This blog, Joanne Clark’s blog (who “revealed 32 deceptive statements and 16 unsubstantiated claims“), the official CTA website, and the official Dalai Lama website have pointed out different blatant untruths and spin of the facts spread by the International Shugden Community (ISC) / New Kamdampa Tradition (NKT) who wish to “shame, humiliate and denigrate” (“Atisha’s Cook”, NKT activist) the Dalai Lama. Media such as for instance France 24 TV, Al Jazeera and Swiss SF1 TV repeated such allegations without putting effort into verifying such claims made by an anonymous group with anonymous authors, anonymous websites, without a legal office – though this seems to have changed now –, who hide their identity with internet by proxy domain services.
Recently it has been pointed out on this blog that there is not any substance whatsoever in the claim spread by the NKT/WSS/ICS that Shugden monks had been made homeless. During the discussion more untruths were made visible, which I wish to address in an extra post here. The NKT via their front groups claimed among others that Shugden monks had been denied travel documents, health care, access to school, that they would have been removed from their jobs, the government etc. … claiming for instance:
Consequently, they are extremely angry with Shugden practitioners and try to remove them from their society by many different means such as humiliation, provocation, intimidation, threatening, ostracism, removing jobs and positions, denying services, spreading false rumours, lies, manipulation, not allowing others to have material or spiritual relationship with them, not giving the monks food in their monasteries, not allowing the monks to attend classes and services at their monasteries, and forcing them to sign a promise that they will abandon the worship of the Deity Shugden. – NKT front group Western Shugden Society in “The Tibetan Situation Today” (PDF, April 2008)
People lost their jobs, children were expelled from schools, and monks were expelled from monasteries; foreign travel permits and visas were denied; refugee aid, monastic stipends and allowances were cut off; and forced signature campaigns were undertaken. In these and many other ways that made Tibetans outcasts from their own already exiled community, the Dalai Lama, in the guise of his government, ministers and associated organisations, introduced a reign of terror against tens of thousands of his own people, making restrictions similar to those imposed on the Jewish people in Germany in the early years of Hitler’s rule. – NKT front group ICS’s official website, derived Oct. 06, 2014
Contrary to this in the 2014 Statement by Dept of Security Kalon on Dolgyal (in Tibetan/བོད་སྐད་དུ) [the brackets are additions to clarify]:
Similarly, they have accused the Tibetan Administration of discrimination and withholding medical care. If they can name a single person who has been denied medical care by the Department of Health for their beliefs, then we can definitely investigate the matter. [However, they have not.] There is no such instance of discrimination. They have also accused the Tibetan Administration of dismissing Dolgyal followers from government jobs. If they could name a single person who was dismissed, we could see how he or she was dismissed. [Again, they have not.]
It is not the sole domain of the Kashag to dismiss civil servants of the Central Tibetan Administration. The Charter of the Tibetans-in-Exile provides for the institution of an independent body with its own rules and conditions for the dismissal of civil servants. If any civil servant commits a crime, it is only on the basis of an investigation carried out by such an investigating committee that he or she can be penalized. Who has been dismissed for following Dolgyal? There are over 600 civil servants serving in the Tibetan Administration and none of them has ever been harassed under any circumstances for propitiating Dolgyal. Let me also make it clear that there is not a single civil servant in the Central Tibetan Administration who propitiates Dolgyal.
If propitiation of Dolgyal forms a basis for dismissal from a government job, should it not also be a requisite for the recruitment of new staff? However there is no such condition as the door is open for any Tibetan to work for the CTA. Particularly so in the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile (a platform which is even more important), I don’t think there is any such condition that bars any Dolgyal follower from becoming a member of Parliament. Parliament is a law-making body and nothing whatsoever prevents them from making such laws. As a matter of fact, some people are of the view that such laws should be created but no such laws have been made by the Tibetan Administration. Any eligible Tibetan can rightfully become a member of the Tibetan Parliament. In fact, one could contest for parliamentary election and speak from this very platform. Therefore, there are no instances of discrimination or partiality by the Administration. – Statement of Kalon for the Department of Security concerning Dolgyal related issues at the sixth session of the 15th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile or YouTube)
And in a Kashag statement (8 May 2014) regarding the claim travel documents had been denied:
In fact, far from denying them their religious freedom, Tibetan Dolgyal propitiators continue to travel within India and abroad on documents issued by the Indian government with the endorsement of the Central Tibetan Administration. In seeking legal status or political asylum in North America and Europe, Dolgyal followers could be using denial of religious freedom as an excuse, but the very documents on which they stay in India and travel abroad, is issued by the government of India and endorsed by the Central Tibetan Administration. Therefore, the CTA has neither denied them their religious freedom nor obstructed their rights to live in India and travel abroad.
For example, Chime Tsering, the then Secretary General of Dorje Shugden Devotees’ Charitable and Religious Society, travelled on an Identity Certificate (IC), to the US, issued by the government of India with the endorsement of the Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Delhi. His Indian Registration certificate (RC) was issued by the government of India with the recommendation from the local Tibetan Settlement Officer of the CTA. Furthermore, Athar Tsering, a former secretary of the North American Gelug Buddhist Association (USA) also travelled to the US using travel documents issued by the government of India and endorsed by the CTA. So do many others Dolgyal followers.
The official Dalai Lama site states from the The Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies’ Resolutions (Resolutions Passed Unanimously in June 1996 by the Parliament in Exile):
7. Some people have been spreading lies that individuals were harassed and their objects of worship seized for propitiating Shugden, and that government officials were expelled from job, etc. Not a single of these allegations were found to be true. Should such an incident ever take place, it must be noted that this is neither the wish of His Holiness Dalai Lama, nor the policy of the Tibetan Administration. We appeal to all the organizations and individuals to ensure that such an incident does not take place.
8. In sum, the departments, their branches and subsidiaries, monasteries and their branches that are functioning under the administrative control of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile should be strictly instructed, in accordance with the rules and regulations, not to indulge in the propitiation of Shugden. We would like to clarify that if individual citizens propitiate Shugden, it will harm the common interest of Tibet, the life of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and strengthen the spirits that are against the religion. This can be quite clearly and authentically established through texts and logic. Having said this, it is up to individuals themselves to decide as they like. We cannot force anyone to do anything against his or her wish. However, we would like to emphatically plead to the Shugden-worshippers that they should stop taking tantric initiations and teachings from His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
A visitor of this blog commented point 8:
Note the first part of resolution 8: “…strictly instructed,…not to indulge in the propitiation of Shugden.
This is what ISC/NKT likes to draw attention to. However, they seem to ignore the later part: “…it is up to individuals themselves to decide…We cannot force anyone to do anything against his or her wish….plead to the Shugden-worshipers that they should stop taking tantric initiations and teachings from [HHDL].
So CTA does not ban anyone from worshiping Shugden, it advises strongly, in agreement with HHDL, that doing so is unhelpful and ask that they respect HHDL’s wishes and not create a student-guru relationship with him because they are already ignoring his advice.
Tibetan Buddhism – Struggling With Diffi·Cult Issues 