It seems that along with Tibetan Buddhist institutions, Indian democracy is also under siege. State government motives surrounding the recent outrage against His Holiness the Seventeenth Karmapa have suddenly become transparent. The following story has just been released in Indian media, quoting the renegade Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, architect of the raids at Gyuto Tantric Monastery:
"Shimla, Feb 1 (PTI) In the wake of seizure of huge foreign currency and other documents from Karmapa's transit home, the Himachal government today said it was contemplating to set up a refugee unit to keep tab on activities of Tibetans in the state.
Chief Minister P K Dhumal, who attended the chief ministers' conference on internal security in Delhi and met Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, said seizure of foreign currency from the monastery was under investigation and the government would provide all the information to Centre.
However, he posed a question to the Centre to clarify that whether the Tibetans settled in the state are ''guests or exiles."
"We will set up a Tibetan refugee unit in the state intelligence department in Shimla and a refugee cell in Dharamsala in consultation with the Union Home ministry and External Affairs Ministry to monitor activities of exiles settled in the state," Dhumal said.
There are more than 27,500 Tibetan exiles in the state, mainly in and around Dharamsala, Shimla, Manali and Rewalsar."
Those who ignore history are doomed to repetition. There is a name for this sort of thing:
Namaste from Tucson, Arizona, USA:
ReplyDeleteI practice Dharma 25 years, took Refuge in 1986 with HE Kalu Rinpoche... and I was living for longer periods of time in Tibetan monasteries all over Himalaya from Sikkim to Ladakh, and of course spend longer periods of time in Dharamsala.
Also I am the author of documentary film TIBETAN TRINITY that is available trough SnowLion... I am telling all this as introduction to my comment which relates to the picture of Nazis with dogs which you put on end of this article. I am also frustrated and even angry about the whole thing BUT please remove that picture. If this picture is seen by Indian authorities it will inflame this very tense situation already!!!
Idnia accepted Tibetan refugies!!!
I gave my life to Tibetan Dharma and am telling you from my heart to take the picture down as sign of calming the situation not inflaming it with emotional gesture that is not needed to say the least.
I repeat I understand how you and all of us feel but don't let emotions get on the way of constructive participation in this hard situation that we all want to calm as soon as possible.
Dramatic picture of that lonely person being treated very badly in enough to tell this sad, sad story.