8. The Trial of Gods

Lama Shree Narayan Singh, a resident of Munger (Bihar) and a disciple of the XVIth Karmapa, in a letter to the President of India on 28 July, 1998 alleged that Situ Rinpoche was a threat to national security. He also resorted to a dharna (sit-in) at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, from 27 to 31 July, 1998.

He alleged that Situs men were involved in criminal activities such as trafficking in animal products of endangered species — skins, bones, etc. On two occasions in 1992-93 in Delhi, Situs men were arrested by customs officials.

According to Lama Shree Narayan Singh, Thrangu Rinpoche, a supporter of Situ Rinpoche, who was constructing a massive complex at Khajuhi, Sarnath, known as Vajra Vidya Mandir, has a Nepali passport. Similarly, Bokar Rinpoche and his nephew Lodro Donyo at Mirik in Darjeeling were flitting around the world under Nepali passports and frequently visiting China. Situ's supporters have reportedly organised smuggling rings in India, Nepal and China. He has formed two parallel Khampa business groups, one in Kathmandu and the other in Lhasa (Tibet). His internal secretary Ngoche Kargyay is in charge of the Kathmandu group. Bhu Chung Chung, a member of the Bureau of Public Security in China, heads the Lhasa venture. According to the Delhi police, Bhu Chung Chung and his associate, Ugyen, came to Delhi withpashmina (antelope fur) worth $ 2.5 million in the open market. Ugyen was arrested but Bhu Chung Chung escaped.

Altogether 62 permanent residents of Rumtek sent a joint memorandum to the prime minister demanding a ban on the entry of Gyaltshab Rinpoche into India for his alleged anti-Indian activities. Gyaltshab Rinpoche heads the Palchenling monastery at Ralang.

Once the Sikkim government was rapped on the knuckles by the Government of India for accommodating Tibetan refugees. The state government was directed to take action against such persons who visited Tibet or Nepal and re-entered India. Instead of being pushed back, they were allowed re-entry. V. S. Ailawadi, Joint Secretary, Home Ministry, Government of India, wrote to K. Vardhan, Sikkim Chief Secretary, on 8 February, 1994 in this regard.

The letter said:

It could be seen that no such action appears to have been taken by the state government in the case of the Tibetan refugee(s). I would therefore request you to please look into the matter and let us know the circumstances in which the Tibetan refugees who had left India without proper permission were allowed to re-enter the state. Also please take action against Lama Lodro Tharchin, a close associate of Situ, who visited Kathmandu to re-enter India and others, under the Foreigners Act, and send State Government's recommendations/views/comments regarding their pushback after completion of legal proceedings..."

Lama Lodro Tharchin, 72 years old, is the tutor of Situ Rinpoche. He travels with him and shares the same hotel room. In January 1994, Mrs. Rosalia Findeisin, a 40-year-old German pursuing Buddhist studies at Rumtek, was told to quit India. She had been to India in the past. After a short spell of absence from India, she had reappeared in Gangtok in December 1993, soon after the visit of Taiwanese minister Chen Lu Aan. She first came to Sikkim in 1985, armed with a multiple-entry visa, after a long stint in Beijing. Her declared mission was to study Buddhism and Buddhist architecture. She was associated with Situ Rinpoche. New Delhi was alerted by reports about her operations only after 1991. Suspicions about her questionable activities mounted by July 1993, when the Ministry of External Affairs ordered that no Indian mission abroad should give her a visa without its approval. Rosalia was away at that time, leading the ministry to believe that it had got rid of one problem.

Intriguingly, Rosalia turned up again. How she was issued a visa in Hamburg and an entry permit by the Sikkim House in New Delhi was a matter of inquiry. What baffled the mandarins in the Indian foreign ministry even more was her timing of the visit.

Chen Lu Aan had visited India between 28 November and 4 December, 1993. Subsequently_$ his entry to India was banned in January 1994 by the External Affairs Ministry, following his objectionable activities. The Taiwan minister's conclave was organised by Karma Topden. It is reported that Situ Rinpoche, too, attended the meeting. Chen Lu Aan belongs to the KMT party of Taiwan which stands for united China and is said to be; pro-mainland China, though Taiwan pursues an independent role and is an eyesore for Communist China.

Dourmo was appointed the 'disciplinary master' to groom Ugyen Trinley, the claimant to the throne of the Karmapa but under the captivity of China. He, along with Bakezu, wanted to come to India via Nepal. Karma Topden and Gyaltshab Rinpoche both pleaded with home ministry officials to allow them to visit India. Frequent rendezvous of some Sikkim leaders of the Sikkim Joint Action Committee with Chinese Public Security Bureau officials in Kathmandu have also baffled the Indian intelligence.

And then a French connection thickened the Sikkim plot. Even the then Governor of Sikkim was puzzled. Beijing-based but India-born French national Rajender Nath, who calls himself Regie Nath, was a friend of the Governor Admiral (Retd.) T. H. Tahiliani. A former Indian Air Force engineer, Nath had quit prematurely in the late seventies to take up a job France. Between 28 October and 1 November, 1993, he visited Sikkim without an inner line permit. A junior Sikkim poice officer escorted him from Bagdogra airport, but the West Bengal police did not allow him to enter Sikkim without an inner line permit. Then a senior Sikkim police officer intervened. Records were later created in Gangtok to legitimise the visit. Nath spent several days in Rumtek. His visit was followed by those of Taiwan's Chen Lu Aan and Rosalia Findeisin.

In fact, the Chinese have been penetrating the monasteries in India since the 80s — in Sikkim, the Tawang area in Arunachal and in Ladakh. Chinese citizens disguised as monks or as refugees have been coming through Nepal. The Chinese also use Tibetans who come under disguise. Once permitted to enter, such persons mingle with the crowd and develop links with the monasteries. Penetrations occur particularly during the Kalchakra festival. The Chinese game plan is to learn more about the activities of Tibetans in India. Also, they seek to influence their minds, particularly the second generation Tibetans, about the actual state of affairs in Tibet. Intelligence continually send reports on such activities to the Govt but the latter works in its own peculiar ways.

Situ Rinpoche has claimed that on 19 April, 1994, he and Gyaltshab jointly met the Additional Foreign Secretary of the Government of India and gave the latter in writing that they were proceeding to Tibet via Beijing, as early as possible, to pursue the visit of the XVIIth Karmapa to India. Within a few months, Situ Rinpoche was declared persona non grata by the Government of India. In contrast to such activities, Shamar Rinpoche was met by Chinese officials seven times between 25 July and September 1993 but he stood his ground. The charge d'affaires of the Chinese Embassy admitted that the Karmapa was number one while Shamar Rinpoche was number two in the hierarchy. Shamar Rinpoche was also told that the Chinese government accepted the fact. He was urged to accept the Karmapa, recognised by China. But he did not yield.

In the meantime, a notice under Section 80(1) of the CPC dated 2 April,1997 was served on the Chief Secretary and Secretary for Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Sikkim Government on 14 April, 1997. The cause of action for this statutory notice first arose on 2 August, 1993 and again on 8 August and 29 November, 1995. Earlier a similar notice on 16 October, 1996 had been served. Thereafter a court case was filed before the district court, Gangtok, by the Karmapa Charitable Trust, T. S. Gyaltshen, Shamar Rinpoche and Gyan Jyoti Kansakar through L. Tshering Bhutia, duly constituted attorney against the State of Sikkim, the Secretary for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Gyaltshab Rinpoche and (pro-forma defendant) Jigdral Tashi Densapa.

Earlier, Tobga Yulgyal had written a letter to the district magistrate, East District, Sikkim on 18 May, 1995 and requested for the return of the key to the main entrance of the monastery. It had been in the hands of the legal caretakers till 2 August, 1993. He acknowledged that a letter came from the office of the District Magistrate, addressed to the dhuche (committee) of the Rumtek Dharma Chakra Centre, calling for a meeting. He admitted that he was unable to attend the proposed meeting. He demanded that since he had returned to Rumtek and assumed his normal functions, he be given back the key.

He also sent a letter to the Secretary, Land Revenue Department of Sikkim on 11 May, 1995 drawing attention to the illegal use and occupation of the head office of the trust by unauthorised persons after the unsavoury incidents of 2 August, 1993. He also alleged the illegal use of the stationery of the trust by unauthorised persons. He added that Tenzin Namgyal alias Dungche Tenzin and Gyurme Tsultrim alias Tenpa Rapgay were posing as General Secretary and Secretary, respectively, of the trust. Such action was patently illegal under the deed of the trust and the laws of the land, he said.

In his capacity as General Secretary, he sought the cooperation of the State Government in order to restore law and order, peace and tranquillity in the holy place of worship. The copy of the letter was also sent to the Minister for Ecclesiastical Affairs, Director-General of Police, Superintendent of Police, and Secretary of the Ecclesiastical affairs. Shamar Rinpoche, too, had written a letter to the Chief Secretary on 3 March, 1993 in this regard.

The State Government, the Party no. 2, objected on technical grounds. Defendant no. 3, Gyaltshab Rinpoche said that no office of the trust was maintained during and after the lifetime of the late Karmapa. At another place, he said the trust lay dormant for a period of 23 years from 1961 to 1984. The traditional administration was in the hands of the Tsurphu labrang, in accordance with the undisputed 800-year-old tradition. He added that the Dalai Lama had consulted the Tibetan state oracle, confirming the recognition of the reincarnation, before putting his seal of approval.

He asserted that the Karmapa was enthroned during a ceremony according to the Karma Kagyu tradition at the Tsurphu monastery following the search conducted by Situ and Gyaltshab Rinpoches. Tobga Yulgyal and Shamar Rinpoche, both being nephews of the late Karmapa, had conspired to gain unlawful possession of the properties as a matter of right. He said that the Gyaltshabs traditionally lived at the Tsurphu monastery in Tibet and were regarded as regents during the absence of a Karmapa. The word gyaltshab in Tibetan means 'regent' in English,

Denzong Nang-ten Sung-kyob Tsogpa, a Gangtok-based Organisation, too sent a letter on 1 August, 1996 to Shamar Rinpoche, T. S. Gyaltshen, J. D. Densapa, Tobga Yulgyal and Gyan Jyoti Kansakar, all trustees of the Karmapa Charitable Trust, stating, "We have come across a written complaint dated 12 July, 1994 addressed to the Chief Secretary to the Government of Sikkim by the Pal Karmae Sangha Dhuche, constituted by the late Karmapa. We assume that you have also received a copy of the said letter."

The letter expressed concern about the safety of the most precious/invaluable articles of religious worship and significance.

It appears that neither the state government nor the trustees of the Karmapa Charitable Trust have hitherto taken a positive step to check and verify the safety of the precious religious articles including the Vajra Mukut (Black Vajra Crown) of the Karmapa. It is believed that the Pal Karmae Sangha Dhuche has also not received any communication from the concerned authorities of the government and trustees of the trust on such a vital complaint concerning the articles of religious worship.

The letter also drew attention to rumours in Gangtok regarding the articles being missing from Rumtek. It was signed by Lachen Gomchen Rinpoche, Chairman, and Palden Lachugpa, Vice-Chairman.

The right wing Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance government lifted the ban on the entry of Situ Rinpoche in 1998. Ram Jethmalani, then Union Minister for Housing and Welfare, Government of India, pursued this matter with the Home Ministry in a highly questionable manner, pleading his case. Dugo Bhutia, a former MLA of Sikkim, filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court of India challenging the revocation of the ban order. Earlier, a writ petition in this regard in Delhi High Court had been dismissed by 26 August, 1998 with the observations that as the matter concerned the policy of the Government of India in relation to the neighbouring country, it was not appropriate for the high court to entertain the public interest litigation.

The Supreme Court too dismissed the petition and observed that in all questions like this where the Government of India decided not to allow a person to enter this country, it was not appropriate for any court to decide otherwise or to interfere in such a decision.

Legal luminaries Kapil Sibal and Prashant Kumar appeared on behalf of the petitioner while the respondents were represented by Soli Sorabjee, Attorney-General, K. N. Rawal, Additional Solicitor-General, Gopal Subramaniam and Rajeev Dhawan, senior advocates.

N. D. George, Director in the Home Ministry, in a counter affidavit on behalf of the Government of India, admitted that the situation in Sikkim had become fragile and capable of being exploited by anti-national elements as also by the external agencies with possibilities of attempts to divide communities and groups. The situation was extremely delicate and sensitive, involving imminent danger of breach of peace and public order as there were frequent clashes between the two rival groups.

In 1994, Situ Rinpoche went abroad without intimation to the Government of India. Even in the past he had frequently visited foreign countries including Nepal and China without intimation and without seeking permission of the government. Under the existing rules, Tibetan refugees in India are required to obtain a 'No Objection to Return to India Certificate' before proceeding to any foreign country. At the same time, complaints were received about Situ's involvement in a deal of land measuring 534 bighas in Gurgaon in Haryana without permission from the Reserve Bank of India and in violation of the provisions of FERA. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began investigation into the case. Situ Rinpoche was also reported to be in possession of a Bhutanese diplomatic passport.

After considering his frequent visits to Nepal and Tibet (China) without prior intimation or permission of the Government of India, and his role in the discovery of reincarnation of the Karmapa with suspected active assistance of Chinese authorities coupled with the possession of a Bhutanese diplomatic passport, making him liable to lose his Tibetan refugee status, the Government of India decided to put Situ Rinpoche in the 'suspect list'. The warning circular 28/94 dated 2 August, 1994 placing him in the 'prior-reference category' stated that he should not be allowed visa (entry, transit or tourist) without prior reference to the Government of India.

The Government of India admitted receiving a number of representations and communications for review of the restrictions. The matter was periodically reviewed in interdepartmental meetings at various levels. The matter was finally considered at the level of the Home Secretary where it was noted that the intelligence agencies had opposed revocation of the warning circular, as it would result in serious law and order situation in Sikkim in case Situ Rinpoche went there.

However, he is still debarred from entering Jammu & Kashmir, north-eastern states, Darjeeling District in West Bengal and Sikkim. A lookout circular has been issued in place of warning circular. The order gave the reasons as (1) CBI inquiry regarding purchase of land, (2) anti-India activities.

N. D. George said the reasons were given inadvertently as the orders were issued by a different division of the Home Ministry. The correct reason was "apprehension of law and order problem". The two orders were released on 5 August and 31 August, 1998, respectively. They prohibited Situ Rinpoche from leaving India without prior clearance from the CBI. It was also mentioned in the last circular that he should not be allowed to enter Darjeeling district of West Bengal besides the other states mentioned.

Situ Rinpoche returned to India on 25 August, 1998. He was received at the Indira Gandhi airport in New Delhi by a crowd of his supporters. A reception was held in his honour by the Himalayan Buddhists Cultural Association at the India Habitat Centre following day. The Dalai Lama welcomed him back on 3 September. After eight days, the Dalai Lama issued him a certificate, putting aside all doubts about his anti-Indian activities. This adds yet another question on the nature of the Dalai Lama and his acitivites. Clearly he feels under pressure from the Chinese govt to continue to appease it in one form or another. There is yet the other factor of his personal religisio-political inclinations which invariably seeks the dominance of the Gelugpa tradition over and above any other consideration.

Situ Rinpoche denied his involvement in the land deal in spite of the documents which exist in this context. In spite of his claims to the contrary, it is certain that he has had in mind a long term plan to establish a Chinese friendship group which would pose a serious threat to India. He said that no land had been purchased either by him or any one on his behalf; that no document had been executed either by him or any one on his behalf and, therefore, the question of violation of any law did not arise. However, he admitted that there was a proposal. There is still a proposal to purchase land for constructing a retreat for monks, he said. This retreat would be part of the Palpung Foundation just as the Sherab Ling Institute of Buddhist Studies forms the part of the same foundation. The foundation is of Indian origin and has nothing to do with the Chinese government at all, he claimed. However, he admitted that he had received a questionnaire from Interpol in this regard.

Denials are now an integral part of politics in India and methods of self-preservation. Facts however, speak for themselves.

Soon after his return to India, Situ Rinpoche met Pawan Kumar Chamling, Chief Minister of Sikkim, in New Delhi. He reportedly told the Chief Minister that he came to India when he was barely six and since then he had always regarded India as his own country. He added that branding him as anti-India or pro-Chinese was only a design by certain vested interests to tarnish his image among his followers. The Dalai Lama too vouched in September 1998 that Situ Rinpoche was not an instrument of Chinese political intrigue. This entire affair needs to be considered in view of the famous letter written by Sardar Patel to Pt Jawaharlal Nehru concerning his distrust of Chinese intentions way back in 1954.

Situ Rinpoche requested the Chief Minister of Sikkim to use his good offices in bringing the XVIIth Karmapa (reincarnate) to India and thus resolve the vexed issue. He apprised the Chief Minister that the Dalai Lama had also urged the then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao for the same. The Chief Minister told him that the role of the state government was confined to maintaining law and order, which it was doing in a fair and impartial manner. As for bringing the XVIIth Karmapa to India, the Chief Minister advised that nobody should seek to extract capital out of religion and all political parties in Sikkim should unitedly request the Union Government to bring the XVIIth Karmapa to India.

Chamling later requested the Prime Minister to acknowledge Situ's candidate as the XVIIth Karmapa of the Karma Kagyu order. In a letter to the Prime Minister, Chamling pointed out that the reincarnate of the XVIth Karmapa was recognised by the Dalai Lama way back in 1992. He said that immediate steps in this regard would clear doubts in the minds of devotees and followers of the sect within and outside the country, besides putting an end once and for all to the decade-old controversy laden with international ramifications. He also requested the Government of India to assist in bringing the XVIIth Karmapa to the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim from Tibet. However, he reiterated that notwithstanding the succession of the Gyalwa Karmapa, the State Government had maintained a clear and transparent policy confined to maintaining law and order at the Rumtek monastery in a fair and impartial manner.

The Chief Minister has also demanded lifting of the ban on the entry of Situ Rinpoche into Sikkim. He said, "by no stretch of imagination can Situ Rinpoche be branded as an agent of the Chinese government." In his three-page letter, the Chief Minister explained the background of the controversy over the reincarnation of the XVIth Karmapa. The intelligent reader is thus left wondering as to what political undercurrents are seeking to surface in Sikkim. Could it be that Chinese persuasion is so great that even the Govt of Sikkim is now acquiescing to its long term vision of hegemony in the himalayas?

K. Sreedhar Rao, the then Chief Secretary of Sikkim, sent a detailed assessment report on the Rumtek affairs to the union cabinet secretary in May 1997.

The 14-page report, marked secret on every page, forms the annexure of a one-para covering letter, sent by the then Chief Secretary from his camp office in Delhi to the then Cabinet Secretary. The letter stated:

I had sent a brief report to you on the Rumtek situation on 18 December 1996. Taking into account certain recent developments I have carried out a more detailed assessment outlining possible options before us. I am sending herewith this assessment for your kind perusal. I am endorsing copies of this (report) both to the DIB (Director of the Intelligence Bureau) and the Chairman JIC (Joint Intelligence Committee) with whom I have discussed this matter.

The report continued:

Given the fact that Sikkim occupies a strategic position, it would be most undesirable to have a situation where a Tibetan reincarnation, who is basically a Chinese national recognised by the Chinese, occupies a position in a monastery in Sikkim. The reincarnation of the Karmapa, if at all brought into Sikkim, will not come alone and may be accompanied by a very substantial entourage. Such an event can lead to consequences quite unpredictable, and may affect the security interests of the country very substantially. Clearly, we cannot allow a situation where a Tibetan reincarnate is brought into Sikkim, however vociferous such a demand may become.

Regarding the role of the Dalai Lama in the controversy, the Chief Secretary said:

In a hurried manner and that also without evidence and proper verification, the Dalai Lama recognised the candidate of Situ Rinpoche. It is possible that a small coterie around, the Dalai Lama had been influenced by the Chinese. The belief is reinforced by the fact that this small group has influenced His Holiness (Dalai Lama) to continue to support the Situ group even though the Dalai Lama himself has been briefed about the controversy and the lack of unanimity among the regents with respect to reincarnation. The second explanation could be that the Dalai Lama wail at that point of time carrying on delicate negotiations with the Chinese with respect to Tibet and he was influenced to think that such a recognition may go in his favour during his further discussions with the Chinese. A third explanation put forth by the religiously inclined is that the Dalai Lama heads the Gelug order which is not favourably inclined towards the Kagyu order, particularly because of the growing influence of the latter. (After the establishment of the Dharma Chakra Centre in Rumtek in the early 1960s, the Kagyu order has opened no less than 600 centres all over the world.)

The fourth explanation is that the recognition given by the Dalai Lama is not religious recognition but basically a temporal act placing the Karmapa in a hierarchy next to the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama. It is an act which need not be given any religious significance.

While this matter needs to be studied in more detail, what is important to note is that following the recognition of the Karmapa in Tibet and its approval by the Dalai Lama, China put its seal of approval on the reincarnation. This is perhaps, the first time that the People's Republic of China has given such an approval and is possibly calculated to demonstrate to the world the decisive say that China has in the affairs of Tibet, both spiritual and temporal.

Since then Situ Rinpoche has been influencing local opinion in Sikkim to continuously pressurise the authorities for bringing the Karmapa reincarnate to Rumtek and formally install him in the monastery.

Situ Rinpoche had wittingly or unwittingly played into the hands of the Chinese. Reports indicate that Situ Rinpoche, a Tibetan national, had been visiting Tibet on and off and in 1984-85 he traveled extensively and drafted a programme for so-called development in the country (Tibet). He records that 'at the end of 1984 and beginning of 1985 I visited for four months my country (meaning China) after 26 years abroad and traveled the areas of Sitron Tsongol, Gangsheo Yunnan and Shingkiang. The development pogramme includes education, health care, culture, handicrafts, increase in income and living standards etc.' What is noteworthy is that throughout his report he talks about friendly connections between the Chinese and the people of other countries, study of the Chinese language and study of Chinese medicine. He talks about Chinese in the friendliest terms, referring to the Chinese as Chinese; brothers. He talks about Chinese brothers living abroad as well. He talks about the autonomous region of Tibet and -- indicates that his plan has the honest intention to benefit the people of China, and, in particular, the Autonomous regions of Tibet, Sitron, Yunnan, Gangshuo, etc. He profusely thanks the two leaders of China, namely, Hu Yao Ban and Deng Xiao Peng, as well as other leaders for their excellent political stance. His report is addressed to the Director of the Chinese Communist government. All this indicates that Situ Rinpoche has built up a good relationship with the Chinese possibly from 1984.

It would be appropriate to consider the Chinese interest in the entire matter at this stage. From the time of Chinese occupation, and indeed, after the departure of the Dalai Lama from Tibet, the Chinese have been strengthening their control over Tibet in a variety of ways. Apart from the well established efforts to reduce the religious influence of the Dalai Lama and changing the demographic composition of Tibet by large scale influx of Han Chinese into Tibet, it would appear that the Chinese having got their own Panchen Lama, have, by formally recognising the XVIIth Gyalwa Karmapa, extended their control over the religious reincarnations of the Tibetans. It is also very much possible that the Chinese are preparing to get themselves into a position of strength in the post-Dalai Lama Tibet. It is not inconceivable that having established their right to recognise the reincarnates, the Chinese would not hesitate to identify the successor of the present Dalai Lama when the time comes. This would complete their hold on the religious consciousness of the Tibetans both within and outside Tibet.

The Chinese may not attach too great an importance to the declaration by the Dalai Lama that there will be no more: reincarnation of His Holiness. It is important from our point of view to take note of this. It is also important to note that along the entire Himalayan belt, right from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, the influence of Tibetan Lamaistic Buddhism is extensive, with a string of monasteries. It is reported that the Chinese have been making efforts to penetrate into these monasteries and, as of now, no less than eleven monasteries are headed by lamas who can be considered proteges of China. It would be most undesirable to allow the Chinese to extend their influence in this manner and it is in this context that the present situation in Rumtek needs to be carefully viewed.

He drew attention to the fact that the Chinese were out to expand their influence on the religious consciousness of not only Tibetans but also of the population in the entire Himalayan region. He said that the monastery itself had to be cleansed of all unruly elements and of offensive material which could be used to prevent anyone entering the monastery or otherwise creating an ugly law and order situation, He added:

Taking into account the fact that the Chinese government is actively interested in Rumtek affairs and the emerging situation there, it would be necessary to anticipate events and consider a possible course of action. The Sikkim Government right now would be hesitant to act because of the belief that a large proportion of the Bhutia/Lepcha population is inclined to accept the Tibetan reincarnation, primarily because of the blessing given by the Dalai Lama and would not like to do anything which can be construed as offending the sentiments of Bhutias/Lepchas. He concluded with the remarks that while keeping India's security interests in mind we should recognise the fact that the legitimate trustees have been disallowed from functioning from the monastery by an act of the state government and that within the next few years both the regents and the trustees would lose their status as religious and temporal authorities of Rumtek once the Karmapa reincarnate attains the age of 21. Interestingly enough, the Sikkim Government has denied the existence of the copy of the said letter in its files and records. When asked by the State Government, Rao has kept mum.

In November 1997, Ugyen Trinley, the candidate of Situ Rinpoche as the Karmapa, recognised a four-year-old boy from Chushul near Lhasa as the reincarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. Situ Rinpoche and his Secretary Ngoche Kargyay smuggled the purported reincarnation to Kalimpong in Darjeeling district of India and installed him at the retreat centre of the monastery of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche at Lava near Kalimpong. On the other hand, Trinlay Thaye Dorje, the candidate of Shamar Rinpoche as the Karmapa, recognised the son of Bairi Khyentse Rinpoche of Bodh Gaya in 1996 as the reincarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche. This boy is studying in the monastery of his father. Situ Rinpoche too searched the reincarnation of Kalu Rinpoche. The reincarnation is the son of Lama Gyaltshen, who was the nephew and secretary of the previous Kalu Rinpoche. The Dalai Lama too has recognised this reincarnation.

It needs to be mentioned here that Kalu Rinpoche died a sad person as per reports received from Lama Samdrub or Dariu Bejon, of Anglo Parsee parentage, who was very close to him in the late eighties. He was married to a German Buddhist lady known as Dechen or Gabriella Marie Bejon. They have a son, who is also one of the emanations of Kalu Rinpoche. Understandably, the Tibetan establishment relegated him into oblivion as they wanted their own chinky eyed Tibetan boy on the throne rather than a westerner. In spite of this, Dechen has veered over to the Tai Situ camp where her son has been ordained a novice. Lama Samdrub unfortunately died in the PIA plane crash approaching Kathmandu perhaps in the summer of 1994.

In April 1993, the Dalai Lama consecrated Kalu Rinpoche's stupa at Salugara on the outskirts of Siliguri. During his visit to Sonada monastery he performed the hair-cutting ceremony for Kalu Rinpoche's reincarnation and also attended another ceremony at the Drugpa Kargyu Monastery in Darjeeling.

One of the daughters of Bairi Kyentse Rinpoche is the reincarnation of Gelongma Palmo, a nun (mother of Indian movie star Kabir Bedi). Gelongma Palmo's reincarnation is in the form of a daughter of Bairi Khyentse Rinpoche of Bodh Gaya.