By: Amber Sonam
On 10 November 2016, two days after Donald Trump’s astonishing victory in the American Presidential elections, the International Criminal Police Organization commonly known as INTERPOL announced its newly and democratically elected President for 2016-2020, at the 85th session of INTERPOL’s General Assembly held in Bali. INTERPOL was founded in 1914, is now headquartered in Lyon, France and has 190 members around the world. It is the second largest international organization after the United Nations (UN).
While the election of a new INTERPOL head itself is not particularly exciting news, what is noteworthy is that fact that the new head who now has access to the largest surveillance network in the world and who’s privy to large databases of vital global information is an official in the Chinese government. INTERPOL is empowered by a collective of the world’s police forces and charged with a duty to make the world a safer place in the spirit and vein of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, abiding by its Constitution that prohibits ‘any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character’. This signals a shift towards global confidence and trust in China.
The new President of INTERPOL is 62-year-old Mr Meng Hongwei, who took over from Mireille Ballestrazzi. Meng is a native of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province. He was born in 1953, and joined the Chinese Communist Party (CPC) in 1975. He graduated from the Law Department of Beijing University with a Bachelor Degree in Law, and from Central South University with a Master Degree.
Meng Hongwei is also the Vice Minister of Public Security of China, and brings to his new role close to 40 years of experience in criminal justice and policing. Meng’s expertise covers counter-terrorism, international cooperation, border control, legal institutions, immigration and narcotics control.
His proficiency in these areas were accumulated through the various positions Meng held in the Ministry of Public Security such as Director-General of the Traffic Control Department, Director of the Patrol Police Division, Director of the National Counter-Terrorism Office, Director-General of the China Coast Guard, Vice Chairman of the National Narcotics Control Commission and Member of the Chinese Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Regional Counter-Terrorism Structure, and finally as Assistant Minister and Vice Minister. Mr. Meng is also the Head of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau of China.
Good news or bad news?
This news came as a jarring shock to the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) who have much to be concerned about these days. For starters, the Tibetan leadership made fun of Donald Trump when the latter was running for President of the United States of America, not expecting him to win. However once Trump became President-elect, Sikyong Lobsang Sangay was quick with his congratulations and request for continued American support for his exiled government and the Tibetans-in-exile. Donald Trump is well known for his stance on immigrants and refugees and so far has been silent on the subject of Tibetans-in-exile.
The CTA has no plans or policies for growth and progress of the Tibetan nation and instead hinges all its hopes on the gullibility and generosity of global governments and the world community. Ironically, the CTA’s pitch to the world, which it has been peddling for over half a century, is that it is a democracy and therefore it becomes the duty of all liberal nations around the world to support its campaign against its enemy, the People’s Republic of China. And yet, the CTA is infamous for not practicing democracy and upholding even the most basic human rights itself.
Even today, the CTA practices faith-based discrimination against a group of Buddhists who are Dorje Shugden practitioners. There is indisputable evidence of how they incite and coerce the Tibetan people to discriminate against Shugden Buddhists whose only ‘crime’ is to refuse to denounce their respective teachers to who they are loyal. As a mark of loyalty to the Dalai Lama or to put it in a different way, as a sign that they are not traitors of the Tibetan people, private businesses and government institutions are required to put up signs denying entry and service to Dorje Shugden practitioners within the Tibetan settlements, and even refuse them basic medical needs. In fact Shugden Buddhists are marginalized and even denied identity papers so they cannot vote nor travel abroad. For whatever reasons the CTA has held out in attempting to justify its illegal actions, it cannot explain away why it is committing crimes against democracy and why it conducts purges and promotes discrimination against a religious community while pretending to upholding freedom of religion.
But the CTA’s failures are more dire than that. It has also shown gross incompetence and corruption. Fifty-seven years after the Tibetans followed the Dalai Lama into exile in India, the CTA still demonstrates incapability in improving the welfare and living conditions of the 27 Tibetan refugee settlements in India that are homes to an estimated 150,000 Tibetans. All this time, the Tibetan leadership bask in comfort and ride on their well-oiled propaganda machine against China. The CTA has also failed to show proof of propriety in managing aid and funds they have collected from around the world over decades. This has pushed American Congressman, Dana Rohrabacher to highlight in a letter his concerns about the manipulations and dishonesty of the Tibetan leadership. Most Tibetans who have hoped all their lives to return to their homeland do not realize that it is the CTA that undermines the people’s march to freedom.
While waiting anxiously for Trump’s ‘favourable’ reply, the new INTERPOL appointment creates more anxiety for the CTA. The CTA has benefitted from propaganda that demonized China but the appointment of Meng as top police chief of the world signals a change in global attitudes towards China. Whilst critics of China remain vocal, the nations who are constituents of INTERPOL have voted.
The CTA is now more isolated than ever and has no independent capabilities to match a rising China in spite of half a century of global support. There are obvious signs that the world leaders are turning their heads away from the CTA and instead prefer to cooperate with China for both political and economic reasons. After all, China has so much more to offer compared to the CTA who have taken so much from the world, without contributing back.
What is in store for the CTA?
Considering the abysmal record of the CTA in improving the welfare of Tibetans-in-exile and not even hesitating to ban a religion and incite hatred against their own people, the CTA faces a bleak future as the world turns away and the enemy that they have demonized is now the head of INTERPOL, capable of investigating all the CTA’s illegal activities.
At the cost of their people’s welfare and unity, as well as the communities of Tibetan Buddhists around the world, the CTA created a scapegoat for their failures, blaming Dorje Shugden for their woes, all the while collecting millions in aid around the world. The impact of these negatives actions, has now born its results in the form of disharmony. Donald Trump’s recent win in the United States election and the appointment of Meng Hongwei as the new INTERPOL Chief would most likely result in an increase of unfavorable situations for the CTA.
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Sascha
November 14, 2016
Police is within space, police can’t escape space as well as the government and law of space or fact of this basic freedom of lastingness and non-existence that is reality and that nobody can escape from.
All the eternalism and nihilism is illusion and not goverment nor law at all but criminality.
How to prevent and overcome criminality within public hand and economy in order to prevent problems, frustration, criminality, terror and war within mankind?
Movements like interpol and the police of any nation should force politics to improve the quality of their education system by cultivating wisdom and compassion in order to prevent and overcome harmful actions (criminality) of mind, speech and body around the world in any part of society.
Also police should force politics to improve the international and national law of all nations to get rid of all the eternalism and nihilism (extremism – criminality of public hand and economy) within the international and national law that is criminality and one cause of many problems, suffering, frustration, criminality, terror and war.
To be clear, eternalism and nihilism within international or national law is criminality and won’t help a nation nor mankind, because reality is free of lastingness and non-existence and illusions (eternalism and nihilism) never worked and will not work.
Economy and goverment is confronted with all the problems, suffering, terror and war due to lack of wisdom and compassion (dignity). But they still ignore wisdom and compassion or even fight against and thereby they harm themself instead of helping themself by using wisdom and compassion to prevent and overcome their problems that can’t be stopped by violence. More illusions (eternalism and nihilism) equals less dignity with the cause and effect of more criminality, terror and war.
To correct people is to overcome illusions within concioiusness and only can be caused and effected by wisdom and compassion, to blame and punish (violence) someone can’t help someone nor societies/nations/mankind at all!
To overcome illusions you just need to put your mindfulness towards non-duality, you confront yourself or others with non-duality/wisdom and compassion again and again until the illusion has dissolved and liberation/transformation happens. This can’t be effected by violence and if law is based on duality, then wellbeing is not the path nor the fruition but criminality or dualistic betray system the program that will lead one nation into problems, suffering, frustration, criminality, terror and war.
That’s why violence can’t be the answer and a violence monopoly won’t help mankind at all and government can and should be a source of wisdom and compassion that teaches wisdom and compassion and helps people to study and practice wisdom and compassion to prevent and overcome illusions and violence for their own benifit and the benifit of their nation and all beings.
Let’s destroy all illusions with wisdom and compassion for the benifit of all beings.
Sierra
November 17, 2016
i see a new China unlike the China of Mao Tse Tung’s era.China has moved forward though not fully democratic. CTA , though loudly declaring that they are democratic still practices autocratic rule in discriminating and rule by oppression.
The CTA has kept the Tibetans lock in stasis in the years of 1959. They are mired in something that is no longer there but that has evolved into a different animal.The CTA better clean up their act or they may not only lose support form the west but attract unwanted attention into their, oh not so democratic actions over the years.
So, secularly, everyone need to keep up with the times. and spiritually, everything is impermanent except enlightenment.
SabrinaS
November 20, 2016
Karma coming back to bite? After so many years of ineptitude and self serving policies, finally the world platform is changing to show up their failures. Its incredible that CTA were able to get away with misappropriating the millions of sponsorship funds without proper accounting to show. What did they spend on? Their high flying lifestyles and propaganda against China and Dorje Shugden practitioners. I am just amazed that CTA recently could spend so much monies on 400 pages long propaganda booklets of Dorje Shugden and advertisement in the media whilst majority of their people are suffering severe drought in South India. So what do they do? They sent out international appeals for funds to help the drought victims. Will the world be fooled yet again by these freeloaders? We will just have to wait and see.
Well, the current situation is certainly not going the way CTA wishes for. With Trump against foreigners, the sponsorships of millions from America may just be cut-off. And now with China heading the Interpol, well, things is looking stark. CTA had started a group to be trained to get to know Chinese better and yet I personally think it may be useless in face of the mechanism in place to insult China being still very much alive. Weird that they should link Shugden practitioners with China. Receiving CCP monies? Maybe some do receive and why not? Its charity just as CTA receives from America. What makes American dollar any better than Chinese Yuan? Ask all those powerful countries and see how they lean towards China as she opens up her economy to the world.
Besides, what has religious freedom got to do with politics? Whether monies were exchanged or not, one should still be allowed to practice one’s religion with freedom, not be segregated, ostracised, persecuted and denied human rights. How does CTA lump all Shugden practitioners as Chinese supporters? Does that mean the millions of Shugden practitioners including non-Tibetans are Chinese spies? Wonder how did they derive at this assumption? After more than 50 years in Exile and they are still in their glass bubble which will break anytime.
My advice to CTA will be to swiftly lift the ban on Dorje Shugden and you not only unite Tibetans but all the millions of Tibetan Buddhists who practices Dorje Shugden will be in your camp too. Wonder if they are able to realise that?
Anyway, I wish to congratulate Mr. Meng Hongwei on his appointment as President of Interpol and China on her growing acceptance internationally.
Camillia
November 26, 2016
In normal circumstances, this news is an impartial reading and would had quickly be treated as daily titbits and be removed from the thought process, except for this particular paragraph:
“What is in store for the CTA?
Considering the abysmal record of the CTA in improving the welfare of Tibetans-in-exile and not even hesitating to ban a religion and incite hatred against their own people, the CTA faces a bleak future as the world turns away and the enemy that they have demonized is now the head of INTERPOL, capable of investigating all the CTA’s illegal activities.”
Now, there might be some real motivation for CTA to finally stop their anti-China stance and commence thinking about how to make peace; perhaps start by lifting Dorje Shugden ban that created so much negative rhetoric against the Chinese.
Elibuchen
November 27, 2016
It is a very good move for Interpol to elect a Chinese to this role. With regards to the Tibetan issue, due to the long sympathy towards the Tibetan cause CTA have operated with impunity, it is time they are reigned in, as CTA’s benefit is little and the corruption and misuse of funds meant for Tibetas community.
I hope Interpol will step in to stop the discrimination and bias towards Dorje Shugden people, its about time.
Tenzin Dolma
December 3, 2016
So what will Mr. Sangay and Mr. Penpa do now? Karma is going to get you. All your corruption going to be expose soon I hope. You two have been cheating so many people, your own people and also the Western people. Telling them it is to fund free Tibet, what free Tibet? Where free Tibet?
How can Tibet ever be free with a non-exiting government that is so deep in corruption. You guys keep telling us we will be going back to Tibet so we should not become citizens of India and pay them all this tax money for what? The real criminal is not Dorje Shugden and their supporters, stop using them as scapegoat for your failure. There is no way China will ever talk to you Mr. Sangay because you guys keep shouting human rights which irritates China more.
You guys are corrupt and power hungry we all know, Tibetan government Gaden Podrang. You the ones who murdered Tulku Drakpa Gyeltsen and many other high lamas like Nyari Tulku and many others wrongly accused and arrested. Karma will come back to haunt you, cannot escape. Now China getting bigger and bigger, soon Tibet’s cause will be lost if you don’t find right way and keep using your old tricks. If you don’t want China to use Shugden as an issue against you, then you stop using Shugden as an issue like it will harm your cause which we all know is big lie. Please time is running out soon, stop your games, you already lost.
John Casstock
December 4, 2016
Roses are red, violets are blue, CTA and Dharamsala, time’s up for you!
No one wants to be friends with you, and now Lobsang Sangay has to go around the world begging for support because people are starting to realise there is no reason and benefit to being friends with the Tibetan leadership.
Lobsang Sangay, on the verge of losing American support thanks to the Dalai Lama’s comments about Trump, has to beg Canada for help. Sorry, but Canada has dealt with Tibetans for 60 years and now Trudeau is too busy dealing with Syrian refugees.
And now a Chinese minister is the head of the world’s largest intelligence-gathering service with the largest network. Dharamsala really, really wasted 60 years making friends with the wrong people!
China is cutting ties with anyone who invites the Dalai Lama to their country. Slovakia then Mongolia. One by one, this house of cards falls down and pretty soon, there will be nothing left for you but to go back to Tibet, tail between your legs. Lobsang Sangay and Penpa Tsering, start packing. Your homes in Massachusetts and Minnesota are waiting for you!
Tenzin Paljor
January 28, 2017
The Shugden groups can dare defy the Dalai Lama because they do not have a country. The Tibetans are scattered all over the world and they have their various power basis from their various countries. I have spoken to Ms. Dhardon Sharling about this. If all the Tibetans were back in Tibet, they would have no chance to defy the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama’s government would crush them into silence. How dare they defy the Dalai Lama. Democracy is not for the backwards and illiterate Tibetans. They need a strong, smart and able ruler like the Dalai Lama and his ministers to tell them what is good or bad for them. The Dorje Shugden practice should be banned completely from the Tibetans and Tibetan nation because it is a harmful practice. And no religious freedom should be allowed to let this Dorje Shugden religion arise. In history, many other harmful religions were suppressed for the good of mankind. Shugden should be suppressed and all people who practice him should be forced to give up the practice.
Tenzin Paljor
January 28, 2017
Everyone should be seen with and take a picture with the Dalai Lama and post it. It will boost ‘business’. It’s made me look really valid and more people trust what I am saying simply because I had my picture taken with the Dalai Lama. I’ve roped in Carole MccQuirre and gang to do the same things. You see because I am from East Germany and we don’t believe in any sort of religious freedom. Whatever the regime in the past told you to do, you do it without question. The Shugden groups should not be allowed to practice their religion because the Dalai lama says so. We shouldn’t question the Dalai Lama or defy him. After all he is not human but a god. So if Dalai Lama says don’t practice Dorje Shugden, just follow along without question because why should there be religious freedom. The populace are too stupid to see what religion is good and what is harmful.
Carol McQuirre
January 28, 2017
I agree with you Tenzin Paljor. The Tibetans do not need democracy, but a strong firm hand to tell them what to do. They are not like us educated English people who can handle and know what to do with democracy. The fact that Tibetans have no real elected leaders and the leader is really the Dalai Lama for the last 60 years is good news. Tibetans cannot elect their own leaders. When the Dalai Lama dies, we wait for him to reincarnate back and take over again because he is the only leader that can handle Tibetans.
TseringD, Delhi
October 29, 2017
Nechung is ZUMA 👎 before I m think he is one of d best when I m watch dis video By Geshe Dorjee la but now I m think is not d truth n he is lie to Tibet people we r not back to Tibet yt https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIDZLzXIgW8 Chithue Tenpa Yarphel la tq for talk about truth of Nechung . I m watch to this video many time la https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if2dFMKIr_8 n after I hear you talk I m not belief to Nechung
Lhakpa Dhendup
August 11, 2018
What will the all the people around the world and in Tibet do now? Dalai Lama says he is happy that Tibet is a part of China and should remain a part of China. So many Tibetans self-immolated for Tibet to be independent and now Dalai Lama did a 360 degree turn and says he wants to go back to Tibet and China and Tibet should be a part of China. So unbelievable. So many are angry and disappointed.
Dalai Lama should set things right
August 13, 2018
Dear Dalai Lama,
Since you started the cruel ban against the 350 year Dorje Shugden practice, how has it benefit your Tibetan society and Buddhism in the world? Things have become worse and most educated Tibetans can see this. They don’t speak out not because they don’t see your ban as wrong, but you instill fear in them and not respect. It is like fear of a dictator. I am sorry to say so. Everyone is divided. There is no harmony. Before your ban there was more harmony and unity.
By enacting the ban, you split the monasteries, split so many families, split regions in Tibet apart, split your disciples from you, split your own gurus from you, split Tibetan Buddhism apart. You have created so much disharmony.
It is not democratic what you have done to ban a religion within your community. You always talk of tolerance and acceptance and democracy and yet you do not accept and tolerate something different from your beliefs. When people practice Dorje Shugden you ostracize them, ban them from seeing you, ban them from using Tibetan facilities. You know you have done that. There are videos that capture your speech and prove this point. You even had people expelled from monasteries just because they practice Dorje Shugden. Some of the monks you expelled have been in the monastery for over 40 years. Many older monks shed tears because of this.
Many young educated Tibetans lost confidence in you as they saw the damage the Dorje Shugden ban created and they lose hope. Many have become free thinkers. They reject what you have done. So many people in the west left Buddhism because of the confusion you created with this ban against Dorje Shugden which is immoral.
You could of had millions of people who practice Dorje Shugden to support, love and follow you, but you scared them away. They are hurt and very disappointed. They loved you and respected you deeply before the ban. It has been 60 years and you have failed to get Tibet back. Your biggest failure is not getting Tibet back after 57 years in exile. Now you are begging China to allow you to return to Tibet to the disappointment of thousands of people who fought for a free Tibet believing in you. So many self-immolated for a free Tibet and now you want Tibet to be a part of China with no referendum from Tibetans. Just like a dictator, you decide on your own. It was your government and you that lost Tibet in the first place. Your policies and style of doing things do not benefit Tibet and Buddhism. You have been the sole ruler of Tibet your whole life and you still have not gotten our country of Tibet back for us. Our families and us are separated. Yet you create more pain by creating a ban to further divide people. Please have compassion.
No other Buddhist leader has banned or condemned any religion except for you. It looks very bad. You are a Nobel laureate and this is not fitting of a laureate. You should unite people and not separate them by religious differences.
You said Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi did not do right to the Rohingya people in Myanmar due to religious differences, but you are doing the same thing to the Shugden Buddhists within your own society. There is a parallel in this. You separate the Shugden Buddhists from the others in Tibetan society.
You have lost so many people who would have loved and supported you. You have lost so much support around the world. The Shugden Buddhists who love you number in the millions. When you are fast losing support from governments and private people, it will not do you well to lose more.
After you are passed away in the future, the rift you created between the Dorje Shugden and non-Dorje Shugden people will remain for a while and that will be your legacy. Disharmony. You will be remembered for this. Not as a hero but a disharmony creator.
Dorje Shugden will spread and further grow, but you will be no more as you are a human. No one wishes you bad and in fact we hope you have a long and healthy life, but we have lost so much hope and have so much despair because of you. All the hundreds of Dorje Shugden lamas, tulkus and geshes are maturing and there are hundreds of Dorje Shugden monasteries in Tibet who will not give up Dorje Shugden. You have made a mistake. These hundreds of teachers and teachers to be will spread Dorje Shugden further in the future.
The gurus that gave us Dorje Shugden as a spiritual practice and you have called these holy gurus wrong and they are mistaken in giving us Dorje Shugden. How can you insult our gurus whom we respect so much? If they can be wrong, then you can be wrong. Then all gurus can be wrong. So no one needs to listen to any guru? You have created this trend. It is not healthy. Your own gurus practiced Dorje Shugden their whole lives. Your own gurus were exemplary and highly learned.
Dalai Lama you have created so much pain with this ban against so many people due to religion. You are ageing fast. Are you going to do anything about it or stay stubborn, hard and un-moving. You show a smile and preach peace and harmony wherever you go. But will you do the same to your own people? Please rectify the wrong you have done. Please before it is too late. You can create harmony again or you can pass away in the future with this legacy of peace. May you live long and think carefully and admit what was a mistake in having this unethical ban against Dorje Shugden religion.
Ayana
August 16, 2018
Why doesn’t the United States and its allies end Refugee Status for the useless Tibetans? They have been refugees for 60 years now and don’t tell me they still cannot get their lives back in order?
Tibetans really know how to put on a good show and use people, take their money and do nothing in return.
Ojas
August 18, 2018
Supreme Court of India JUSTICE Mr. MARKANDEY KATJU (RETD) writes that Tibet is much better under the Chinese than it was under the lamas who only wanted to make the populace slaves. It was feudal and it will never return to the backwardness again.
Yoezer
August 19, 2018
While the government of Nepal has framed a policy to tighten the noose around non-governmental organisations, they have welcomed 30 Chinese NGOs to enter the country. These NGOs will penetrate the country’s social sector at the grassroots level. This is the first time such a large number of Chinese NGOs have entered Nepal at one time. Nepal is increasingly open to Chinese influence, a sign that ties between both countries are strengthening, while India’s influence is being reduced. The time has passed for India’s monopoly to remain uninterrupted in Nepal as opportunities to engage with China are being welcomed.
Vardaniya
August 24, 2018
The cracks in Tibetan society are starting to show, and it is now coming to the attention of local Indians who have all but identified the Tibetan leadership as the source of the divisions. According to this author, disunity amongst the Tibetans is now creating problems for Indian law enforcement agencies, and this disunity may culminate in young Tibetans holding silent grudges against their host country. It is incredible that after six decades of generosity from India, Indians are now facing the very real possibility Tibetans can be ungrateful towards India. The Tibetan leadership totally failed to impart positive values upon their exiled community, like gratitude for those kindest to them and the need to repay these kindnesses with real, tangible results. It’s also very unlikely that the Tibetan leadership will now start to do this, after six decades of failing to do so. Indians need to realise this, and see that there is no benefit for their nation to align themselves with the Tibetan leadership, and there never will be.
Maya
August 24, 2018
Although the Dalai Lama has offered an apology, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) still expressed their disappointment over his controversial comment on Nehru, the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC). Dalai Lama called Nehru self-centred.
The Congress said Dalai Lama being a foreigner should shun and refrain from interfering in the internal as well as external affairs of India.