Samdhong Rinpoche Caught Lying Again

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

 


 

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.

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  1. The Five Heinous Crimes with immediate retribution (mtshams med pa lnga):

    1. killing one’s father
    2. killing one’s mother
    3. killing an arhat
    4. maliciously drawing blood from the body of a tathagata
    5. creating a schism in the sangha

    The (lay people) five precepts are:

    1. Abstain from killing living beings;
    2. Abstain from taking that which is not given;
    3. Abstain from sexual misconduct;
    4. Abstain from telling lies;
    5. Abstain from alcohol. (Alternate translation: Abstain from all intoxicants.)

    Alexander Berzin:

    LYING
    There are many objects of lying, but most are included in the
    following eight: denying something you have seen, heard,
    experienced with your other senses, or known; or falsely claiming to
    have seen, heard, experienced with your other senses, or known
    something which you have not.

    BASIS
    Another person who can understand you, and who can
    speak.

    INTENTION
    a. recognition: You must know that what you are saying is
    untrue.
    b. intention: You intend to lie and deceive someone.
    c. motivation: One of the three poisons. For example, out of
    anger, lying to hurt someone or destroy their reputation; out of att
    achment, lying to get something you want; out of ignorance, not
    thinking there’s anything wrong with lying.

    ACTION
    Conveying the lie by some means, e.g., speaking,
    writing, making a gesture with your hand or eyes, facial expression,
    remaining silent, etc.

    COMPLETION
    The other person understands and believes your
    lie.

    For more on vows: http://shantidevameditation.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Commitments-Vows-and-Recommended-Practices-for-People-Who-Have-Taken-Refuge-Pratimoksha-Vows-Bodhisattva-Vows-A5.pdf

  2. Shugden practitioners have been victims of unfounded blame for more than half a decade, with news reports initiated by the Tibetan leadership, alerting the public that Shugden fundamentalist groups posed huge security threat to His Holiness the Dalai Lama as they were covertly backed up by China. The reality is that terrorists are out to harm His Holiness, with two bombs found amid His Holiness’ tight security, thanks to the intensive combing operation by Indian police. The Central Tibetan Administration should stop spreading lies that Shugden practitioners or more absurdly, Shugden practice imperil the life of the Dalai Lama, and pay more attention to real threats such as this.

    One Suspect of Bodhgaya Blast Appear to Be Nepali Origin, JMB the Terror Group

    January 29, 2018 | By TJ editor
    Five suspects in the Bodhgaya blast have been picked out from the video footage in the CCTV cameras installed around the Mahabodhi temple and the police believes one of them to be of Nepali origin. Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terror group is being suspected as the primary outfit behind the Bodh Gaya incident and less likely for the Students Islamic Movement of India or Indian Mujahideen’s hand.
    Gaya police is seeking the assistance of investigating agencies across the country to find out the identity details of five suspects they have found from the CCTV video footage. While the pictures of the five suspects are being circulated among the agencies by Gaya police, an officer informed that one of the suspects appears to be of Nepali origin.
    “The officer, who requested anonymity, said that one of the five suspects appeared to be of Nepali origin. Their movements have been traced with the help of CCTVs. One of the suspects abandoned a bag containing explosives near gate number four of the temple. Another bomb was planted near the Tibetan monastery.” said the report in the Telegraph.
    According to the investigations, JMB could have activated a module in Bihar to carry out the attack, suggesting that the attack was controlled from West Bengal. There is a call made from Bihar to West Bengal after planting the three bombs in Bodh Gaya is what has led the investigators to believe that the JMB could be behind the incident.
    “The officer said the evidence strongly indicates JMB’s involvement in the failed terror attack, which had aimed to kill Buddhist monks and foreigners present in Bodh Gaya to listen to the sermons of Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. ” said the report in Times of India.
    http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/29/suspects-bodhgaya-blast-appear-nepali-origin/

    One Suspect of Bodhgaya Blast Appear

  3. I was just waiting for the CTA’s propaganda arm, poorly disguised as Dhardon Sharling’s department of Information & Int Relations, to blame Dorjee Shukden people for the bomb.

    The CTA has blamed Shukden for everything that has gone wrong with the Tibetan people. That way people focus on the wrong things instead of asking the CTA questions such as (i) what plans do they have to get China to negotiate for the return of our land, (ii) what the CTA is going to do for the future of the Tibetan people in exile, (iii) what happened to all the donations, (iv) why is there no freedom if the CTA is democratic, and many more.

    Looking at the way Samdhong Rinpochee is not telling the truth, I think we can kiss rangzen dreams goodbye. It is not fair that they give the people of the world the impression that the Tibetan government is fighting for the Tibetan people but in fact, they use the money to fight the people who are asking questions.

    The Tibetan people fight amongst themselves today and we are divided on religion, divided on politics and divided on region and divided on everything else. 😞

  4. In a letter by the Dalai Lama’s translator, Thupten Jinpa, he had said that The Dalai Lama Trust was “slowly getting caught in unnecessary distractions”. Here is an excerpt from the letter:

    “For someone who have [sic] had the honor and good fortune to serve His Holiness for over three decades, it had been painful to see how His Holiness’ name and legacy was slowly getting caught in unnecessary distractions (Albany-based NXIVM) and discordant messages (of rich and celebrity orientation). Especially, for the Trust, which is effectively His Holiness’ principal charitable foundation for the outside world, the last two years’ record has been, to put it mildly, quite embarrassing. The Trust has alienated most of its inter-organizational relationships, almost destroyed its infrastructure of the Tibetan graduate scholarship program with a majority of the independent reviewers resigning, and failed to support those international organizations that were actively inspired by His Holiness’ vision for the world and were undertaking high profile initiatives furthering His Holiness’ vision. Most sadly, the Trust has unfortunately acquired a reputation of being authoritarian, confrontational, petty, and uncaring, characteristics so far removed from His Holiness’ personal ethics. In particular, for those organizations and individuals who had been the recipients of grants from the Trust, frankly, the behavior of the Trust can be best characterized as that of bullying. If ever, some of the email communications from the Trust during this period were to come to light within the public domain, it would be a source of embarrassment for everyone connected with the Trust.”

    The Dalai Lama’s office had also called for investigations and the eventual of any wrong doings by the organisation.

    http://www.tibetanjournal.com/index.php/2018/01/30/daily-mails-article-dalai-lama-one-short-attempt-sensationalism/

  5. Nobody in Sera Monastery (ByLakuppe) or Gandan Monastery (Mundgod) ever invites Samdhong to give dharma talks or initiations because deep down inside they don’t respect him. He is a politician or a fox in monk’s robes. He is always lying and always trying to curry favor with Dalai Lama for power and prestige and he has been nominally successful in getting power but not prestige. He is not liked. Only Drepung Loselling Monastery where he comes from invites him to give teachings to give him and themselves face. He is a person who has broken all spiritual commitments with his root teacher. Too bad.

    I am going to be a good person as after death I don’t want to descend to the hells and meet Samdhong there again!

  6. Samdhong Rinpoche by this visiting to China have not only proof that he have strong connection with China, he could be the China Spy as well.

    By hurting India who have host the Tibetan in exile for 6 decades and this is the repay, i am not sure how long India could tolerate this kind of nonsense.

  7. The Indian police has issued a circular for Tibetan refugees who are Indian voters or Indian citizens to surrender their Tibetan refugees registration certificates (RCs). Dawa Rinchen, Tibetan settlement officer at McLeodganj, said that the matter was to be dealt by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

    There are around 1,400 Tibetan voters registered in Kangra district, many of them have exercised their voting rights in the state assembly elections without surrendering their RCs.

    The Tibetan and Indian authorities are in a fix over this issue as the Tibetan authorities say that they don’t have any data of such Tibetans while the Indian authorities have passed the responsibility to Tibetan authorities stating that they had not asked anyone to apply for Indian citizenship or voting cards.

    The CTA has already asked the Tibetans that they cannot take the benefits of being a refugee if they are holding Indian citizenship. There are also guidelines that such Tibetans have to leave the settlements. However, it remains to be seen if such rules will affect the CTA officials, such as Dhardon Sharling, Dolma Gyari, and Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar who hold Indian passports.

    Surrender RCs if registered as Indian voters, Tibetans told
    Shri Puri | TNN | Updated: Feb 11, 2018, 10:02 IST
    DHARAMSHALA: Tibetan refugees, who are now Indian voters, have been directed by the police headquarters to surrender their registration certificates (RCs). The certificate is the primary identity document for Tibetans living in India. While it gives them foreign status, voter ID proves their Indian identity.
    Superintendent of police (SP) Santosh Patial told TOI that a circular in this regard had been issued as it was mandatory that if a Tibetan had availed Indian citizenship and voting rights he was supposed to submit his RC.
    “A circular in this regard has been issued across Tibetan settlements in Kangra district,” he said, adding that directions were issued earlier this week.
    Dawa Rinchen, Tibetan settlement officer at McLeodganj, said they had received the letter from the police department and other settlements as well, but the matter was to be dealt by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).
    “We have received the letter and it has been forwarded to the home and security department of the CTA. It is not in our purview,” he said.
    The RCs would be submitted to the foreigner registration office (FRO). The SP office has sent the circulars to Tibetan settlements in McLeodganj, Bir Tibetan Society, Nangchen division, Dege division and Tashi Jong Tibetan camp, falling under Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh.
    It was said that the issue of Tibetan refugees holding electoral card without surrendering their RCs was raised by the principal secretary, ministry of home affairs, through official channels to the Himachal government.
    According to well placed sources, there are around 1,400 Tibetan voters registered in Kangra district but many of them have exercised their voting rights in the state assembly elections without surrendering their RCs.
    The Tibetan and Indian authorities are in a fix over this issue. Tibetan authorities say that they don’t have any data of such Tibetans and it is the electoral office that could reveal the name of Tibetans, who voted in the assembly polls, on the other hand the Indian authorities have passed the responsibility to Tibetan authorities stating that they had not asked anyone to apply for Indian citizenship or voting cards.
    “The CTA has already asked the Tibetans that they cannot take the benefits of being a refugee if they are holding Indian citizenship. There are also guidelines that such Tibetans have to leave the settlements,” said a source.
    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/surrender-rcs-if-registered-as-indian-voters-tibetans-told/articleshow/62867870.cms

    Surrender RCs if registered as Indian voters, Tibetans told

  8. Why is Samdhong Rinpoche speaking such rubbish?? How could he say that Dorje Shugden practitioners are becoming “terrorists” and “willing to kill people” and “very close to the PRC”? What is he talking about?
    I think he got a rather important problem to speak like this!! How does this make sense? Dorje Shugden practitioners are living all over the world – so where are terrorists? How are they close to the PRC??

    Innocent Dorje Shugden monks, nuns and practitioners have to pay the prize of such nonsense! Stop these people!!!

    Why do such people represent the Dalai Lama? Here is another scandal the Dalai Lama’s reputation got involved: Dalai Lama Named In $1 Million Scandal http://www.dorjeshugden.com/all-articles/dalai-lama-named-in-1-million-scandal/

  9. It is sad that when it is so urgent for the Tibetan leadership to move forward to negotiate with China for the return of Tibetans to their homeland , Tibet, China, and to do everything possible to facilitate this, we see them -Samdhong Rinpoche and Lobsang Sangay – being mired instead in the pursuit of their own selfish personal ambitions.

    Yes, as @Kelsang says why have they twisted the people around so much that now they are unable to focus on asking the questions that matter, such as,

    ” (i) what plans do they have to get China to negotiate for the return of our land, (ii) what is the CTA going to do for the future of the Tibetan people in exile, (iii) what happened to all the donations, (iv) why is there no freedom if the CTA is democratic, and many more”.

    It’s time these issues are brought to the surface and pressure be brought on the Tibetan leadership to resolve them soonest.

  10. Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Department issued a report on organized crime, that contains information about activities that violate the existing law and regulations. The CPC Central Committee and State Council will act to control these criminal activities to ensure social harmony and stability, and that the people live and work in peace and happiness. CPC called the ‘Middle Way’ as a narrow nationalistic idea and is trying to control any activities related to supporting the Dalai Lama.

    Notice of the Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Department on Reporting Leads on Crimes and violations by Underworld forces
    Tibet Daily | 2018/02/10 | 19:18
    Underworld forces are a malignant cancer of healthy economic and social development, they are chronic disease that is loathed by the people, and must be resolutely combated in accordance with law. Based on the spirit of the “Notice on Carrying out a Special Crackdown on Clearing Away Organized Crime and Eliminating Vice” issued to the entire nation January 11, 2018 by the CPC Central Committee and State Council, so as thoroughly advance the special crackdown on clearing away organized crime and eliminating vice, to ensure that the people live and work in peace and happiness, to ensure social harmony and stability, and to bring about long-term national stability, the broad masses of the people are asked to enthusiastically report leads on cases of violations or crimes by underworld forces. Notice on matters related to reporting is hereby given as follows;
    I. Content of Reports
    (1) Underworld forces that threaten political security, especially to regime security and institutional security, as well as those penetrating into the political sphere.
    (2) Underworld forces interconnected with the Dalai clique, accepting remote control or command, or participating in separatist and disruptive activities.
    (3) Underworld forces with temples as patrons; using religion to control, to confuse, to incite, or coerce the masses to resist the Party and government; or interfering in basic-level administrative, judicial, educational or other affairs.
    (4) Underworld forces with close relations and interconnections to all kinds of illegal organization, instilling the masses with reactionary idea and narrow nationalistic ideas such as the ‘Middle Way’ and ‘protecting the “mother tongue”.
    (5) Underworld forces holding themselves out as so-called ‘spokespersons’ for the masses, under banners such as economics, the people’s livelihood, environmental protection, folk customs and culture, that are in fact the ‘spokespersons’ of the Dalai clique and hostile foreign [non-mainland] forces.
    (6) Underworld forces illegally soliciting donations, fund-raising, giving out fines, taking compulsory collection from the people, or seizing opportunities for unjust enrichment, and providing funds to the Dalai clique.
    (7) Underworld forces such as black village officials with a grip on basic-level political power, monopolies on local economic resources, and misappropriating collective property.
    (8) Underworld forces using of illegal means such as fraud, bribery, threats, and violence, to manipulate, disrupt, or undermine basic-level general elections.
    (9) Underworld forces such as ‘village tyrants, that exploit religion or family forces to cross the countryside, play the tyrants, or bully and suppress the common people.
    (10) Underworld forces that exploit religion or family forces to illegally meddle and intervene in conflicts and dispute among the people such as over boundaries, pastures, caterpillar fungus, and debts, to act as ‘underground law enforcement teams’ meddling and intervening in the basic-level administration and judiciary.
    (11) Underworld forces stirring up trouble in land acquisition, leases, demolitions, engineering projects, and the like, so as to obtain unlawful benefits.
    (12) Underworld forces such as all types of ‘Sand Boss’, ‘Car Boss’ , or ‘Road Boss’ that interfere with engineering and construction in industries or fields such as architectural engineering, transport, and mining, by strong arm projects, maliciously bid, illegally occupy land, excessively mine, seize resources, monopolize or compel sales, block roads to take tolls, or compelling hire of equipment and personnel.
    (13) Underworld forces such as ‘Market Bosses”, “Industry Bosses”, “Produce Bosses”, and “Meat Bosses” that dominate markets, force sales, or accept protection money, in venues such as commercial trade markets, wholesale markets, bus stations, train stations, airports, and tourist destinations.
    (14) Underworld forces manipulating or operating illegal and criminal activities such as ‘porn, gambling, and drugs’.
    (15) Underworld forces using any kind of method of high interest lending such as “routine loans” or “campus loans’ or using violence to collect debts.
    (16) Underworld forces meddling in civil disputes, serving as ‘underground law enforcement teams’.
    (17) Underworld forces organizing the employment of online ‘paid trolls [or commenters]‘ to threaten, intimidate, berate, defame, make trouble.
    (18) Underworld forces through connect online through means such as establishing Wechat groups, online forums, or other means, and that carry out illegal or criminal activities offline.
    (19) Underworld forces that engage in unlawful or criminal activities such as illegal fundraising and operations, grabbing and holding economic interests, seriously harming the order fair competition and the environment of economic development.
    (20) Personnel of State organs exploiting their position to facilitate, harbor,or abet, crimes by underworld forces, serving as their ‘protective umbrella’
    (21) Forced trading, extortion and blackmail, provocation [picking quarels], gathering crowds to fight, unlawful detention, intentional destruction of property, organizing prostitution, forcing prostitution, setting up casinos, and other types of crime involving vice.
    (22) Other leads as to crimes involving organized crime and vice.
    II. Channels for reporting
    (1) Field Reports: Tibet Public Security Bureau Criminal Investigation Team. Organized Crime Investigation Branch, No. 35 Lin Ju Road, Lhasa Chengguan District, Tibet Autonomous Region.
    Reports may also be made directly to municipal or regional public security bureaus, of criminal forensics squads.
    (2) Telephone Reports: Call the Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Organ Public Reporting Number: 0891-12389. Note: Select the relevant public security organ for reporting based on the telephone voice prompts.
    Clearing away organized crime and eliminating vice is a people’s war, and must rely on the public’s active participation. The masses’ are welcome to actively report and uncover leads on violations and crimes involving underworld forces, and to resolutely struggle against underworld forces’ illegal conduct. The public security organs are to lawfully protect the personal information and security of groups that provide leads. The legal responsibility of reporters will be pursued in accordance with law where reporting is malicious or framing others. Where the subjects of reports carry out revenge, they are to be given severe and heavy punishments in accordance with law.
    Public Security Department for the Tibet Autonomous Region
    2018/2/7
    http://www.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_1993471

    Notice of the Tibet Autonomous Region Public Security Department on Reporting Leads on Crimes and violations by Underworld forces

  11. I opine that Samdhong Rinpoche lied of his meeting with Chinese officials in China because of what he wanted and asked for were not favorable to his intention. Else why lie? Even Lobsang Sangay admitted that Samdhong Rinpoche was in China albeit for a different reason. Whatever the reason for the meeting is only known to Samdhong Rinpoche, the Dalai Lama, The CTA. Maybe the meeting was not fruitful hence the denial by Samdhong Rinpoche. Since Samdhong Rinpoche lied about this meeting, he could have lied about the Dorje Shugden conflict

  12. This is shocking.As a monk and a close attendant of HHDL,why shd he lie about going to China?If indeed he went China to talk about tibetans going back to Tibet,it shd be good news unless it was something else and he did not meet any officials as claimed.Such hypocrite.Always condemning China and now see what happens.It will be a longer talk as the Chinese would def want to be convinced to let the Tibetans home.

  13. I can’t believe what I’m reading here. All the Tibetan all over the world, what do u all think? Samdhong Rinpoche is the root reason of all the sufferings of Shugdenpas. He’s the one who created the schism among Tibetans and split Tibetan especially those in China. It’s all in his place, so that now he can negotiate with China to let HHDL go back to Tibet. So that HHDL will unite all Tibetan as what the China government wanted as “One China”.

    Being Tibetan already suffered, yet they continuesly being con and lied and used by their own leaders. When is this going to end? The karma is now rolling bigger and bigger. Tuan tan got to wake up and should be able to realise the truth by now.

  14. Tibetan should open their eyes to see who is the one that all the time having relationship with China. Samdong Rinpoche denied for going to China is either he failed his mission during his trip in China or he still want to keep his relationship with China under the carpet.

    Who is the traitor here?

  15. Tibetan leadership always act or simply accuse people without evident is nothing new. But being a democracy governance, can Tibetan tolerate this and how would the people around the world view this?

    Tibetan should voice up their rights and get CTA act in democracy. Tibetan has the right to demand their government to prioritize their people’s welfare.

  16. Samdhong Rinpoche may have his reasons for lying. Maybe because the deal between them and China is not certain yet. Hence, he denied the reasons he went to China. But if lying until causes suffering to others then it is bad.

    The Tibetans cannot leave India for China just like that. This makes them so ungrateful to their host country who treated them so well and they are more well off to do than the Indians in India.

  17. It is truly sad the Shugden’s ban was started by a monk! Was it being powerful could control everything? I thought ordained monk have vows to hold and shouldn’t involve in politics. I wonder how many vows Samdhong Rinpoche have broken, I’m sorry to say that. 🤔

  18. CTA are known to be lying and corrupt. This is nothing new. Yet I can’t compute why they still exist. 60 years on and yet nothing happens. Maybe that is why Dalai Lama and Samdong Rinpoche decided to do it their way

  19. What’s new? Tibetan Leadership is well known for lying. But as a Sangha, it doesn’t look good. It’s indeed a good news to all the Tibetans in India and in Tibet, since all of them are looking forward for the return of The Dalai Lama. The lies could be caused by some disagreement between him (Samdong Ripoche) and the China government, hence he just tell lies to deny his visit to China. Or maybe they (The Tibetan Leadership) like to do things secretly? Anyway, CTA’s name is already so bad that whatever they do, doesn’t seem right.

  20. An article published in 1997 in the Spanish magazine “Mas Alla” stated that Ling Rinpoche practiced Dorje Shugden. The magazine covers spiritual and metaphysical issues around the world, and doesn’t have anything to do with Tibetan Buddhism. So in that way, it has no reason to be biased in and to write articles in support of or against Dorje Shugden.

    The magazine was also issued in 1997, before the height of the ban, at a time when no one was compelled to hide the truth. So we can be sure that the reporting on this matter is therefore neutral and unedited and objective.

    It’s a fact that both the tutors of the 14th Dalai Lama (Kyabje Ling Rinpoche and Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche) practiced Dorje Shugden, which was confirmed by the research conducted by the reporter JC Deus from Mas Alla. Deus clearly interviewed the right people and since the truth will always prevail, it is not surprising that an independent researcher like him with no links to Tibetan Buddhism so easily discovered and reported that Ling Rinpoche does Dorje Shugden practice. Remember that Deus was just doing his duty as a reporter, and reporting it as a neutral historical fact, not with any agenda in mind.

    This is clear proof and it contradicts the false information the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) propagates that Ling Rinpoche does not practise Dorje Shugden. Lies like these will always be found out and exposed. This has been proven with the CTA who continue to make a fool out of themselves, losing trust among the Tibetans and supporters around the world.

    This is PART 1, the first part of my 4-part comment. It shows the first three pages (pg 28-29) and the cover of the Mas Alla magazine, which published this report about Dorje Shugden.

    27 Cover

    28

    29

  21. This is PART 2, the second part of my 4-part comment. It shows the next three pages (pg 30-32) of the Mas Alla magazine, which published this report about Dorje Shugden.

    30

    31

    32

  22. This is PART 3, the third part of my 4-part comment. It shows the next three pages (pg 33-35) of the Mas Alla magazine, which published this report about Dorje Shugden. Please take SPECIAL NOTE to see page 33. The part where it mentions Ling Rinpoche practices Dorje Shugden has been highlighted for your reference.

    33-A

    34

    35

  23. This is PART 4, the final part of my 4-part comment. It shows the last two pages (pg 36-37) of the Mas Alla magazine, which published this report about Dorje Shugden.

    36

    37

  24. Mr. Mila Rangzen says the head of the Tibetan exiled govt is a sexual predator

    Since 2011, Lobsang Sangay’s tenure as the President of the Central Tibetan Administration has been mired with various scandals and failures, such as the election scandal and the US$1.5 million loan scandal. The 17% unemployment rate among the Tibetans in exile has also forced some Tibetans to become spies, betraying their host country India. Now, in more shocking news from Mila Rangzen, who has been proven to have access to a lot of insider news, Lobsang Sangay has been revealed to be a sexual predator who does not hesitate to risk the Dalai Lama’s reputation to satisfy his lust. More women and people are speaking up about this. This is really breaking news. These women deserve a platform to express the pain and humiliation and be open to heal.

    Mila Rangzen has, on numerous occasions, shared extremely accurate and reliable news for the benefit of the Tibetan community. He has never failed us with the accuracy of the news and they have all proven to be true. Mila seems to not be afraid to tell the truth.

    All the victims of the sexual predator Lobsang Sangay should not keep quiet anymore and must expose him once and for all. He should be punished for his actions and asked to step down from his position now! The victims should be empowered by this and speak up and point the finger at Lobsang Sangay if this is true. Do not stay in the dark and hide your shame because Lobsang Sangay is destroying the reputation of the Dalai Lama.

    President Sangay and the sexual assault on Ms Leslie Butterfield
    February 21, 2018
    Just as you, the reader, I am also very concerned about the direction that LS is taking the Tibetan community towards.  Just as Trump he is catering to his base of fanatic Khampa sanjor ex-monk supporters leading to disharmony and divisiveness. Let me start in 2011 during the Kalachakra in Washington DC. – During the Kalachakra from July 6-16th, LS also visited as is normal for him to bask in the glory of His Holiness.  An intern, Leslie Butterfield, at the ICT was assigned to him to assist him in his meetings and moving around DC.  Ms. Butterfield was in her early 20s then and a very attractive young woman who supported His Holiness and the Tibetan cause with her whole heart and being.  She is known to have been a very active participant in numerous activities to further the cause of Tibet and spread the work of compassion of His Holiness.
    It was the night of July 11th that LS physically assaulted her in his hotel room.  The next day she reported this to Mary Beth Markey, the then President of ICT.  There were others in the office who were also made aware of the incident of the previous night. Ms. Butterfield was convinced by Marybeth and others in the ICT not to file charges against LS using the name of HH as an emotional blackmail.  That she would be sullying the name of His Holiness if she was to file a complaint.  She was pressured into not filing a complaint which makes people at ICT complicit in a cover-up.  With so many women coming out with sexual abuse charges it may be time for Ms. Butterfield to come out too.
    She is now married with a child.  Maura Mohinyan comes to mind as someone capable of convincing her to come forward.  Maura as I know her has in-depth knowledge of LS dealings.
    During his last visit to NY and DC along with Kaydor, he had a meeting with the Tibet Fund regarding the $1.5 mil loan.  He is pressurizing TF to write off the loan before the parliament session begins in March so as to prove his point that it was a grant and not a loan even though existing documents show the money as a loan which I have written in depth.  During the meeting, he emotionally blackmailed the TF saying that he was going to ask HH for the money so that it is paid back to the TF just to prove that it was not a loan even though paying it back means it was a loan.  He explicitly asked the TF “if they were comfortable taking money from HH”.  There are ongoing talks between TF and OoT, DC on his behalf about this money.
    His exact words are in the minutes of the meeting at the TF which shall be released here in the next article as it pertains to the interest of the Tibetan people and political corruption.  It is common knowledge in India that HH is very disappointed, to say the least, with LS and the way he is using his office for personal glorification.  The only audience he got was in Gaya after months of trying to see HH.  He has no shame and had the audacity to ask HH to mediate and solve the loan issue.  HH’s response is one of pin-drop silence.
    There are numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power in Dharamshala but all will not come out openly for fear of retribution as you and I know how the law works in India.  A spark/catalyst is much needed if these women are to get justice and it is where my role begins.
    https://thetibetstar.com/2018/02/21/president-sangay-and-the-sexual-assault-on-ms-leslie-butterfield/

    President-Sangay-and-the-Sexual-Assault-of-Ms-Leslie-Butterfield

  25. President Sangay launches attacks on Mila Rangzen
    February 28, 2018
    Like a true citizen of Tibet, I have been critical of powers that be including LS as the president of CTA on policy, conduct, nepotism, regionalism, transparency, and accountability and the price I am paying is his personal attacks on me using his stooges today. What triggered the attacks is this informative piece https://thetibetstar.com/2018/02/21/president-sangay-and-the-sexual-assault-on-ms-leslie-butterfield/ I wasn’t surprised because I was expecting it from a touchy vindictive man like him.
    However, it’s encouraging to be noticed and I will continue to speak up for our people and for our cause stronger than ever. Rights and responsibilities are not properties that belong only to the President, ministers and the parliamentarians. It also belongs to us –the people. Anyone who implies otherwise is either a fool or a threat to democracy and freedom around the world.
    The details of the attacks will be released in the next article.
    Till then stay strong and be determined to pay any price and when necessary make them pay a heavy price too for treading on a king cobra taking care of rats that are destroying our crops.
    This too shall pass!
    https://thetibetstar.com/2018/02/28/president-sangay-launches-attacks-on-mila-rangzen/

    milarangzenls

  26. Tibetan govt in exile is corrupt, liars, segregationalists, greedy, bigots and this is what they do when Dalai Lama is alive. After Dalai Lama is no more, the whole Tibetan govt in exile will just collapse overnight.

    They lost their country in 1959 because they are too corrupt to keep it. For the last 60 years they cannot get their country back. Tibetan govt is a failure whether in Tibet or in exile.👎

    lstd

  27. Comic drawn by Tendor, a prominent Free Tibet activist.

    @IMG_0977

  28. Lhatse Lobsang, the President of Utsang Yargay Tsokpa, warns the elected leaders including the Sikyong Lobsang Sangye/Tibetan leaders and members of the parliament of his self-immolation in protest if they don’t resolve the termination issue in the coming March parliamentary sessions. Tibetans in India are so unhappy with their Tibetan government in exile in North India, they wish to self-immolate in protest. This would spell big disaster for the corrupt Tibetan government in exile in India.

    Utsang monk warrior warns President Sangay of self-immolation
    March 4, 2018 | Mila Rangzen
    It is no secret His Holiness the Dalai Lama was disappointed with the 2016 Sikyong election that was marked by Khampa negative regionalism that caused disharmony and division in our small community that is surviving on handouts from Indian and foreign individuals, NGOs, and governments for the past six decades.
    Actually, it was the 18,000 Utsang people who voted for Khampa Lobsang Sangay that made him win but in return Khampa fanatics, to say thank you,  gifted gang intimidation, criminal threats, insults, death threats and violence to the Utsang people.
    As if this was not bad enough, President Sangay poured gasoline on the house on fire by terminating former speaker Penpa Tsering whose mother is Utsang from the post of Representative at Washington DC on November 6, 2017, without any valid reasons.
    Lhatse Lobsang, the President of Utsang Yargay Tsokpa, warns the elected leaders including the Sikyong and members of the parliament of his self-immolation in protest if they don’t resolve the termination issue in the coming March parliamentary sessions.
    https://thetibetstar.com/2018/03/04/utsang-monk-warrior-warns-president-sangay-of-self%E2%80%8B-immolation/

    Utsang-monk-warrior-warns-President-Sangay

  29. The Nepalese officials have again turned down permission for Tibetan refugees to commemorate the Tibetan uprising day in order to protect its alliance with the Chinese Communist Party, which has proven to be more beneficial to Nepal as compared to supporting the Tibetan refugees.

    The Nepal Chief District Officer issued a written notice in 2005 to the Representative of the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Refugees Welfare Office (TRWO) in Kathmandu to suspend both offices, ending a 45 years partnership to care for some 2,500 Tibetan refugees who would transit in Nepal from Tibet. This move was a lesson to the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) for not addressing the tensions between the Tibetans and Nepalese, as well as not contributing back to Nepal for as long as they have been there. The fact that the Tibetan refugees continue to protest on March 10 is a perfect example in which they will jeopardise the relationship between Nepal and China, who is now the top assistance providers to Nepal. The Tibetan refugees are forever taking, and never reciprocating the favour has proven to be an ineffective way of dealing with the Nepalese as they feel they are taken for granted always.

    Nepal to ban March 10 Tibetan uprising day events
    Thursday, March 08, 2018 19:49 | By Tenzin Dharpo
    DHARAMSHALA, Mar. 8: The Tibetan refugee community in Nepal will not be allowed to commemorate the anniversary of the Tibetan Uprising day due this Saturday, after Nepalese officials turned down the permission to hold any “protests” or “public gathering” by Tibetans on the day.
    An official notice sent out by the Central Tibetan Administration’s ‘Tibetan Refugee Welfare Office’ in Kathmandu on Wednesday, appealed to Tibetans in Nepal to refrain from organizing protests or public gatherings on the day and instead pray from their homes.
    The notice stated that the Nepalese officials have turned down permission to commemorate the Tibetan uprising day this year as well like the previous years in the near past and that refugee Tibetans should abide by the laws of the land.
    The official appeal is most likely, in anticipation to avoid any violent interruption by Nepalese police towards Tibetan refugees, as were seen after 2008 when the tension was at its height following alliance between Beijing and Kathmandu. Over 200 peaceful Tibetan protesters were arrested on 10th March 2008 and over 1,100 Tibetans arrested prior to the Beijing Olympics for holding demonstrations the same year. 
    Tibetan refugees have been subjected to clampdown by Nepalese police over the years on this day, which marks the uprising of the Tibetan people in Tibet in 1959 against the colonial Chinese rule.
    Nepal, a tiny Himalayan nation wedged between occupied Tibet and India was once a sanctuary for Tibetan refugees. Until the late eighties, the Nepalese government issued RC (Registration certificate) to Tibetans who came from Tibet as well as their children. A “gentlemen’s agreement” to continue allowing Tibetan refugees to cross over into India was struck between the government of Nepal and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 1989 following the Kathmandu government refusal to give refugee status to Tibetans.
    However, that agreement has since been pushed aside after Nepal started receiving a lucrative patronage from China. The influx of Tibetan refugees has been severely restricted with the once average of 2000 immigrants a year dropping to a lowly 200 since 2008 Uprising in Tibet. In an extreme case of heavy handedness, 18 Tibetans including some children in 2003, and 3 Tibetans in 2010 were detained by Nepalese police and handed over to Chinese authorities in Tibet.
    Nepal which is home to more than 20,000 Tibetans who either came across the border or were born to settlers, are finding it hard to sustain a free and normal existence. The Nepalese government’s treatment of the Tibetan refugees has taken a turn for the worse in the last few years with China pumping in cheap interest loans and relaxed FDR (Foreign Direct Investment) schemes in exchange for its will to be imposed. China’s FDR in Nepal has shot to $128 million in 2015 up from $24 million in 2014 besides perks such as a fleet of Mercedes SUVs.
    http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=40222

    Nepal to ban March 10 Tibetan Uprising Day Event

  30. Indian and Chinese foreign ministries have both made statements thawing relations between the two Asian giants. Determined to improve ties between the countries, the Indian government is taking steps to ensure nothing jeopardizes their efforts. First, they told their officials to distance themselves from the Tibetans, and then the planned #ThankyouIndia2018 events were moved from New Delhi (India’s political capital) to the out of the way Dharamsala.

    Now, even Chinese ministers are hoping for improved relations, bringing stability to the volatile region. The Chinese dragon and the Indian elephant need to dance in order to become stronger said the Chinese Foreign Minister.

    Will this be the end of India’s support of the Tibetans? What will they do next?

    China’s foreign minister suggests ‘Chinese dragon’ and ‘Indian elephant’ should dance, not fight

    NEW DELHI — A pair of statements from the Chinese and Indian foreign ministries this week appeared to show an opening in relations between Asia’s most powerful rivals, long competitors on trade and territory.

    “The Chinese ‘dragon’ and the Indian ‘elephant’ must not fight each other, but dance with each other,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing on Thursday. If the two countries joined hands, he said, “one plus one will equal not only two, but also eleven,” referring to how powerful they would be together.

    On Friday, India foreign ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that stronger ties “are a factor of stability amid today’s global uncertainties” at a meeting at Xiamen in September 2017.

    “We are willing to work with the Chinese side to develop our relations based on commonalities, while dealing with differences on the basis of mutual respect and sensitivity to each other’s interests, concerns and aspirations,” Kumar said at a news conference in New Delhi.

    Relations between the two countries have been fraught in recent months, as tensions escalated over border issues and Tibet, a semiautonomous region of China. But the statements could suggest willingness to cooperate.

    “I don’t think it’s a fundamental shift in the relationship,” said Shashank Joshi, senior research fellow of the Royal United Services Institute.

    “We are still looking at broad strategic competition between China and India, which stretches over the Himalayas and into the Indian Ocean. The statement doesn’t mean India is any less concerned on the Belt and Road initiative or the China-Pakistan economic corridor, but India does not want those disagreements to undermine relations,” he said, referring to China’s flagship program to increase connectivity in central, west and south Asia. New Delhi has refused to back the initiative, raising concerns it could directly link its two bordering strategic foes — China and Pakistan.

    Earlier this week, Indian Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharam said in parliament that both countries had redeployed troops at Doklam, the contested site of an intense standoff between the two countries last year.

    “The strength of both sides have been reduced,” she said, adding that the Chinese army had started the construction of sentry posts, helipads and trenches in the area.

    The statements came after unconfirmed reports in Indian media this week that senior government officials were asked not to attend events to mark the Dalai Lama’s 60th year in exile from China. Events for the Buddhist leader — whom China considers a dangerous separatist — were moved from New Delhi to the Himalayan city of Dharamsala, headquarters of the Tibetan government-in-exile.

    “India and China recognize that they can’t afford to let these disagreements erupt into open conflict,” Joshi said. “Diffusing Tibet issue for now is one for India to signal that’s what it wants to do.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/chinas-foreign-minister-suggests-chinese-dragon-and-indian-elephant-should-dance-not-fight/2018/03/09/b27f81ac-2397-11e8-a589-763893265565_story.html

    China’s foreign minister suggests ‘Chinese dragon’ and ‘Indian elephant’ should dance

  31. The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) should really learn from Nepal. Aligning with Chinese policy is necessary if you wish for growth and economic stability. The Dalai Lama was recently quoted to say, “We want to stay with China. We want more development.”

    Nepal has developed so much since collaborating with China, with China now contributing to around 58 percent of foreign direct investment (FDI) commitments received by Nepal. China has promised that areas of mutual cooperation with Nepal would be expanded in the days to come.

    ‘Nepal committed to One-China Policy’
    Published: March 08, 2018 1:01 pm | RASTRIYA SAMACHAR SAMITI
    Kathmandu, March 7
    Defence Minister Ishwor Pokhrel said Nepal was committed to One-China Policy.
    Minister Pokhrel said this during a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong at the former’s office in Singha Durbar. He also said the relations between the armies of the two countries could also be expanded.
    Minister Pokhrel assured the Chinese ambassador that all agreements between the governments of the two countries would be implemented. He also hoped that the Chinese government would continue to provide support for infrastructure development in the country.
    According to spokesperson for the defence ministry Rishiraj Rajbhandari, Ambassador Hong congratulated the minister and expressed belief that China’s friendly relations with Nepal would be further enhanced during the government led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.
    Areas of mutual cooperation would be expanded in the days to come, said the Chinese ambassador. The meeting was also attended by Defence Secretary Binod KC, senior Nepali Army officials and officials from the foreign ministry.
    https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/nepal-committed-one-china-policy/

    Nepal committed to One-China Policy

  32. Not only was the thankyouindia2018 forced to move back to McLeodganj, the Tibetans are warned to keep the event low key! BJP leadership, including L K Advani and Shanta Kumar, and former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had been invited for the event in Delhi but none of them replied to the invitation. Apart from the change of venue now, new invitation list has to be prepared. It is clear that the Indian government is distancing itself from the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) and they will do what is necessary to mend their ties with China.

    Post-venue shift from Delhi, Tibetans to keep event low key in McLeodganj

    Shri Puri| TNN | Updated: Mar 7, 2018, 11:08 IST
    DHARAMSHALA: The event cancellation in Delhi has forced a change of plans in the Tibetan administration and the shifting of venue to McLeodganj. The ‘Thank You India’ event, which was aimed to mark 60 years in-exile of the Dalai Lama, will now be organized in the hill town on March 31.
    The venue was shifted to Dharamshala after the foreign secretary wrote a note to the cabinet secretary on February 22, asking government functionaries and senior leaders to skip the Tibetan event in view of “sensitive time” for India and China relations.
    On Tuesday, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) president Lobsang Sangay reached here from Delhi via early morning flight but avoided the media. ‘Thank You India’ programme was the brain child of CTA. Beginning March 31 at Rajghat in New Delhi with an inter-faith meeting, this year-long event was to end on December 10, 2018.
    Confirming that the event has been shifted to Dharamshala, Tibetan department of information and international relations secretary Dhardon Sharling told TOI, “We do not know the reason, but we have received information that the event has been shifted to Dharamshala from Delhi. This is a minor change, but is being interpreted wrongly. There are no differences between the Indian government and the Tibetan leadership.”
    The Tibetan administration is now in talks with the HPCA to organise its event at the cricket stadium, confirmed HPCA spokesman Sanjay Sharma.
    The Dalai Lama’s office, too, maintained a distance on this issue, with the Tibetan leader’s private secretary Tenzin Takla saying the CTA was managing the event. “We have not received any invitation yet. The Tibetan administration is dealing with all this, not the Dalai Lama’s office,” he said.
    Sources revealed that top BJP leadership, including L K Advani and Shanta Kumar, had been invited for the event in Delhi. Former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh was also among those invited. However, confirmation had not come in from anyone. Now, after the change in venue, the Tibetan government is preparing a new list of invitees for the event, they added.
    Asked about China’s pressure on India on this issue, CTA official spokesperson Sonam Dagpo said relations between the two neighbouring countries were important for the world, particularly for South Asian countries. “We don’t feel that the Indian government was under pressure from China,” he said. “We don’t feel this would have any kind of impact the Tibetan movement,” Dagpo added.
    https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/shimla/post-venue-shift-from-delhi-tibetans-to-keep-event-low-key-in-mcleodganj/articleshow/63193258.cms

    Post-venue shift from Delhi

  33. It is very clear by now that the Indian Government does not want the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)’s thank you. No matter how the CTA orchestrates the propaganda campaign to please India, it is very clear that the Indian Government had enough of the Tibetans and are making effort to distance itself from the CTA. Although India will continue to support His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his spiritual works, the distinctions between His Holiness and the CTA is made very clear. Looking at the trend, we may be able to speculate that the Indian Government’s plan for the next few years is to end decades of support to the CTA and its people, eventually clearing all Tibetan refugees from India.

    Why Tibetans Shouldn’t Be Offended by India’s Snub to Dalai Lama
    THUBTEN SAMPHEL | 12H 00M AGO
    When you thank a person for his or her hospitality or a favour done or courtesy shown to you, that person’s usual and expected response is “You are most welcome.”
    In the lead-up to a major year-long Thank You India event to commemorate 60 years in exile and to take place across India and organised by the Central Tibetan Administration, the government of India’s response seems to be “We don’t want your thank you.”
    As reported, the cabinet secretary of the union government issued a circular advising central and state leaders and officials not to attend any ‘Thank You, India’ event. The Central Tibetan Administration was advised to move the highlight of the event from New Delhi to Dharamsala.
    India’s Diplomatic Tip-Toeing Should Not Distract the Tibetan Refugees
    This is the trending topic among Tibetans on social media. Tibetans have expressed their disappointment, suspecting a shift in the attitude of the government of India to the Tibetan cause.
    But they shouldn’t be disappointed, and there is no shift in the Indian government’s policy to the issue of Tibet.
    In fact, India’s diplomatic tip-toeing around the issue of Tibet should not distract the Tibetan refugees from the Indian government’s massive, consistent and unstinting support to them. With India’s support and under the Dalai Lama’s guidance, the Tibetan refugees have been able to establish a productive and cohesive community serviced by schools, settlements, hospitals, clinics, old people’s homes, monasteries and higher learning centres, all centrally or autonomously supervised by the Central Tibetan Administration.
    More importantly, India’s tolerance and hospitality has given space to Tibetan refugees to re-energise and revitalise the institutions, values and disciplines of Tibet’s Buddhist heritage. This ability to re-establish Tibet’s cultural and spiritual heritage in India has attracted students and scholars from areas which once came within the ambit of Tibet’s Buddhist civilisation. The Dalai Lama’s tireless travel and his message of peace and compassion have drawn new students and scholars to India from across the world.
    Some scholars call the ability of Tibetan refugees to plant the roots of cultural Tibet in India “one of the miracles of the twentieth century.”
    What the next generation of Tibetans does with this gift given to them by the Dalai Lama and India will test the mettle on which depends the continued survival of Tibet outside of the plateau.
    As for the government of India’s policy to Tibet is concerned, that was settled in 1954. That year, India and China signed the Panchsheel agreement in which India recognised Tibet as an autonomous part of the People’s Republic of China.
    Against this historical background, how the government of India will continue to view the exile community will depend on the Tibetan refugees themselves. How they conduct themselves, how they use the enormous freedom granted to them, and how they use the same energy to strengthen their cultural and community cohesion will shape the central government’s view.
    As for the Indian public, there is a groundswell of sympathy and support generated by the Dalai Lama. This support and sympathy should never be squandered.
    (Thubten Samphel is the director of the Tibet Policy Institute, a research centre of the Central Tibetan Administration in Dharamshala. The opinions expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)
    https://www.thequint.com/voices/opinion/why-tibetans-shouldnt-be-upset-by-india-snub-to-dalai-lama

    Why Tibetans Shouldn’t Be Offended by Indian Snub

  34. Although both China and India are seen as giants, India has been seen submitting to China more and more. The relocation of “Thank You India” event from Delhi to Dharamsala and Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha’s note to Indian officials to not attend the event because it is a “very sensitive time” for bilateral relations with China both clearly show that India is bending backwards to please China. And they are definitely not going to entertain Lobsang Sangay anymore because the Tibet issue is no longer a trump card for India. 

    Lobsang Sangay said not long ago that an official usually wants to do something big in their last term of office so that people will remember them. In this case, he will forever be remembered for his incapability and his focus on building closer ties with young women, such as Dhardon Sharling, instead of significant diplomatic ties. He has done a lot of big things in his last term as the President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) but none of these shows any leadership characteristics whatsoever. These include:

    1) The sacking of Penpa Tsering to evade the Tibet Fund loan scandal of US$1.5 million. He even tried to push the loan on to His Holiness the Dalai Lama to settle on his behalf. 

    2) Allowing a downsized, low-key #thankyouindia2018 event to celebrate 60 years of exile, something which Dhardon Sharling, the Secretary of Department of Information and International Relations, claimed to have no idea as to why the events were shifted. 

    3) Allowing fake monk Tenzin Dhonden to use His Holiness’ fame to conduct dubious activities including being involved in a cult and sex scandals.

    4) Losing India’s half-century worth of support towards the CTA and its people for his ungrateful attitude. Instead, he focused on filling up his own pockets instead of thinking of the welfare of the Tibetans in exile. 

    Lobsang Sangay’s intention to take on the role as the President of the CTA is clear and his best ‘achievements’ definitely outshine his predecessors as inept failures.

    No need to thank India — just grow up a little
    By Lobsang Wangyal | MCLEOD GANJ, India, 13 March 2018
    While the Doklam issue was heating up in June 2017, the Indian media was kept busy, and that in turn kept the public busy. I also had many discussions over this issue. I remember one with two young Indian men who were saying that India is not the same 1962 India, that it has changed and become powerful. They boasted that in case of a war India could take on China easily. So I followed that thought to its logical conclusion, saying “sure, there should be a war between India and China, then we will know for sure who is more powerful.” When it came to walking the talk, the two retreated from their strong position and changed their tone, now making it seem that I was promoting war, and was against India.
    The Doklam stand-off resulted from an attempt by China to extend a road into an area claimed by both China and Bhutan. I was expecting that India would stand up for itself and launch a “surgical strike”, putting an end to the confrontation. But after a military face-off and many diplomatic engagements, going on for close to three months, it all fizzled out without coming to a military conflict, as India and China agreed to withdraw their armies. (In the meantime, Indians learned what Doklam means in Tibetan — Path of the Nomads.)
    China contains India
    China’s road extension is a cause of concern for India because it would shorten the distance for the Chinese army to reach India’s strategically vulnerable ‘Chicken’s Neck’ area — the Siliguri Corridor, a narrow stretch of land located in the Indian state of West Bengal that connects India’s northeastern states to the rest of India.
    After the situation cooled off, reports started to emerge that China had built military facilities in the very same area. But the Government of India said that the status quo at the site of last year’s face-off still held. It dismissed reports of any Chinese activities in the area.
    In the competition for global player China has succeeded in containing India through diplomacy, economically, strategically, as well as outright bullying. China takes a contrary position to India wherever possible, and blocks India’s rightful places in UN councils. It is well known that China has invested heavily in the neighbouring countries of India. India’s neighbouring countries have more Chinese influence than Indian. China flexes its muscles without resistance in places such as the South China Sea, Doklam, and Aksai Chin. It complains whenever possible about anything perceived to be “anti-China”. It goes even to the extreme that due to China’s influence, Pakistan politicians have suggested that Mandarin be taught in the schools.
    So China has always created problems for India, yet somehow India seems to feel that China is its friend, and that China will benefit and support India — will give business, recognition, and support. So far nothing of this has happened — in fact, the opposite.
    India submits to China
    Tibet is India’s best card against China, and India plays it but in a very confusing way. By volunteering the statement that Tibet is part of China, without even any pressure from China to do so, India has wasted this trump card, and received nothing in return. Yet the boundary issues have not been solved, and China doesn’t allow India to take its position on the global stage. China has made sure that all India’s neighbours are closer to it than to India.
    India seems to be submitting to China more all the time. What is India trying to achieve by this? The latest sign of submission is India’s objection to the “Thank You India” event planned in Delhi by the Central Tibetan Administration. A series of events were to follow throughout the year. First the Government of India asked its officials not to attend it, and then apparently India objected to holding the opening event in Delhi at all.
    Perhaps Sangay received a dressing-down from officials of MEA, when he interrupted his schedule to hurry to Delhi after India’s objection to the event. It is unclear if he was summoned by MEA or he went voluntarily to do some damage control.
    This whole incident only shows a weak India, losing the contest of superiority with China, and lowering India’s image on the global stage. And on the flip side of the coin, it showed that the Government of India is not in favour of Sangay’s moves.
    Why “Thank You India” now?
    In 2009, Tibetans had their “Thank You India”, a sort of “Golden Jubilee”, when Tibetans marked 50 years of life in exile. The Dalai Lama, then as both the political and spiritual leader, in his “Thank You India” address said, “Overall India has given us the greatest moral and material support. Looking back over the past 50 years, we feel confident that we made the right choice when we sought refuge in India.”
    Was that “Thank you” not enough? Did India ask for more? I am lost why are we doing it again. 50 years is a milestone — to do it again 10 years later seems gratuitous.
    Also there is the expense. The Tibetan administration is asking for funds for their museum project. All the money that would go for (well, be wasted on) these “Thank you” events could be used for the museum project. Although, the effectiveness of this project is debatable: Whether a museum on the premises of CTA, at some distance from McLeod Ganj where most of the tourists are, would get near as many visitors as the current conveniently-located site. This is altogether another matter for discussion.
    Grow up a little
    One domino effect of Sangay’s superfluous actions is that now the CTA had to indefinitely postpone the World Parliamentarian’s Convention on Tibet, which had been planned to be held at the end of April in Delhi.
    The Government of India has clearly signalled that they are not in favour of Sangay’s moves. The exile Cabinet led by Sangay needs to do a retrospection and learn from this experience — that some press coverage and flowery Facebook posts for a little hype don’t help anything. CTA is the hope and heart of six million Tibetans. We need to see some maturity in it.
    Didn’t Sangay himself say not long ago, that an official always wants to do something big in their last term of office that people will remember him by?
    https://www.tibetsun.com/opinions/2018/03/13/no-need-to-thank-india-just-grow-up-a-little-bit

    DS.com No-need-to-thank-india-just-grow-up-a-little-bit-2018-03-13

  35. India has lost significant support from Nepal, especially since Nepal’s devastating earthquake in 2015 when China gave the country funds for aid and rebuilding infrastructure. It is now losing its grip more and more, such as in its internet monopoly, now threatened by alternatives from China. China is making inroads into Nepal aggressively. India, which originally thought of China as a friend, can only sit by and watch China exert its influence and power further, such as improving telecommunications and building railway extensions from the border with Nepal and Yadong across Sikkim, to Kathmandu and Lumbini. 

    Nepal and India have historically enjoyed good ties and strong trade relations and if India does not take advantage of this fast-closing window of opportunity, China will be successful in wooing Nepal. Kathmandu already signed trade and transit agreements with Beijing in March 2016. This gave Nepal an alternative route for its trade and supplies. As China builds a stronghold in Nepal, it will continue achieving its strategic objective of eliminating Indian influence and curbing the Tibetan refugee population.

    China rises in Nepal, eyes Lumbini
    By JAYADEVA RANADE | NEW DELHI | 11 March, 2018
    Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Oli
    China’s strategic objectives include eliminating Indian influence and curbing the Tibetan refugee population.

    Consequent to the expansion of Chinese influence, the delicate balance in India’s relations are now under strain and at a crucial juncture. With a new government in Kathmandu, the Prime Ministers of Nepal and India will meet to exchange views and review relations. After Prachanda broke tradition and travelled to Beijing, instead of India, on his first visit abroad as Prime Minister, the symbolism of this gesture has diminished and it is possible that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may ignore precedence to emphasise the importance of India-Nepal ties and travel to Kathmandu first. Nevertheless, it is imperative that India makes a candid, clear-eyed assessment of the extent of Chinese influence there and state of India-Nepal ties.
    Shaping the background is China’s unmistakable imprimatur. Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Oli’s critical reference to India came in the midst of the political crisis in the Maldives and coincided with China’s unprovoked warnings to India against acting unilaterally in the Maldives. Just a few days ago the Pakistan Prime Minister paid a two-day visit to Kathmandu, becoming the first high level foreign leader to meet Prime Minister Oli. The visit was covered in the Chinese media. There is now no room for missteps. India should avoid accepting the sanguine argument that India and Nepal are tied by geography. Modern construction technology has unshackled the constraints of geography as amply evidenced by the transport infrastructure built by China in the inhospitable, high altitude Himalayan region.
    China’s interest in Nepal is long term. It has designated Nepal a “friend”, induced it to join Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flagship “Belt and Road Initiative” and offered it financial and other assistance in addition to holding out the prospect of a security arrangement. China’s strategic objectives include eliminating Indian influence and curbing the Tibetan refugee population. Mao Zedong’s well known observation, that Tibet is the palm of the hand, while Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh are its fingers, remains relevant with attendant implications for India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. 
    Following Nepal’s distinct pro-Beijing tilt ever since Prachanda’s appointment as Prime Minister, China has cultivated the full spectrum of political parties and spread its influence among Nepal’s politicians, army, academia, media and businessmen. During the visit of Chinese PLA General Chen Bingde in March 2011, a section of Nepal’s media suggested that he be conferred the rank of honorary general of the Nepal Army—an honour thus far reserved for the Indian Army chief. Echoes of this were evident in Oli’s remarks on 22 February 2018, which pointedly excluded reference to the recruitment of Gorkhas by the British Army and ignored that over 125,000 Nepalis have direct links to the Indian Army. 
    China has meanwhile acquired long-term leverage in Nepal through ZTE and Huawei, both Chinese telecom companies intimately associated with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Huawei set up mobile telephone networks in Kathmandu and other cities, while ZTE upgraded Nepal Telecom’s nationwide mobile phone capacity. Earlier this month, Nepal agreed to enable use of China’s internet. 
    The network of 35 China Study Centres (CSC) strategically sited in southern Nepal along India’s border, ostensibly to popularise the Chinese language, also disseminate anti-India propaganda and reinforce traditional Chinese diplomacy. China’s propaganda offensive includes the China Radio International’s local FM radio station in Kathmandu and Nepal-China Mutual Cooperation Society (NCMCS), funded by the Chinese embassy in Nepal. 
    The game changer is, however, the Qinghai-Lhasa railway capable of carrying an estimated 7 million tonnes of cargo a year, augmented by an all-weather road network. Discussions to extend the railway, which has reached Zhangmu on the border with Nepal and Yadong across Sikkim, to Kathmandu and thence to Lumbini—barely 30 kilometres across the border from India—are fairly advanced. China’s new dual-use transportation network provides alternate routes to landlocked Nepal. 
    To create a belt of Chinese influence along Nepal’s border with Tibet, China agreed last year to provide annual subsidies totalling US$1.6 million for education, health, basic amenities and roads to residents of 15 border districts in northern Nepal. Twelve of these districts are densely populated by Himali people of Tibetan origin. Early this month the Nepal government instructed all government officials to learn Mandarin!
    China’s specific strategic focus has also been on establishing a presence in Buddha’s birthplace of Lumbini. Chinese government-sponsored NGOs have unveiled plans estimated variously at between US$1 billion and US$3 billion for the redevelopment of Lumbini, including an airport and seminary-cum-monastery. Prominent Nepal politicians have been appointed office-bearers of Chinese NGOs. The international airport and railway in Lumbini will mean the long-term presence of Chinese military personnel, who will construct, operate and maintain them. The seminary has the potential to destabilise India’s vulnerable Indo-Tibetan Himalayan Border Belt. China’s plans to make Lumbini a China-dominated hub for the “Buddhist tourism circuit” of Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath etc., will marginalise Indian businessmen and tour operators. It could lead to the “illegal” settlement of Chinese who will inevitably migrate to the Northeast. 
    India needs to quickly and effectively counter this expansion of Chinese influence and power and especially prevent Chinese dominance of Lumbini. Options are available, but the window of opportunity is fast closing. 
    Jayadeva Ranade is a former Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India and is presently President of the Centre for China Analysis and Strategy.
    http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/13054-china-rises-nepal-eyes-lumbini

    China-rises-nepal-eyes-lumbini

  36. Dalai rejects invite
    PTI and Our Special Correspondent Mar 13, 2018 00:00 IST
    New Delhi: The Dalai Lama will not attend the Indian Science Congress, which opens in Manipur later this week, a conference organiser said on Monday.
    The monk was one of several Nobel laureates invited as chief guests, and the organisers had earlier told The Telegraph the monk had confirmed his participation. His latest decision comes after the cancellation of an event here where he was expected.
    The event, planned at Rajghat, was meant to mark his 60th year in exile in India, but was moved to Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh following a government communiqué distancing officialdom from the commemoration.
    Tibetan expatriates scaled down or cancelled several other events that had been planned to mark the occasion.
    Achyuta Samanta, general president of the Indian Science Congress Association, said the monk had expressed inability to attend the event. “We were also told that he had visited Manipur two months ago.”
    The government has side-stepped questions on its directive to officials about shunning the Tibetan celebrations. It has officially maintained that there’s been no change in India’s position on the Dalai Lama.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/report-indian-officials-told-to-avoid-tibetan-exile-events/2018/03/02/eb3eacde-1e01-11e8-98f5-ceecfa8741b6_story.html?utm_term=.096e8585e2d3

    hhdlrejectsinvite2

  37. By hosting the Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi when India-Pakistan ties are at an all-time low, Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is telling the world that he is not afraid of India, especially after landmark trade and transit agreements were signed with China. This seems to go well with the general sentiments of the Nepali people, as Oli’s pro-China stance is wildly popular among his core constituencies.

    As mentioned in the article, New Delhi must learn to accept China’s presence in the region and to work with it. As China works on building trilateral cooperation with Nepal and India, the Tibetans will have no standing. Recently, the report that the Indian government had asked senior leaders and officials not to attend events that would mark the Tibetans’ 60 years in exile, as well as the cancellation of 2 events in Delhi, are clear signs that everyone is trying to please China. The Tibetans have no more sympathizers who will continue to support them as it risks jeopardising relations with China.

    Is This the End of India’s Influence Over Nepal?
    As India loses its clout, the Nepali prime minister asserts his country’s independent identity.
    By Biswas Baral | March 14, 2018
    KATHMANDU — There is now little doubt that India has lost strategic space to China in Nepal. Some reckon the era of “special relations” between India and Nepal is nearly over as China makes steady inroads. There has been a truly breathtaking rise in Chinese influence and a corresponding fall in Indian sway in this country of nearly 30 million. The main catalyst for the sea change? The 2015-16 India-inspired blockade of the India-Nepal border, imposed, in part, owing to India’s displeasure over the new constitution Nepal had just promulgated.
    As if to rub salt into India’s wounds Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli last week hosted Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, who in the process became the first foreign head of government to visit Nepal after Oli assumed office for the second time on February 15. In the words of one geopolitical commentator, Abbasi’s visit was ill-timed. With India-Pakistan ties at an all-time low, asks this commentator, “What other purpose will it [the Pakistan prime minister’s Nepal visit] serve save for antagonizing India?”
    But that is not how most Nepalis see it. Oli knows that the more he tries to assert Nepal’s independent identity by distancing himself from India, the greater his popularity will be. Following the 2015-16 blockade. which brought great hardship to common people, the public pressure for closer ties with China has been steadily building, along with the demand that Nepal diversify its relations away from India, heretofore its predominant business partner. This is where Pakistan enters the picture.
    By hosting his Pakistani counterpart, Oli — who crested the popularity wave as a valiant blockade-time prime minister — wanted to give a clear message that he doesn’t care what the Indians think of him. After all, his China tilt is wildly popular among his core constituencies. Moreover, the common perception is that Nepal is these days not as reliant on India as it has historically been, especially after the landmark trade and transit agreements signed with China in the wake of the blockade.
    Too Little Too Late
    It is true that Oli has also sought to mend his frayed ties with New Delhi following his election as prime minister. Indian Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj visited Kathmandu on February 1 after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi got a clear signal from Oli that he was ready to forget past bitterness and start anew. Earlier, when Modi called Oli to congratulate him on his re-election and invited him to visit India, Oli not only accepted the invite; he replied that he was as keen to welcome Modi to Janakpur and Muktinath, the two holy sites in Nepal Modi has long wanted to visit. The inclusion of Madhesi parties in the Oli government is expected to further ease bilateral ties. Concerns over Madhesi representation were at the core of India’s concerns over the 2015 Nepali Constitution.
    There has, moreover, been progress in negotiations on the revision of old Nepal-India treaties that many Nepalis consider unequal. According to recent news reports, India is now ready to discuss regulating the open border, and even considering allowing Nepal to import arms from third countries. India had otherwise treated these issues as non-negotiable. These negotiations may again come to a naught. Nonetheless, Nepali interlocutors in these dialogues sense a definite shift in India’s stand.
    But current efforts to revive India-Nepal relations may be a case of too little, too late. Oli knows that for his political longevity he cannot afford an openly hostile India. But at this late stage in his political career, those close to him say, all he cares about is leaving behind a strong legacy as a statesman. With his health failing, Oli knows time is not on his side.
    He seems determined to be remembered as the Nepali leader who dared to dream of a future for Nepal independently of India. But not just that. Above all, he wants to be remembered as someone who took concrete steps to turn that old Nepali dream intoa reality. This is why even before assuming office after winning recent elections, he had vowed to expedite connectivity projects with China. To show he is serious he has newly empowered the Prime Minster’s Office to personally oversee their progress.
    SAARC Attack
    There are other ways Oli can help China’s cause. During Abbasi’s Nepal visit, the two prime ministers agreed on reviving the moribund South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). India has in recent times made a concerted effort to isolate Pakistan, which is why the SAARC summit planned for 2016 in Islamabad had to be postponed indefinably. Abbasi came to Kathmandu to ask for Oli’s support for a prompt holding of the summit — and on Pakistani soil. Abbasi also in a roundabout way suggested that Nepal could mediate talks between India and Pakistan.
    India will not be pleased. The last time Nepal and Pakistan were seriously talking was on the eve of the 2014 SAARC summit in Kathmandu. Back then, the two countries had agreed to make China a full SAARC member, which had earned them the great ire of India. India has traditionally not taken kindly to any suggestion for third-party mediation on Kashmir, for example, or for China to play a greater role in SAARC.
    India nonetheless may have no option but to accept the writing on the wall. Rather than browbeat its neighbors into following its diktat, as it tried to do with the blockade — or so most Nepalis felt — New Delhi must learn to accept China’s presence in the region and to work with it. China has always supported the idea of trilateral cooperation with Nepal and India, for example with a connecting rail link via Nepal. But India has resisted the suggestion tooth and nail.
    This is not to imply that closer relations with China are unquestionably in Nepal’s interest. The political systems of the two countries are polar opposites. There is also little people-to-people engagement, even though cross-border tourism and business exchanges are growing apace. Geography too makes India Nepal’s natural development partner. It would thus be unwise to write the obituary of Indian primacy in Nepal, as some have done of late.
    But the Modi government would do well to learn from its mistakes. These days in Nepal, there is no shortage of advice for India on how it can mend its errant ways, or forever lose even its reduced clout. The consensus is that only through open and unconditional engagement with small countries in the region like Nepal and Bhutan can India have a peaceful neighborhood that is conducive to its continued economic rise.
    Biswas Baral is the editor of The Annapurna Express, published from Kathmandu. Follow him on Twitter: @biswasktm
    https://thediplomat.com/2018/03/is-this-the-end-of-nepals-special-relationship-with-india/

    Is This the End of India's Influence Over Nepal

  38. Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet!Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet!Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet! Tibetans in India go home!! Go back to Tibet!

  39. Look at these real tweets, Indians are not happy with Tibetans, questioning why India must support the Dalai Lama.

    001

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  40. More tweets of Indians talking about the Dalai Lama.

    004

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  41. More tweets of Indians not happy with the Tibetans. One even asks the Tibetans to go back to China.

    007

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    009

  42. Indians saying Dalai Lama is anti-India and pro-China.

    010

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  43. Clearly the Indians are of the opinion that Dalai Lama’s pro-China stance is hurting Indians.

    013

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    015

  44. See this tweet by Savita, this may be what many Indians are thinking right now.

    016

  45. For years the Tibetan government in-exile has been suppressing Dorje Shugden practitioners and punishing them for practising by barring them from Tibetan hospitals, schools and communal gatherings. They have been severely segregated and pressed down and made into pariahs of society. They did this to scapegoat Shugden as the cause for them to fail in their job in getting Tibet back from China after 60 years in exile. Now the tables have turned. India is starting to change its stance toward the Dalai Lama and Tibetan leadership. The Indian government is starting to make friends with China and that means distancing themselves from the useless Tibetans. Too bad.

    Now the Tibetan leadership will know what it feels like to be abandoned, abused and segregated like they did for years to Dorje Shugden practitioners. Without Indian support the Tibetan government will have less power to abuse Shugden practitioners within their communities. Finally the tables have turned against the Tibetan leadership. Now it’s time for them to humble down and shut up! They better not make further trouble. They could have had hundreds of thousands of Dorje Shugden practitioners supporting the Tibetan leadership but you alienated them with your segregation and inhumane policies of segregation and now you have less and less support. Too bad. Dorje Shugden people could have supported you all but you lost it. Too bad.

    8131b001f2d4136cf9ef8f23a3a7ad19

  46. More and more Indians are speaking their mind, look at this tweet below. It is true that the Tibetan leadership does not get involve or support India when India faces problems, such as during the Gorkhaland and even Doklam crisis. Instead of helping, the President of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) incite more tension by saying that what happened to Tibet could happen to India as well and that India should be worried about China’s continued military build-up in Doklam.

    DS.com RoyHirakesh

  47. Indians are speaking up against Tibetans now. See what t j prasad said. Tibetans live for free for decades in India while amassing massive funds from foreign aid, claiming they are refugees.

    DS.com talisettyprasad

  48. You cannot deny what the Indians have observed. After all, they put up with these fake refugees in their country for decades. What vikram chandra said is true, Tibetans are enjoying their good life everywhere and taking advantage of their host countries.

    DS.com vikramchandra26

  49. What the Tibetan leadership said is clearly seen as disrespectful and ungrateful towards the kindness shown by India for hosting the Tibetans for almost six decades now. See how upset the Indians are and what they are saying now.

    DS.com Partha P. Ghosh

    DS.com Shree Panicker

    DS.com Sid

  50. Policy dive: India believes it’s time to normalise ties with China
    A school of thought believes India cannot afford a conflict; its power gap with China is too large; it is neither militarily equipped nor economically positioned to take on Beijing.
    Updated: Mar 15, 2018 08:13 IST
    Over the past month, India has made a conscious effort to recalibrate ties with China. After a year of stress in the relationship, Delhi appears to feel that it is time to get ties back on track.
    Last Friday, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters India was “willing to work with the Chinese side to develop our relations based on commonalities while dealing with differences on the basis of mutual respect and sensitivity to each other’s interests, concerns and aspirations.” He also emphasised that ties between the two were important bilaterally, but also had regional and global significance.
    On Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said that China had noted “positive remarks by the Indian side”. He had, last week, also said, “Chinese dragon and Indian elephant must not fight each other, but dance with each other. If China and India are united, one plus one will not include two, but also 11.”
    Significance
    In diplomacy, statements matter – and so does context. There is definitely a degree of positive signalling on between the two countries. The statements follow foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale’s visit to China last month. A note by the FS to the cabinet secretary, and his subsequent directive, that senior political leaders and government functionaries should stay away from events to commemorate Dalai Lama’s 60th anniversary in exile became public. It was widely interpreted as a move to assuage Chinese sensitivities, since Beijing views Dalai Lama with suspicion and Tibetan activities in India as political.
    A series of high-level visits are lined up between the two countries, including visits by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is buzz about a ‘high level visit’ from China.
    The debate
    There are two broad schools of thought within the Indian foreign policy establishment, and the wider strategic community, about the reset.
    The first is those who believe this is essential. The argument goes something like this. India and China have had a turbulent time over the past few years. China’s decision to block India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG); its position on black-listing Masood Azhar in UN; India’s opposition to China’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative; and its deepening strategic engagement with Washington and positions on South China Sea have all contributed to trust deficit. The standoff in Doklam was a big blow to ties. And while an accident —in terms of a larger conflict — was averted, it showed the dangers inherent in the relationship.
    India cannot afford a conflict; its power gap with China is too large; it is neither militarily equipped nor economically positioned to take on Beijing; the US — under President Trump — is not a reliable partner. And thus, while protecting core interests like in Doklam, there must be an effort to normalise ties and build trust. It does not help to make China insecure.
    The second school of thought does not want confrontation either. But it believes that any effort to reset actually smells of weakness and could well reduce India’s leverage further. They hold that recent tensions are due to Chinese assertiveness – a result of its growing power and a reflection of President Xi Jinping’s personality. China’s deepening political engagement with India’s South Asian periphery; its expansion in Pakistan; its aggression on the land borders and Doklam are all instances of this new Chinese mood, which hurt India.
    In this backdrop, any ‘appeasement’ of China will embolden it further. India thus has no choice but to hold strong to any ‘cards’ it may have, including Tibet. It must bet on deepening strategic partnership with US as well as other countries with the ability to take on China. It must qualitatively step up the Quad (an initiative of India, Japan, US, Australia). And it must not worry about Chinese reactions. If anyone, it is India which has reason to be insecure – not China. When India is seen as strong, with options, Chinese behaviour will change. At the moment, the first school is dominant. Over the year, the equations in the India China relationship will be a key foreign policy story to watch.
    https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/policy-dive-india-believes-it-s-time-to-normalise-ties-with-china/story-7sGdSA893tQorPmNrxWbII.html

    2policydive

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

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