture. His specific focus is on the Tibetan leadership’s current state of affairs in relations to the latest developments in Sino-Indian bilateral relations.

Wangyal begins with the ramifications of the Doklam standoff. While India possesses a formidable army that rivals China’s, the former still chose to retreat during the conflict. And though it seemed imminent that India would launch an attack on Chinese forces at the height of the land dispute, somehow the conflict fizzled out. All this was despite persistent rumors that the Chinese had retained a military presence in the area and that unofficial reports indicated they were setting up a military base there.

Meanwhile, China has also been engaging in soft diplomacy, by heavily investing in countries bordering India. Not only has she been courting India’s traditional allies, but China has also been investing in India’s enemies too, bringing Pakistan under Chinese influence to be held as a potential trump card against India.

China’s influence also extends to the United Nations, where her veto and objections continue to be a stumbling block in India’s quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. In the South China Sea, and in disputed border territories such as Doklam and Aksai Chin, China’s expansionist policy is once again obvious; in these areas, China flexes its colossal muscles with little to no resistance. Furthermore, China is quick to express dissatisfaction any time it receives reports of anti-China sentiment.

Yet, despite all these issues, India continues to maintain diplomatic relations with China, even to the point of calling China “friend”. There is no denying the fact the topic of China will continue to dominate India’s foreign policy and ultimately, neither side wants armed conflict, a fact which has already been made clear from the Doklam standoff. The only common ground between China and India is trade and commerce and in reality, this is what China is really looking at when it eyes India’s massive population and economy.

In this delicate balance, the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan exiled leadership remains India’s wild card against China and in this regard, Wangyal feels India has not used the Tibet card strategically enough to extract the appropriate concessions from China. In fact, it has been quite the opposite and it seems that the Indian leadership is no longer interested in using the Tibetan leadership as a thorn in China’s side. This is best exemplified by the recent Indian Foreign Ministry directive for Indian officials to avoid the ‘Thank You India’ events hosted by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership in Dharamsala). Such a directive is a clear sign that India is starting to relinquish the Tibet card in favor of deepening relations with China.

Although Wangyal criticizes what he perceives to be India’s acquiescence towards China, he reserves his greatest criticism for the Tibetan leadership. His main bone of contention appears to be a weak leadership that has led to the Tibetans being powerless – he writes about the potential of Lobsang Sangay receiving a ‘dressing-down’ or being ‘summoned’ to Delhi. He bemoans a Tibetan leadership who are more focused on vanity projects designed to make themselves look good, rather than engaging in real efforts to recover their standing with India. He is of the opinion that the ‘Thank You India’ initiative was insubstantial and had no impact whatsoever.

The author ends his piece with a wakeup call for the Tibetan leadership to radically rethink its strategy of engaging with India, a country that is increasingly looking at improving its relations with China. This is a Tibetan highlighting the foibles and shortcomings of his own leadership; if the CTA will not listen to external parties, will they hopefully listen to one of their own? Perhaps the CTA’s new strategy should involve an active engagement program that includes China instead of its usual policy of antagonizing China all the time. After all, the latter strategy has been tried and tested for the past 60 years, with zero results. An active engagement program that includes China may be a painful concession for the self-motivated CTA, but it may also be the only way to get what they want i.e. some kind of progress in their political aspirations. And it is therefore in this manner that the Tibetan leadership needs to grow up, take charge and find different, new and creative ways to secure their people’s future, before the situation spirals further beyond their control than it has already done. Lobsang Wangyal is brutally honest, direct and refreshingly insightful. Tibetans who lived their entire lives in India and educated like Wangyal have a good grasp of world politics and express honest opinions of their rapidly dissipating ineffectual Tibetan government in exile and openly express their dismay, concern and fears. He fearlessly tells his own Tibetan government in exile to grow up already!

No need to thank India – just grow up a little

Click to enlarge. (Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2018/03/13/no-need-to-thank-india-just-grow-up-a-little-bit)

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

By: Shashi Kei

There is now confirmation that the Dalai Lama’s personal envoy and ex-Prime Minister of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) lied about his visit to China. Professor Samdhong Rinpoche’s trip, which was reported by no less than five news platforms and verified by the current head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, was flatly denied by Samdhong Rinpoche two weeks after news of his secret travels broke.

However, just over three weeks later, Samdhong Rinpoche’s denial was exposed to be false by Jayadeva Ranade, a former officer of India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the primary foreign intelligence agency of India set up to closely monitor foreign threats to the country, including any from China. The former RAW officer revealed that Samdhong Rinpoche would certainly have met with senior Chinese officials including Xi Jinping’s appointee to The United Front Work Department, which is the very department set up by the Chinese Communist Party to manage Tibetan affairs. Therefore, given the reliability of the source of information, it is safe to say that Samdhong Rinpoche’s denial was disingenuous.

On its own, Samdhong Rinpoche’s purposeful misrepresentation of a fact is disturbing, not least because as a senior ordained monk who is looked up to for inspiration and guidance, his conduct can either inspire or dishearten younger monastic aspirants and pursers of the Dharma. Add to that the fact that Samdhong Rinpoche represents the Dalai Lama, supposedly a living symbol of truth and virtue who commands a vital position in the Tibetan leadership that draws support based on moral grounds, and Samdhong Rinpoche’s dishonesty is jarring. As a result, a number of very important questions should be raised:

(i) To begin with, any news about the Dalai Lama’s envoy having dialogue with Chinese officials, presumably about the possible return of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan people to their homeland, should be welcome news. After all, about 150,000 Tibetans in exile and 6 million Tibetan people in the homeland deserve to know. They have waited over 50 years for signs that this dream that has defined the Tibetan diaspora might be possible; a dream for which 150 desperate Tibetans have set themselves on fire, as recently as May 2017. Sharing such news would serve to lift the spirits of the Tibetan people and many others around the world who have prayed, supported and campaigned for the Tibetan people’s return to their homeland. So why would Samdhong Rinpoche deny that he had talks with Chinese officials at all?

The CTA has recently been caught with their pants down on a number of corruption charges both abroad and in Dharamsala. The present leadership under Sikyong Lobsang Sangay has proven to be ineffective except for when it comes to disposing of rivals such as Lukar Jam and Penpa Tsering. Domestically the CTA has made it taboo for Tibetan refugees to accept Indian passports which would no doubt improve their chances of securing a better future as citizens of India, whilst CTA officials themselves have secured citizenships and permanent residencies abroad.

In short, the CTA is caught in its own entanglements that have arisen out of the self-serving agendas of CTA officials and their cronies. Much of the efforts the CTA has made in recent years has been to split the Tibetan community with myriad divisive issues so that the people are too busy fighting amongst themselves to ask what the CTA has been doing. Samdhong Rinpoche’s latest duplicity is very much characteristic of the Tibetan leadership and it is only a matter of time before we learn what Samdhong Rinpoche is hiding.

(ii) Or could Samdhong Rinpoche be hiding the fact that in order to secure favorable terms for the Dalai Lama and selected mandarins in Samdhong Rinpoche’s coterie, the Tibetan leadership would ultimately be willing to betray India who have provided for them for over half a century and at great costs to themselves?

As Jayadeva Ranade observed in his article, Samdhong Rinpoche’s visit takes place at a time when Sino-Indian relations are testy. And it was a shock that Samdhong Rinpoche would so insensitively attempt to reconcile with India’s adversary at a time when India needs support. Either Samdhong Rinpoche is completely inept at basic diplomacy, which is crucial for his role as personal envoy of the Dalai Lama, or he does not care about the wellbeing of the Tibetan people’s generous host. This is something the Indian people have begun to observe of late and consequently, more are voicing their unhappiness over how the Tibetans do not contribute back to India. They pay no rental, no taxes, and the CTA does not raise any funds to support Indian community projects. In fact, the Tibetan ‘refugees’ do far better and are far wealthier than the majority of the Indian people who continue to languish in sheer poverty.



Sino-Indian relations have deteriorated over time and there are multiple flashpoints along the Chinese-Indian border. The Tibet and Dalai Lama issues have not helped. At times like this, soft but effective pressure such as the Dalai Lama’s spiritual influence comes in handy in swaying sentiments in contested regions and other Sino-Indian cross-border issues. The Dalai Lama’s power should never be discounted, especially looking at how the Dalai Lama has managed to mesmerise the world with his charms longer than any statesman in living history, and enrolled a significant portion of the global populace into various manifestations of the ‘Tibetan cause’ even though no one really knows what the cause is.

Is Samdhong Rinpoche’s lie about his visit to China an indication that a deal is being negotiated with China that, in consummation, would hang India out to dry?


(iii) Perhaps the most disturbing element of Samdhong Rinpoche’s deception is how brazenly he conducts it. What most people see is an elderly person in monk’s robes who, as a two-term kalon tripa (Prime Minister of the CTA), held the fragmented Tibetan refugee community together. What fewer people know is the grotesque suppression of human rights that the exiled Tibetan people suffered under a government with Samdhong Rinpoche at the helm, and the damage Samdhong Rinpoche’s CTA inflicted with its schismatic policies and machinations.

It was under Samdhong Rinpoche’s leadership that the religious ban on the practice of Dorje Shugden was imposed in 1996. Samdhong Rinpoche directed the Tibetan Cabinet and Parliament to pass laws which in effect legalized the witch-hunt and persecution of Shugden Buddhists whose loyalty to the purity of their spiritual practice stood in the way of the CTA’s political ambitions. In 2008, with Samdhong Rinpoche still as the head, the Tibetan leadership inflicted the most damaging blow to the Tibetan monastic community by directing that Shugden-worshipping monks be forced to deny their own faith or be expelled. That directive ruptured the integrity of Tibetan Buddhism in a way Mao’s efforts to destroy Buddhism could not.

To justify his brutal policies, Samdhong Rinpoche had declared in an interview with Al Jazeera in 2009 that

… A lot of Shugden practitioners are becoming terrorists, and that they are willing to kill anybody. They are willing to beat up anybody.

Samdhong Rinpoche added that “It is very clear now people who are practicing Dorje Shugden are very close to the PRC leadership”

By falsely accusing Shugden Buddhists to be colluding with the Tibetan people’s enemy and by tagging them as “terrorists”, Samdhong Rinpoche struck a very sore chord with the people and unleashed a powerful source of pent-up anger against China. This anger was directed at innocent Shugden monks and lay practitioners who were already stricken because they had left their homes to follow the Dalai Lama into exile. In short, Samdhong Rinpoche succeeded in turning the Tibetan people against their own. However, there was never any truth in Samdhong Rinpoche’s false charges against Dorje Shugden practitioners and the fact remains that, throughout the entirety of the Dorje Shugden religious ban, Samdhong Rinpoche has never provided evidence to support his allegations or explain how Tibetan and non-Tibetan Buddhists instantly became allies with the CCP merely by worshipping an ancient Tibetan deity. Unfortunately, that false accusation took traction and the unity of the largest Tibetan Buddhist sect fell apart.

As it turns out, now we see that instead of Shugden Buddhists having alliances with the Chinese government as Samdhong Rinpoche has alleged, it is he who has been keeping friends in the CCP all this time. Samdhong Rinpoche’s recent visit to China could not have happened if he did not have very close ties with high officials in the Chinese Communist Central Committee. He is after all the personal envoy of the Dalai Lama whom the Chinese government regards with great caution. Before that, he was a two-term CTA prime minister who had attacked China’s reputation at each opportunity he could find. And yet, Samdhong Rinpoche managed to enter China quietly and hold secret talks with high Chinese officials. None of this could have happened if Samdhong Rinpoche did not have strings in the right places – strings that he has maintained throughout the years. The Chinese government must have some trust in Samdhong Rinpoche to let him in so easily.

In what is clearly an obscene twist of facts, Dorje Shugden Buddhists have been wrongly accused for years for being friendly with China and have been persecuted by the Tibetan people as a result. In the meantime, it is the accuser himself who has harboured secret Chinese networks and yet the Tibetan people blindly continue to place their trust in him. So we can clearly see that Samdhong Rinpoche, who began the unholy political crusade against Dorje Shugden worshippers, is someone who is not impartial to lying and deception.

Today the Tibetan community in exile is completely fragmented courtesy of a number of CTA policies that Samdhong Rinpoche initiated and Lobsang Sangay continued. To achieve the fading Tibetan dream, the people need to close ranks and set aside differences that their leadership introduced and perpetuated. They need to unite under a strong, committed and competent leadership that focuses on the welfare of the Tibetan people. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen as long as the old robber-barons such as Samdhong Rinpoche are in power and the people are regarded as nothing more than chattels at the disposal of feudal lords, regardless of how many ‘democracy days’ the Tibetan people celebrate.

Tibet Developments May Put Pressure on India

Source: http://www.rediff.com/news/column/tibet-developments-may-put-pressure-on-india/20180107.htm. Click to read the full report.

Former Indian Intelligence Claims Samdhong Rinpoche Visited China

Source: http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/07/former-indian-intelligence-claims-samdhong-rinpoche-visited-china/. Click to read the full report.

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

By: Jangchup Wangmo

DEHRADUN, INDIA - Of late, Phayul, TibetSun.com and TibetanJournal.com have been awash with news about Penpa Tsering’s recent dismissal from the post of dhonchoe (Dalai Lama’s representative) of North America. It is the latest scandal to infiltrate every teashop conversation throughout the Tibetan refugee settlements.

Yet amidst the petty bickering about who is right, who is wrong, who said what, which supporters are more violent and where did the money go – what everyone has forgotten is the welfare of the Tibetans in Tibet.

The Tibetan leadership are more interested in fulfilling their political vendettas and concerned about maintaining their access to easy money, than about accomplishing something that will benefit the Tibetan population as a whole. There is bountiful proof of this.

• The Tibetan leadership are always talking about how harsh life is under the Chinese leadership, and how the Tibetan people are supposedly oppressed. If that were true, where is the urgency to do something about it? 60 years after going into exile, and decades after the last fact-finding trip to Tibet, there has been no change in the situation. Since Sikyong Lobsang Sangay came into power, he has not held one single talk with any member of the Chinese leadership. That alone is proof that Lobsang Sangay is ineffective as a leader because he has made scant, if any, progress in accomplishing what all Tibetans want, which is to be reunited inside Tibet.
• The Tibetan media is filled with news about their scandals and segregation, and blame games. There is hardly ever news about their advocacy work any more, which these days appears to be predominantly funded and carried out by internationally-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs). These NGOs tend to be operated and maintained by non-Tibetans, with minimal involvement and input from the CTA.
• The fact the Tibetan monasteries still have to beg for money is proof that the Tibetan leadership have no interest in protecting Tibetan culture. In pre-1959, the monasteries were supported by the laity as well as the government, who extended assistance to struggling monasteries. In a post-exile Tibet, the monasteries have to send their monks on demeaning exhibition tours around the world. On these tours, they proffer holy rituals, intricate mandala exhibitions and sacred dances for people to gawk at, all in exchange for a fee, like some sort of spiritual freak show. It seems that under the Tibetan leadership, also known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA based in Dharamsala), everything is for sale at a price, even their precious religion.

The problem is that life in exile has become too easy, to the point the Tibetan leadership have forgotten about the supposed “sufferings” of their people inside Tibet. In exile, they have all the freedoms afforded to them which they fully exploit:

• They can buy houses using money from dubious sources, and maintain multiple bank accounts
• They can take out loans then repurpose them as gifts or contributions
• They can beg for donations on the pretext of helping earthquake victims, but never actually disburse the money, keeping it instead in their own bank accounts
• They can travel at will on one of their many international passports while they sabotage their own people’s chances at different passports
• They can send their children to the best schools and universities around the world
• They can relocate their families to Western countries

But how come you never hear of members of the Tibetan leadership relocating their families back to Tibet, when the doors are wide open (as has been demonstrated by many people like Amchok Rinpoche)? If they wish so badly to return to Tibet, and if people like Amchok Rinpoche have demonstrated that a safe and successful return is possible, how come they have not moved in that direction?

So the question that is left to be asked is, if life in Tibet is not so bad as the CTA claim (as demonstrated by Amchok Rinpoche), and if there are no legal limitations to their return to Tibet, do they actually want to go back to Tibet? What if they do not actually want to return to their homeland but are just keeping up their charade of being suppressed refugees, in order to keep the easy money rolling in?

One of their golden temples with huge altars bedecked in jewels

Compared to the Tibetans, whose settlements are filled with golden temples and huge altars bedecked in jewels, no other refugee community in the world has been so successful in raising money from the international community. The so-called Tibetan cause has attracted celebrity supporters from all over the globe, whose advocacy has generated billions in donations and aid for the Tibetan community since 1959.

Meanwhile, while the Tibetan leaders live this cushy life in exile, the Tibetans who chose to remain in (or returned to) Tibet watch in disgust as their government misbehaves in this way. Through channels like WeChat, they hear about Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering fanning the flames of regionalism, caught in a never-ending catfight over ‘who said what to who’ and ‘who did what to who and when’. These are the same people in Tibet that the CTA claims are “suffering” under the so-called “yoke” of Chinese oppression. The CTA likes to claim that life in Tibet is so bad that hundreds of people have had to self-immolate in protest. Yet, despite the fact that hundreds of Tibetans have committed suicide, the leaders of the CTA continue to be caught up in their personal issues rather than focus on the loss of Tibetan lives.

If the CTA had any compassion for their people in Tibet, they would get their act together, stop fighting and start thinking about the welfare of their people, both in India and in Tibet too.

MP Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar seen here publicly accosting Ms. Zhu, who was protesting an exhibition about Tibetan history. Ms. Zhu is a student of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and had just come from an audience with His Holiness.

• Will Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar stop with her street brawls and hooliganism, and think about the people in Tibet for just one second?
• Will Lobsang Sangay keep his sticky fingers out of the Tibetan refugee honeypot, and stop reassigning money based on his whims and fancies?
• Will Dhardon Sharling use her wits and intelligence in favor of political advancements, instead of her feminine wiles?
• Will Lodi Gyari and his son-in-law give the money that people donated to suffering Tibetans, to the Tibetans who are actually suffering?
• Will Junchen Konchok stop organizing rangzen conferences which are specifically against the Dalai Lama’s Middle Way Approach?
• Will the Tibetan leaders fund projects that benefit the Tibetan community, instead of websites and videos that aim to segregate a portion of their population like Dorje Shugden practitioners?
• Will the Tibetan leaders allow a fair and transparent election to be run, instead of changing the rules mid-way through?
• Will the Tibetan leaders allow newspapers to operate and report on issues without the threat of violent censorship?

Sadly, the Tibetan leadership seem to be entirely incapable of this, as potshot after potshot is fired from one camp to another.

All Tibet observers should really take note that if conditions in Tibet were really so bad, nothing else would occupy the minds of the CTA leaders. More column inches would be dedicated to those issues, rather than the political and financial scandals that the CTA is constantly embroiled in. The truth is, Tibetans in Tibet may have more of a chance at a better life under Chinese leadership than under the incompetent, inward-looking and self-absorbed Tibetan leaders.

As it is, the NGOs talk so much more about the conditions in Tibet, while Lobsang Sangay himself speaks comparatively little of it. It also seems now that it is every single month where he is on some kind of tour of America or Europe, and spending less and less time in Dharamsala. Of late, Lobsang Sangay has also been appointed one of the Dalai Lama’s two special emissaries, authorized to represent the Dalai Lama. We can therefore all be sure that Tibetans in Dharamsala will be seeing much less of their Prime Minister, who will now be acting as the Dalai Lama’s representative too.

Which job will take precedence in Lobsang Sangay’s mind, the one where he is an elected official representing the exiled Tibetan people, or the one where he was specially appointed by the Dalai Lama himself to represent him? It will clearly be the more lucrative position and well, which position garners more glamor, respect and funding? The one where he is the Dalai Lama’s representative or where he is an elected representative of the Tibetan people? We all know what Lobsang Sangay’s choice is going to be, and whose name he is going to use and abuse.

Only time will tell what the CTA’s real intentions are but based on their track record since 1959, it is clearly not a motivation that is of the people, for the people, and nor will it ever be.

Dalai Lama Appointed Two Official Emissaries Recently

Source: http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2017/11/17/dalai-lama-appointed-two-official-emissaries-recently/. Click to read the full report.

Pakistan has expressed their outright support for China on all matters, including Tibet, and there is very little chance of them changing their minds.

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

By: Kay Beswick

There is more disappointing news for the Sikyong Lobsang Sangye as he embarks on yet another tour of America to curry favor with the West and raise funds supposedly for the Tibetan community, but in actuality for his own financial gain. In recent times, there has been a growing body of criticism about the Sikyong’s frequent travels, and how little time he spends in Dharamsala dealing with the issues of his people.

A comment left by a former Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) employee explaining that Sikyong Lobsang Sangye’s reasons for traveling are not benign and altruistic, but self-serving and nefarious. Click to enlarge.

One also cannot help but wonder if this trip is some form of damage control as the Tibetan leadership’s reputation is increasingly left in tatters. As the Sikyong departs for the United States, he leaves behind an exiled community in India who are more isolated than ever as yet another country with a potential border claim to Tibet has rejected the Tibetans.

Pakistan, whose disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir borders with historical Tibet, recently announced that China has their full support on many critical issues, including the Tibetan one. President Mamnoon Hussain, the leader of the Pakistan nation, was full of praise for the Chinese leadership for their role in peacekeeping and stability efforts in countries like Afghanistan.

Thus it would seem that in the region, the number of allies that Tibet can count on is rapidly declining, as the people and governments who support them dwindle both in number and in financial contributions. There is in all likelihood no hope for the Tibetans on Pakistan reversing their decision since they are a staunchly Muslim state who are not going to be charmed by an association with the Dalai Lama or swayed by the romanticized concept of Shangri-la.

The salient points to consider are these:

• People are clearer in their rejection of the Tibetans, than they are in support of. A nuclear power has openly declared that they will have nothing to do with the Tibetan issue, and they will support China in it. What other country of such power has so clearly voiced their support for Tibet? In the last 60 years, even Tibet’s biggest supporter, the US (another nuclear power), has not been as clear about their support for Tibet as compared to Pakistan’s outright rejection.
• Within the region, Pakistan’s role in anti-terror activities is crucial. What country will risk Pakistan’s lack of cooperation on anti-terrorism, a topic that creates universal concern, by pressing for the Tibetan agenda which is minor in comparison? For the rest of the world, China is their economic darling, for their potential as a trading partner and cash cow. And for Pakistan, governments are far more invested in keeping peace and stability in Pakistan than in pushing for them to support the Tibetan cause.
• For Pakistan, having China on their side helps strengthen their claims against a common objective i.e. India who themselves are fast realizing that they have very little to gain from Tibetan presence in their country. It has even reached a stage where Tibetan citizens hoping to becoming India are being told to give up their Tibetan refugee papers. To compound this, a recent article penned by an Indian Member of Parliament questioned why the Dalai Lama does nothing to help with the many domestic conflicts and upheavals that are troubling the country.
• And for Pakistan, they are not making this decision based on religion or human rights, but purely based on politics and economics. For that reason, there is very little the Tibetans will be able to do to persuade Pakistan not to support an emboldened China on the Tibetan issue, because talk of Buddhism and the Dalai Lama as an international man of peace will not appeal to them. For Pakistan, it is purely about maximizing their economic and political gain in the region, to provide for their population, and there is nothing the Tibetans can offer to replace whatever benefits Pakistan might experience from a positive relationship with China.

As the Tibetan leadership’s pool of international supporters dwindles, internally they continue to perpetuate schism and divisions amongst their own people, for example by interfering in the recognition process of the Karmapas or by directing violence and vulgarities towards Dorje Shugden practitioners. Other leaderships who are logical and facing so much external opposition would ordinarily regroup, and discuss how to encourage harmony and unity amongst their people since there is strength in numbers. But it seems Lobsang Sangye has a bigger preoccupation with raising funds than with the welfare of his people, starting with the senseless loss of lives through self-immolations.

So is there any surprise that the Tibetan leadership is finding less support for themselves, when they do not even support their own people?

This article is not to comment on Indo-Pakistani politics but to highlight that yet another country, regardless of their political leanings, has rejected the Tibetans. As predicted, more and more nations are making plain their lack of support for the Tibetans. If things continue on its current downward spiral, it looks like Sikyong Lobsang Sangye will have to travel more often to placate and charm new sponsors, since fewer people and nations are willing to open their wallets and borders to the Tibetan exiled community. And upon analysis of the greater picture, maybe it is about time too, because 60 years of exploiting their sponsors as well as their host India is really 60 years too much.

Pakistan supports China’s stance on Tibet: President Mamnoon

Click to enlarge. Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1351540

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

By: Steve Lee

A comment from an ex-CTA (Central Tibetan Administration) insider on a TibetSun.com article reveals a rather insidious agenda brewing right in the heart of the Tibetan leadership. To date, the CTA has failed to make statements that discourage or denounce the growing trend of self-immolations occurring in India and Tibet, within the Tibetan community. Since the Tibetan leadership has failed to denounce the self-immolations, it is clear through their silence that they condone this practice. Hence they are allowing and encouraging Tibetans to kill themselves in the name of the Tibetan cause. They even glorify Tibetans who self-immolate by holding memorial services, lighting candles, calling them martyrs of the Tibetan cause and erecting statues to commemorate past self-immolations. And beyond this, the Tibetan leaders have even used self-immolation stories and statistics as garnishing for their fundraising campaigns in the West. There is blood smeared all over the donations that they have received into their fat pockets.

Comment left on the ‘Is Indian citizenship for Tibetans a threat to the Tibetan cause?’ article on Tibetsun.com. Click on image to read the comment.

How can the Tibetan leaders allow their own people to kill themselves for the Tibetan cause when the leaders are not doing nearly enough to make a breakthrough for the Tibetan cause? All negotiations with the Chinese have reached a stalemate and there are no fresh attempts or even a change of strategy in dealing with the Chinese. In other words, the Tibetan leadership have been ineffective with their policies and dealings with the Chinese leaders and the self-immolations, a manifestation of the people’s frustrations, are actually proof of this.

Tibetan activist Jamphel Yeshi, 27, runs through the Delhi streets on fire in protest of Chinese policies in Tibet.

At the end of the day, the Tibetan leaders could do much more to engage with the Chinese leaders. What government or leadership in the world celebrates the self-immolation of its own citizens instead of taking steps to prevent it? It is not as though the Tibetan leadership lacks the mechanisms to discourage people from self-immolations. For example, the Tibetan leaders have proven themselves to be extremely adept at browbeating and segregating Dorje Shugden practitioners into giving up the practice. The same methods could be applied in a positive manner towards families and friends of those who self-immolate because that would help to prevent other cases of self-immolation from occurring in the future.

In the case of Dorje Shugden practitioners, they are denied basic services such as medical care in Tibetan hospitals, access to shops and facilities, and they are ostracized by the general Tibetan populace. These behaviors by ordinary Tibetans are instigated and perpetrated by the CTA who repeatedly talk about the so-called harmful nature of Shugden practitioners. But while these actions obviously have a negative impact on the lives of Shugden practitioners, the CTA could also use the very same methods for more positive impact on their community.

By warning Tibetans that these restrictions will be imposed on the families of those who self-immolate, the CTA could potentially end self-immolations in their community altogether. Families and friends of those considering taking their own life would have a greater impetus to pressure them out of this deadly act, thereby saving everyone from the pain, suffering, and death caused by such an action. And the self-immolators might think twice about engaging in an act that brings difficulties and limitations on their loved ones. After all, since the CTA are already known for imposing such restrictions on their people, why not use the methods for something positive and worthwhile instead of negative? This way they would be protecting their people for once, instead of harming them.

A memorial for Thupten Ngodrup was erected by the Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) on the circumambulation path around the residence of the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. He was the first man in modern times who self-immolated for the Tibetan cause in 1998.

Furthermore, self-immolations in Buddhism is considered an act of killing. The act of killing is widely considered to be grave negative karma for the individual committing the act. Unless the individual has a bodhisattva motivation like that of the Buddha in a previous life who offered himself up to a hungry tigress, the act of killing has the very serious repercussion of taking rebirth in the hell realms. Now, since the Tibetan leadership consider themselves to be Buddhist (or at least led by Buddhist principles), should they not abide by this very fundamental aspect of the teachings? Why would they condone and encourage others to take their own lives? Therefore, even though they call themselves Buddhist, ultimately this is merely an attractive label used to encourage foreigners to donate to the cause. In fact, after every case of self-immolation, the CTA are said to benefit financially through donations given by foreign countries and organizations who take pity on them, as expressed in Chokyi’s comment. This is not something to be taken lightly since Chokyi claims to have worked for the CTA for over 15 years, experiencing the blatant greed of the leadership as a firsthand witness.

A list of those who have self-immolated for the Tibetan cause since 1998. The CTA could have stopped this loss of life, but instead use their deaths to line their own pockets. Click to enlarge.

At the end of the day, the Tibetan leadership should apply the necessary means to end all self-immolations and that is to make headway with their negotiations with China. So far, the Tibetan leaders have only issued statements to put down China’s actions and this has got to stop. Just like a salesperson trying to sell its products to a potential customer, a sensible salesperson would not say things to criticize or insult the customer. They would instead praise or say things to make the customer feel happy in order to make a sale. Likewise, the Tibetan leadership should stop highlighting self-immolations and instead find common ground to talk about and encourage China to reopen negotiations. After all, China’s powerful influence is growing day by day, while the effectiveness and appeal of the CTA and the Tibetan leadership is waning fast.

And so the Tibetan leadership really have to do much more and quickly before it becomes too late. When His Holiness the Dalai Lama is no longer around, the Chinese leadership at that time will no longer need or want to negotiate because they will no longer find the Tibetan leadership to be a threat. As it is, the Chinese leadership already refuse dialogue with the Tibetans despite the Dalai Lama’s international standing, so what chance will the Tibetan leadership have to reopen dialogue once they no longer have the Dalai Lama’s reputation to rely on? So rather than using self-immolation as fodder against China, if the CTA had the real motive of benefiting their people, they would actually take measures to curb self-immolations within their own community rather than using them to line their own pockets with blood-stained money. But until that day comes, on the topic of self-immolations, sadly it is not a question of if the next one will happen but when, and this constant loss of life is certainly a most tragic situation for the already-dwindling community.

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

By: Solaray Kusco

Below are two articles received reviewing the Tibetan leadership’s stance towards applying for Indian citizenship.

In a scathing review of the Tibetan leadership’s latest actions, Mila Rangzen has recounted the Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) recent policies towards the news that Tibetans born between 1959 to 1987 will be able to gain Indian citizenship. Of particular concern for him were the struggles ordinary Tibetans will face to get citizenship, and the double standards that exist.

For many people who do not have intimate knowledge of life in the Tibetan settlements under the Tibetan leadership, Mila Rangzen’s account will indeed be an eye-opener. His writings come from the point-of-view of a Tibetan who does not appear to have any allegiances to any religion that he can be accused of bias, who does not have any associations that risk him being accused of being Chinese, and who appears only to be interested in the welfare of his people.

In addition to the points that Mila Rangzen has raised, it is important for people to remember this:

1. When ordinary Tibetans have gained Indian citizenship, they will no longer rely on the CTA for anything, just like Tibetan-Americans, Tibetan-Canadians, etc.

• So if the Tibetan-Indians have legal disputes, they will deal with the Indian authorities. If they need to renew their passports, they can liaise directly with the Indian leadership. If they need to buy land, it will be done under Indian law. Everything will be done according to Indian law. Tibetan-Indians will deal with Indian authorities, not with the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA, based in Dharamsala).
• It is the same as Tibetans who become Americans, Canadians, Swiss, etc. who no longer rely on the CTA for anything, and are thus no longer beholden to any of their diktats and policies.
• Thus when Tibetans gain Indian citizenship, there will be an end to the current procedure of Tibetans going to their leadership first to get approvals for anything they wish to do. As a result, the Tibetan leadership will no longer function as the gatekeeper between ordinary Tibetans and the Indian authorities. And because Dharamsala no longer functions as a gatekeeper, the major reason for their existence will be gone.
• Obviously this is an eventuality that frightens the Tibetan leadership because their method of governance has been one based on control. Controlling their people’s access to services and their movements has been a financially lucrative operation for a corrupt leadership occupied by people open to bribes and embezzling. Once the CTA no longer controls these Tibetans, it will be a loss of revenue because Tibetans do not have to bribe them to get anything done anymore. The Tibetans will not have to pay their Tibetan taxes, or for fast-tracking their visa applications to travel to the West.

2. Mila Rangzen raised the issue of the CTA being invested in keeping their people poor

• This aspect of control and subjugation is important, because with the settlements full of poor people, the Tibetan leadership can parade their situation to the West to garner sympathy and money for the ‘poor’ and ‘suffering’ Tibetans. But actually, it is for the CTA to keep the money and use as they like.
• So instead of encouraging their citizens’ upward mobility, they find it in their interests to keep them suppressed.
• This explains why the millions of dollars that has been pumped into the Tibetan settlements over the last 60 years has not borne much results. In fact, it was only recently they opened their first public library, and even then it was through the efforts of a private citizen to establish it. And the betterment, big buildings, golden temples, schools, halls and restaurants in the Tibetan settlements were not built with the help of the CTA but from overseas Tibetans and foreign friends donating privately. The CTA did not contribute to those.

3. The CTA has a “divide and conquer” mentality even with their own people

• It should be illegal that the CTA are kicking people out of Tibetan settlements just because they want to better their lives by becoming Indian citizens.
• That is saying “if you want to be Indian, there will be consequences” but what is so bad about becoming Indian that you need to be punished for it?
• What they are enforcing on Tibetans who wish to become Indian citizens is the same as what they did to Dorje Shugden people, by forcing them to split apart. If they are separated, they will have less ability and resources to assemble and protest (it takes more effort to gather people).
• The real question is, are Tibetans who just want to make a better life for themselves the real enemy here? Do they deserve to be vilified?

4. Another issue that Mila Rangzen’s article raised was that of double standards.

• Why did Lobsang Wangyal have to fight for citizenship, while others like Gyari Dolma were able to buy 20 years ago? Because they have money and Lobsang Wangyal does not.
• Why did Tibetan leadership stay silent when one of their citizens went to court to fight for his rights? It is because the leaders do not want to draw attention to themselves as having another citizenship / being in a privileged position. They have to appear humble and in service to the Tibetan people, although this is not the case. Another leadership that does this is in North Korea where leaders present an image of humble living to their people so the community does not suspect inequality, hypocrisy and double standards, and rally to rise up against them.
• Why did Lobsang Wangyal have to use his own personal funds for fight for the rights of the whole community, when the Tibetan leadership should have stepped in and said or done something to help him? One private citizen fought to set a precedence for his whole community, but it should have been the leadership’s responsibility to do this.

5. Racism and double standards. Anything Western and European is acceptable because of money, and the Tibetan leadership are deathly afraid of doing anything to upset the West because they are a source of money. Simultaneously, anything Indian is trampled upon.

• That is why US, Australian, Canadian, Swiss citizenships are coveted. There are no consequences to getting passports from the West. You will not get kicked out of the settlements if you have a Western passport, but you will be if you have an Indian one. You will not be stigmatized if you have a Western passport, but you will be if you have an Indian one.
• That is why Tibetan leaders continue to reap CTA benefits despite being Canadians, Australians, Americans, etc. And Tibetan-Americans, Tibetan Canadians, etc. will never have anything said against them because:
  • They can complain to their respective Western governments who will question the CTA about what is going on, and possibly withhold funding
  • If they push these Tibetan-American, Tibetan-Australian, etc. people too far, they will just throw up their hands and devolve themselves of all connections with the CTA (and the CTA thus has even less control)
• But the only reason you can get those types of coveted citizenships is because you have money to get there. If you do not, you will have to “settle” for an Indian citizenship.
• Even still, the Tibetans will face problems getting an Indian citizenship, thanks to their own Tibetan exile government setting up so many obstacles.
• So the question is – why is it Tibetan leaders can have it easy, but the common Tibetan has to suffer?
• On top of that, Tibetans are rude to class/treat their hosts as a second rate option in terms of citizenship and even marriage.

Conclusion

1. Ultimately, the CTA’s motivation is very clear: money, control and power. When will they ever learn their lesson to put their citizens first, and self-interests second? Their self-serving ways have not brought them much success over the last 60 years, so is it not time to try a new and different method?
2. Despite being elected officials, their behaviour is clearly motivated by spite, both for their own people and their host country. They wish to spite their people by ensuring they remain poor, defenceless and stateless refugees, and they wish to spite India for being kind to their people by blocking any Indian government attempts to help the Tibetans in India. So in reality, the Tibetan people should be upset about the CTA using their people, keeping them down to get free money that they then use to hurt their own community.
3. The CTA are also creating many obstacles to the high lamas and good lamas who suffer as a result of the Tibetan leadership creating obstacles for them to disseminate the Dharma. The Tibetan leadership will be the death of the Dharma every time they stop Tibetan lamas from getting out of the country to teach and turn the wheel of Dharma.

Is Indian citizenship for Tibetans a threat to the Tibetan cause?

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Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2017/08/07/is-indian-citizenship-for-tibetans-a-threat-to-the-tibetan-cause

Tibetan leadership refuses to allow Tibetans to get Indian passport

In a bold and daring move, the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) also known as the Kashag, have effectively blocked Tibetans in exile from becoming Indian citizens. A memo issued on July 5, 2017, which was circulated to CTA offices in Tibetan settlements in India, saw the Kashag ordering that Tibetans seeking Indian citizenship are not to be issued No Objection Certificates (NOC), a document necessary in the naturalization process. This move however creates two huge political fall-outs:

1. The Kashag violated its own charter, which states a Tibetan can seek the citizenship of any other country while at the same time retaining their Tibetan nationality.
2. It is a slap in the face of India’s hospitality, host country to the Tibetans, who made it legal for Tibetans in India to become Indian citizens if they wish.

At this point, one could ask who actually gives the Tibetan leadership the authority to impose these rules on Tibetans living in India? It is quite simple, it is the Indian government. Without the Indian government, the Identity Certification (Yellow Book) issued to all Tibetan refugees has no power. So it is especially galling that when the Indian leadership says it is okay to give Tibetans citizenship, the Tibetan leadership steps in to say it is not even though they have no power to do so. Why does the mouse try and tell the lion what is acceptable and not acceptable?

So it is important to realize that the CTA’s authority is dependent on the Indian government and on their own, they have no power or influence, just like how paper money is worthless without gold reserves to back it up. It is this same Indian government who is now offering Tibetans citizenship and are in effect threatening the CTA’s hold on their people. As people begin recognizing the benefits of being Indian, they will want to take up citizenship, come under Indian governance (instead of Tibetan) and thus effectively end the CTA who will no longer have anyone to govern.

And of course, as per Tibetan government modus operandi, there has been no further response from the leadership about this when questioned. Instead they have blamed the media for creating problems and refused to be interviewed to clarify matters for the public. And while the media are asking questions in their pursuit of the truth, if they are not careful, they will be shut down just like the Mangtso newspaper was for publishing views that contradicted the Tibetan leadership’s.

What the Kashag have said is that that Tibetan youth should not just think of the short-term benefits of becoming Indian citizens, but of their Tibetan identity. It is their way of discouraging the Tibetan youth from becoming Indian citizens, by emotionally blackmailing them from not taking up an Indian passport. For the most part, the Kashag have been successful and some young Tibetans are insisting that you cannot be Tibetan if you hold an Indian passport. But this is extremely hypocritical since top CTA officials like Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, Dhardon Sharling, and Gyari Dolma are themselves citizens of other countries. What is more, they have lived at least 20-30 years this way; the Tibetan youth have lived as Tibetan refugees THEIR WHOLE LIVES so who is more Tibetan now? So if Tibetanness is measured by the passport one carries, and Tibetanness is the basis of someone being qualified to have an opinion or to lead the community, then by that logic the Tibetan leadership are the least qualified to do anything. Why are they not forced to think about their Tibetan identity and give up their foreign citizenship, unlike other people who want to get an Indian citizenship? These questions raise some interesting and noteworthy points to remember:

• India gives Tibetans the opportunity to become Indian citizens because they have realized giving Tibetans refugee status is worthless. As refugees, they do not help India but as citizens, they will be forced to contribute as members of Indian society. At the same time India needs to retain her humanitarian image and will not be able to revoke their refugee status or kick them out of the country without some kind of public relations nightmare.
• If India allows Tibetans to become Indians, the CTA are silenced because they cannot be seen denying their people the citizenship and rights accorded to Indian nationals.
• The Tibetans will no longer be an issue of contention between China and India if they become Indian nationals. When Tibetans become Indians, they are no longer ruled by the CTA but by the Indian government. This means China cannot criticize them because they are now Indian citizens. India can simply inform China not to interfere in the affairs of another country. Previously China would have felt they had basis to comment because China classed the Tibetans as Chinese citizens.
• Western powers will no longer give the Tibetans money and funding as they will no longer be refugees but citizens of a democratic country. Why do citizens need financial support from external parties, when they have a legitimate government to petition for assistance? As a result, the CTA will lose their source of funding from sympathetic Western governments and private donors.
• India cannot expel the Tibetans from their country because the Dalai Lama is extremely respected both in India and around the world. But the Indian government can encourage Tibetans to become Indian citizens instead, thereby removing their basis to complain about their refugee status or use their status as an excuse to cause trouble. This will mean that when His Holiness the Dalai Lama passes away and Tibetans want to riot, they can be easily controlled because they are Indians now and not Tibetans, and thus beholden to Indian law. India granting Tibetans this opportunity to become its citizens can therefore be seen as preparation for the passing of the Dalai Lama and for preventing any ensuing violence that may arise as a result of his passing.

All in all, India has been extremely benevolent and patient towards Tibetans for 60 years. Still, it is no surprise that they are doing this because they need to look out for their own country as well, and it is simply not pragmatic to risk the welfare of over 1 billion people for the complaints of 150,000 exiled Tibetans. So if the CTA keeps moving to block the Tibetans from gaining what is rightfully theirs, the Tibetan leadership might just very well find themselves under more pressure. Growing frustration on India’s part may mean that when it comes to the Tibetans, if the leadership complains too much or make things too difficult, the Indian leadership may just respond by making it even easier for Tibetans to become Indians, and thus drastically speeding up the inevitable – the demise of the CTA.

In violation of Charter, Kashag impedes issuing of passports to Tibetans

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Source: https://www.tibetsun.com/news/2017/08/03/in-violation-of-charter-kashag-impedes-issuing-of-passports-to-tibetans

Sweden no longer accepts the Tibetan Identity Certificate, also known as the Yellow Book, as a valid travel document.

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

By: Ashok Rao

In a move that is beginning to be mirrored by many others, Sweden announced in June 2016 that it no longer accepts the Tibetan Yellow Book as a valid travel document. This document, officially known as an Identity Certificate (IC), issued by the government of India, classifies its holder as both a Tibetan refugee and a protectorate of India. It is this document that Tibetans travelling abroad use to entreat foreign countries to allow them to enter. This move by Sweden has sent reverberations throughout the Tibetan community in exile and indicates a global shift within international politics.

With a population of over 100 Tibetan refugees living in the country, Sweden has become weary of refugees, especially due to the situation in Europe and the Middle East which has seen a marked increase in the number of those seeking refuge in more developed countries. For this reason Sweden issued an official announcement that it would no longer accept the IC travel document in its processes allowing Tibetans to enter its borders. Tibetans wishing to enter Sweden will have to bear the identity documentation of an actual nation, like India or China. This means that Sweden no longer wants Tibetans to enter their country as Tibetans and as refugees; in effect, Sweden no longer recognizes the existence of a status such as “Tibetan refugee”.

An infographic used to announce that Sweden no longer accepts the Yellow Book as a valid form of identification that can be used during the visa application process.

One would assume that Sweden somehow would not have the right to turn down the Tibetan IC as a valid travel document, but in actuality this is not the case. Legally speaking, the Yellow Book has little weight outside of India’s borders and it is the discretion of any country whether they wish to accept it as a valid form of identification. The fact that Sweden can reject the Yellow Book harks back to the fact that India itself does not have a clear policy when it comes to refugees. India is not a signatory of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, or the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, all of which are international programmes that protect the rights of refugees, including their freedom to travel.

Since India does not belong to any of the above, the IC granted to Tibetans in exile does not have weight outside of its own borders, and legally does not need to be recognized as refugee travel documents. In this case, Sweden has simply exercised its legal rights to stop accepting the Tibetan IC as a valid travel document. Hence, no other nation state has challenged Sweden over its actions because they have no legal basis to do so. Certainly, aside from protesting Sweden’s actions, the Tibetan leadership can do very little to protect their people’s ability to visit Sweden.

The fact is that Sweden and other countries that have so far allowed Tibetans to enter their borders have done so out of kindness, and not legal obligation. Now, however, it seems the tide is turning, and many countries no longer want someone who identifies as ‘Tibetan’ within their borders. Tibetans can still enter their countries, just not as Tibetan ‘citizens’ or refugees. But this begs the question, why is it that they have implemented this change now?

One could argue that Sweden is simply reacting to events in Europe, with an increased number of those seeking refuge coming from all over the world. The number of refugees means resources allocated to the refugees are being stretched thin, and there is a strain on relationships between the host countries’ citizens and their newly-arrived guests. When Sweden’s actions are examined on a global scale however, it is quite clear that there is a political shift away from supporting Tibetans. This is evident by the number of countries who are surely but steadily distancing themselves from the Tibetans and their leadership, in favor of aligning themselves with China. It is a global trend that looks bleak for the Tibetan leadership indeed.

On the one hand there is this political distancing from the Tibetans and their leadership and on the other hand, many ordinary Tibetans, Tibetan Buddhists or Tibet enthusiasts from all around the world are waking up to the fact that the Tibetan leadership have done nothing but take advantage of their position and mismanaged their people. From the ban on Dorje Shugden, the unequal treatment of the Jonangpas, or their silence over forced conversions in the Kagyu school, the leadership have magnificently displayed their inability to govern and their blunderous mistakes. As their true colours are laid bare, they can do nothing but hide behind the skirts of their previous saviour, India.

However, India as the government who issues the Tibetan IC remains strangely silent on these issues. They have also done nothing to strengthen or legitimize the status of the Tibetans as legal refugees in the eyes of other nation states. Instead, India has offered them the choice to become full citizens of India if they give up their Tibetan identity. With so much apathy towards the Tibetans’ ability to travel, and even growing hostility towards their presence, one can only wonder as to the fate Tibetans will face in the years to come.

Sweden Does Not Accept India’s Tibetan Travel Document ‘IC’

Article describing Sweden no longer accepting the Tibetan IC on Tibetan Journal. Click to enlarge.

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