Did the CTA make a mistake?

Dear friends,

Shocking conflicting news reports which serve to further confuse readers on over nine major Indian news portals are here for you to examine. Who has done this? Of course the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) of Dharamsala which has undermined themselves further. They cannot seem to make up their minds whether their state Dharma protector is the ‘dreaded’ Dorje Shugden or Pelden Hlamo. Do continue reading to see the ‘blunders’ of the CTA if it was a blunder at all. Why has Dorje Shugden suddenly become their state protector? He has been banned by them and his followers not allowed basic social welfare due to religious discrimination. You formulate your opinions on the corrupt administration under the Dalai Lama as many Tibetans have complained:

On March 2, many news agencies published the following article titled “Tibetans-in-exile mark New Year by offering prayers in Dharamsala”.

“Dharamsala, Mar 2 (ANI): Tibetans in-exile in Dharamsala celebrated ‘Losar’, the Tibetan New Year on Sunday, and pledged to uphold the cultural ethos and traditional values of humility, integrity and resilience.

Tibetan monks were seen playing musical instruments and praying to mark the New Year. Press officer of Tibetan government in-exile, Tsering Wangchuk, extended best wishes to everyone on the occasion.

“Today is the first day of Tibetan New Year. As usual we invoke all the protecting deities particularly Dorje Shugden who is the official protecting deity of the Tibetan government earlier, now central Tibetan administration. So I wish everybody a happy new year,” said Wangchuk.

‘Losar’ is marked with ancient ceremonies that represent the struggle between good and evil. The occasion is marked by chanting hymns and passing fire torches through the crowds.

A foreign tourist, Maya, offered prayers and said they were ushering in the year of wood horse.

“Today is the prayer for Losar, so it’s the Tibetan New Year. They are ushering in the year of wood horse and the year of the snake has been ushered out,” said Maya.

People enjoy levity provided by events such as dance of the deer and amusing battles between the King and his various ministers. (ANI)

Two days later, on the same headline, they edited the article to become this:

Dharamsala, Mar 4. (ANI): Tibetans in-exile in Dharamsala celebrated ‘Losar’, the Tibetan New Year on Sunday, and pledged to uphold the cultural ethos and traditional values of humility, integrity and resilience.

Tibetan monks were seen playing musical instruments and praying to mark the New Year.

Penpa Tsering, speaker of Tibetan Parliament in exile, extended best wishes to everyone on the occasion.

“Today is the first day of Tibetan New Year. As usual we invoke all the protecting deities particularly Palden Lhamo who is the official protecting deity of the Tibetan government earlier, now central Tibetan administration. So I wish everybody a happy new year,” said Tsering.

‘Losar’ is marked with ancient ceremonies that represent the struggle between good and evil. The occasion is marked by chanting hymns and passing fire torches through the crowds.

A foreign tourist, Maya, offered prayers and said they were ushering in the year of wood horse.

“Today is the prayer for Losar, so it’s the Tibetan New Year. They are ushering in the year of wood horse and the year of the snake has been ushered out,” said Maya.

People enjoy levity provided by events such as dance of the deer and amusing battles between the King and his various ministers. (ANI)

(In our release on March 2 we had wrongly mentioned the name of the speaker to be Tsering Wangchuk and the protecting deity as Dorje Shugden) (ANI)

Note the highlighted differences between the two articles, where a retraction was issued within 48 hours of the original article going live. What is going on? Who issued the original statement? Was it a ruse? Was it a result of Central Tibetan Administration’s (CTA) disorganized attitude? There are a few possible theories behind this mystery.

1. It is a ruse designed to flush out Dorje Shugden practitioners. Premature celebrations of the lifting of the ban will reveal who is still practicing secretly. However, this is no longer possible since a retraction was issued; if they were attempting to flush out Dorje Shugden practitioners, they would have kept the news up for more Dorje Shugden practitioners to reveal themselves.
2. It was a manipulation of Indian media by the CTA, to try and convince Dorje Shugden practitioners not to protest against the Dalai Lama in Washington on March 7. However, this is no longer possible since a retraction was issued; if they were attempting to manipulate Dorje Shugden practitioners to not protest, they would have kept the news up until after the protests before issuing a retraction.
3. It was a mistake made by the CTA. It demonstrates how unprofessional they are, that they cannot issue an official press release without making an error on such important points i.e. the deity’s name and the press official’s name. If they can fumble on a simple press release citing such a sensitive issue such as Dorje Shugden by mistake, it only shows how disorganized they are.
4. It was a mistranslation by the newspaper. However, it is impossible on two fronts. One, the deities’ names are totally different. Even if the original Tibetan press release had referred to Nechung as Dorje Drakden (which, we assume, the Indian press mistranslated to Dorje Shugden), no Tibetan ever refers to Nechung in that way. They always refer to the Dalai Lama’s oracle as Nechung, and not as Dorje Drakden. Furthermore, the mistranslation should not occur in the press officer’s name as well.
5. It was a defection. The original article was published on one website and syndicated to other news outlets. It could possibly be that Tsering Wangchuk, as a final act in his role as press officer, announced this news through an outlet he has close connections with, and left his role as press officer. This would explain the change in name over who gave the statement to the media.
6. It was sabotage. Someone was attempting to sabotage Tsering Wangchuk by going to the press on the pretext that it was an official statement issued by him. They picked the topic that would be most damaging to his career and position.

Whatever the circumstances, all of this does not make the CTA in Dharamsala appear professional or in control. It was quite baffling to see statements issued by the Tibetan leadership to announce they are doing Losar (Tibetan Lunar New Year) prayers and rituals to Dorje Shugden, a deity they have banned for the last 15 years. Was it something prophetic perhaps? That is, prophetic of the eventual acceptance of Dorje Shugden by the CTA and the general Tibetan public again, as it was before the ban. Perhaps the newspapers gave us a glimpse into the reality of the near future where Dorje Shugden is reinstated as a Protector of the Buddha’s teachings, and the witch-hunt against his followers ceases. The ban is removed and there is equality for all Tibetans and Buddhists without bias due to their religious orientation.

Until the CTA issues another statement to clarify this mistake, we will never know the real reason why the original statement was published in over 7 major Indian newspapers both in print and online. But whatever the reasons may be, it shows the incompetence of the *CTA to run an administration. If they can make such a blunder as issuing a wrong official statement, what other grave mistakes have they committed throughout their years in office? Was Dorje Shugden a victim of one of their many wrong decisions? Perhaps the accusation and ban on Dorje Shugden is one of their many wrong decisions as well? What is your opinion?

Admin

*formerly the Tibetan Government-in-Exile

You can see the original articles quoting Tsering Wangchuk here (http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/newspapers-say-the-ban-is-down/) as well as below:

Some of the original articles picked up by news outlets:

These articles describe Tsering Wangchuk as the Press Officer and Dorje Shugden as the main protective deity of the Tibetan government. (Update on March 5: Please note that some of the links, where broken, were formerly directed to the news articles which have since been removed from the websites, perhaps at the demands of the CTA themselves.

Asian News International

Source: http://aninews.in/newsdetail2/story157657/tibetans-in-exile-mark-new-year-by-offering-prayers-in-dharamsala.html

Business Standard

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/tibetans-in-exile-mark-new-year-by-offering-prayers-in-dharamsala-114030200435_1.html

Times Today

Source: http://timestoday.in/tibetans-in-exile-mark-new-year-by-offering-prayers-in-dharamsala/

Web India 123

Source: http://news.webindia123.com/news/Articles/India/20140302/2350157.html

Some of the retractions published 48 hours later:

These articles describe Penpa Tsering as the Press Officer and Palden Lhamo as the main protective deity of the Tibetan government.

News Track India

Source: http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2014/03/02/196-Tibetans-in-exile-mark-New-Year-by-offering-prayers-in-Dharamsala.html

Asian News International

Source: http://aniin.com/top-story-details.php?va=Mjk0MDc=

Asian News International

Source: http://in.news.yahoo.com/tibetans-exile-mark-offering-prayers-dharamsala-152256292.html

Read how it all began:

http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/news/newspapers-say-the-ban-is-down/