United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Case Postale 2500
CH-1211 Genève 2 Dépôt
Suisse.
Dear Commissioner Guterres:
On Friday, 28 January 2011, a large contingent of armed police made warrantless entry of the Gyuto Tantric Monastery in Himachal Pradesh, India -- a Buddhist religious institution identified with the Tibetan refugee population -- and searched for cash donations made by devotees. Approximately one million dollars in currency was seized, and refugee religious functionaries were detained and arrested.
In particular, both the person and the office of His Holiness the Seventeenth Gyalwa Karmapa -- a highly-ranked Tibetan Buddhist leader with millions of followers throughout the world -- came to be gravely insulted, and oppressed by this irrational disrespect for the rule of law.
In the wake of this incident, official government spokesmen issued an almost continual stream of political invective directed against Tibetan Buddhist refugees, and mounted a media campaign designed to inflame public opinion against His Holiness.
All evidence that has come to light since the raid on Gyuto Monastery, as well as the numerous raids and seizures at other Tibetan Buddhist refugee homes and institutions following in its wake, establishes that the action by the Himachal Pradesh state government had been planned many days in advance.
Indeed, the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister, Prem Kumar Dhumal, has now issued a public statement that, "We will set up a Tibetan refugee unit in the state intelligence department in Shimla and a refugee cell in Dharamsala."
As a person concerned with the safety of Tibetan refugees in Himachal Pradesh, I am calling upon you to immediately send international observers to the region, to monitor the treatment of Tibetan refugees, and in particular, to vouchsafe the continued security of His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa.
It should be recognized that the Tibetan Buddhist leaders in this northern Indian state find themselves in a precarious political climate. They may not be able to make such requests of your office directly. They may even be forced to publicly deny the necessity for such requests. Their fear of reprisal may quite simply be too much for them to bear.
Nevertheless, it is both your obligation and your charter to immediately dispatch such observers, and further, to raise this matter at the highest levels of the Indian government. It is of particular importance to discover whether these acts are the work of a rogue politician, or if they represent the Indian government's future intentions toward Tibetan refugees in the wake of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's December 2010 state visit to India.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
.
8 reader comments:
Has this letter actually been already sent ..??
It seems a good idea for any of us to copy it out and send one ourselves just to make sure it gets there,NO??
Its almost midnight here but will do first thing tomorrow...Thank you!
good work!
Very good work but it seems there is a mistake towards the end where it says: "Wen Jiabaos December 2010 visit" Shouldn't it be December 2011 visit!?
Maybe make it into a petition for followers and interested parties to sign online. Thank you
Please be careful with these kind of things. Sometimes it is difficult to see if our good intentions will bring the desired results or maybe even create more harm and suffering. I know of one petition somebody was so eager to send on behalf of the Karmapa, but it was her private project and the office of His Holiness Karmapa made a statement that it didn't find their approval.
Who wrote this letter, why isn't it signed, strange....
Don't know what to think about it.
But I'm sure that the Tibetans would know themselves what is good for them. They have lawyers and activists and not everybody is in tears to a point that they don't know what to do.
The situation is quite sensitive and I think we have to be careful not to make it worse. Give it a little time, it will all turn out well in the end.
So please writer of this letter, out yourself!
From what I've read, I don't think this is the position of the Karmapa's office of Administration. Below are some facts from the office, which several news reports have published. Just cutting and pasting here..
Fact: The allegations that His Holiness the Karmapa is a Chinese spy are entirely unfounded and ridiculous.
His Holiness the Karmapa’s escape from Chinese-occupied Tibet was a major embarrassment to China and landed a serious blow to China’s claims to legitimacy for its rule over Tibet. His Holiness the Karmapa was the first reincarnate lama that the People’s Republic of China had officially acknowledged. Yet, rather than allowing himself to be used to convince the world that the Chinese government allowed freedom of religion, His Holiness fled overland, by foot, horseback and jeep, crossing the Himalayas to freedom in India. When His Holiness the Karmapa’s escape and his joyful first meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama became public, China’s oppression of Tibetans’ rights was dramatically highlighted the world over. This thoroughly discredited China’s claims that Tibetans were content under Chinese rule. During his time in India, His Holiness the Karmapa has served as an important spiritual figure, inspiring the Tibetan cause. The allegations that His Holiness the Karmapa was sent here from China as a spy or an agent are not only entirely unfounded, but ridiculous.
Fact: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and leaders of the Tibetan community in exile have repeatedly expressed their support of His Holiness the Karmapa, and their complete confidence that he is no Chinese spy.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama has fully backed His Holiness the Karmapa. Firstly, he has categorically and unequivocally dismissed all allegations of His Holiness the Karmapa having a connection with any arm of the Chinese government. Second, he has underlined how Buddhists from across the world leave offerings in cash to allow His Holiness the Karmapa to continue his substantial religious and social activities.
The Parliament of the Central Tibetan Administration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama (also known as Tibetan government-in-exile) issued a formal statement declaring the following: “As far as Gyalwang Karmapa is concerned, he put his life at risk by coming into exile from Tibet at a tender age. In our society, he is one of the spiritual heads of schools of Tibetan Buddhism, highly revered and respected by the Tibetan people. Personally, he has been concentrating on his study, promotion of Buddhism and world peace and protection of environment, thereby making great service to Tibet’s political and spiritual cause.”
Spontaneous candlelight vigils and marches have sprung up around the Tibetan community in exile. The areas surrounding His Holiness the Karmapa’s residence in Dharamsala have been flooded with Tibetan and overseas visitors seeking to stand by this highly revered spiritual figure. The Deputy Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament, Dolma Gyari, stood at His Holiness’ side when he made his first public address after the investigation began.
dont serve bloody bull crap to the world and to un commision on refugees for 52 long years india and indians have treated tibeteans like fellow brthern but is it not duty of all tibetians to respect indian law and himachal land laws or do they claim some devine right to be above the laws of the land .fact is that some amongst tibetians think that they are above indian law when they break laws with impunity in india same old mentallity prevelent world over amongst law breakers .tibetean must stop this stupid bloody rantings against lawmakers and law enforcers in india who are but only talking of law taking its course in india
dont serve bloody bull crap to the world and to un commision on refugees for 52 long years india and indians have treated tibeteans like fellow brthern but is it not duty of all tibetians to respect indian law and himachal land laws or do they claim some devine right to be above the laws of the land .fact is that some amongst tibetians think that they are above indian law when they break laws with impunity in india same old mentallity prevelent world over amongst law breakers .tibetean must stop this stupid bloody rantings against lawmakers and law enforcers in india who are but only talking of law taking its course in india
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