9. Postscript

Dharamsala (India), 31 March, 2000: Situ Rinpoche again staged a coup of sorts. Lama Ugyen Trinley Dorje, a 14-year-old boy, who was recognised by Situ Rinpoche as the XVIIth Karmapa, arrived at McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh on 5 January, 2000 around 10.30 a.m. Within two hours, he was granted an audience with the Dalai Lama, who was then in retreat. The lama boy was accompanied by his mentor Situ Rinpoche, whose monastery, Sherab Ling in Baijnath district of Himachal Pradesh, was about 60 km from McLeodganj. The presence of Situ Rinpoche at McLeodganj smacked of his successful manoeuvring. A few days later Situ Rinpoche realised his mistake and denied that he accompanied the lama boy. He claimed that he reached McLeodganj around 2.30 p.m. after getting the news of the arrival of the lama boy.

Andrew Whitehead reporting for the BBC, covered the incident showing distinct footage of the young man on two consecutive days commented twice that the boy looked far too mature for his age! Even now, the issue around his age and maturity continue to attract attention. But this will be dealt with later.

A call was made from McLeodganj to the office of the Daily Telegraph, London, which broke the story of how the lama had "feared for his life" in Tibet. The Dalai Lama's government-in-exile seemed ready to cooperate and information was voluntarily provided. The lama, referred to as the Karmapa, could be photographed fairly easily, though he was not available for interviews. The task of publicising achieved the desired result. The British media, giving a lead to Indian papers, grabbed the news. But for the intervention by Shamar Rinpoche on8 January, claiming that the arrival of the lama boy was a Chinese ploy, meant to grab the Vajra Mukut and other valuable relics from the Rumtek monastery, the newspapers and magazines continued to refer to the lama boy as the Karmapa. Shamar Rinpoche told newspersons at New Delhi on 8 January that "Ugyen Trinley is an innocent boy who should not be used for political purposes. I do not believe he escaped or came without permission from China. The flight was designed to divert attention from Thaye Dorje, who was recognised according to our sacred traditions."

Significantly, Kuensel, Bhutan's only newspaper, reported guardedly. It preferred to bury the story in the inside pages and all it seemed to deserve was an eight-para story with a double-column heading. The story, quoting officials, said:

In what is described as the most significant defection fromChinese-ruled Tibet in decades, a 15-year-old lama,recognised by a section of Tibetan Buddhists as the 17thKarmapa, arrived in India.

Robbie Barnett, a Tibet scholar at Columbia University inNew York, said the lama left the 800-year-old Tsurphumonastery on 28 December with a handful of attendants andwalked over to India, arriving on Wednesday (5 January) inDharamsala.

International reports point out that Lama Ugyen Thinley hasnot officially sought political asylum in India. Meanwhile,other Buddhists recognise another lama residing in India,Lama Thaye Dorje, as the real Karmapa.

The Karmapas virtually ruled Tibet until they weresupplanted by the Dalai Lama and the Gelugpa order 350years ago.

The Tibetan government-in-exile made arrangements for the stay of the lama boy at Chonor lodge of the Norbulingka Institute. A week later, he was moved to the Gyuto monastery of the Gelug bordering Siddhabari, about 15 km from McLeodganj. From 9 January, the lama boy went incommunicado and was perennially 'tired and resting'. He againmet the Dalai Lama on 8 and 14 January, though the latter was supposed to observe silence during the period of retreat.His arrival was greeted almost like the coming of a messiah and potential successor to the aging Dalai Lama, who would be 65 this coming July.

This is most intriguing as every since 1642 CE relations between the Karma Kagyu and the Gelugpa traditions have hardly been congenial. History records the suppression of the Karma Kagyu and various other non-Gelugpa traditions by the Fifth Dalai Lama and his subsequent govts. The events leading to the installation of the Dalai Lama are a legend in themselves and need to be dealt with separately. A video documentary recently prepared in 2002 under the aegis of the purported Govt of Tibet in Exile by Prof Robert Thurman and others titled The Dalai Lamas, throws immense light on the religisio-political fudging which has characterised the Dalai Lamas' reign since 1642 CE.

There were exotic stories doing the rounds in McLeodganj of how the lama escaped from the Chinese captivity. The crux of the stories was the same. The lama boy opened his bedroom window on the sixth floor at 11 p.m. on a cold wintry 28 December, 1999 at the Tsurphu monastery in Tibet. The escape plan was drawn up meticulously. The lama consulted the oracles before escaping. He said he was going into retreat. His personal staff went about their duties as usual. Food was cooked, served and other everyday routines were undertaken normally. A look-alike even impersonated for the lama who had actually left the monastery. The lama had left a letter declaring that he was going to India to retrieve some religious artefacts. He said the Chinese authorities had rejected an earlier request for his travel to India. He was thus left with no recourse but to go without permission.

When a Chinese official went to meet him on New Year's Day, the lama had disappeared. Five days later he surfaced at Dharamsala. It is surprising that the Chinese authorities did not raise an alarm and tried to increase surveillance on the border. It is difficult to believe that the lama's entourage, during its 11-day trek of about 900 km across frozen terrain from Tibet, managed to dodge the heavy Chinese security presence in Tibet.

He was accompanied by Ngodup Paldron, his sister, 10 years older, and five male attendants. The lama and his followers changed into civilian clothes. He wore a denim jacket and trousers and his sister a loose robe. The party subsisted on tsampa. From the Tsurphu monastery, the group set out in two jeeps. Before every checkpost, the lama and his entourage would get off and head for the mountains. After the jeeps crossed the checkpoints, the lama and his companions would join the vehicles. This they did nearly 20 times till they reached west Nepal through Nyichung in Mustang region.

He thought it better to flee in winter for two reasons. First, the Chinese guards arenot as alert and the checks not that stringent. Second, most of the mountain lakes are frozen and can be crossed on foot. Escape from the guards in Tibet is possible only in the cold months, by daredevils who have the will and the stamina to face the hazards before the weather 'opens up'.

Another equally fanciful account says that the lama and his party first reached Shigatse in transport vans disguised as helpers and then went to Khumbu La, on to Katari in Nepal. After reaching Kathmandu, the party did not even get in touch with the office of the Dalai Lama's representative in Nepal. Normally escapees from Tibet drop in at this office from where arrangements are made for their coming to India. His mentors had arranged Nepalese and Indian currency and guides to ensure that the party did not lose its way in blizzards in the high mountain terrain, and shelter points were all worked out in advance.

Another account puts it altogether differently. The lama left Tsurphu in a Toyota Land-cruiser and another car, travelling for 36 hours. When the mountain terrain became unmotorable, he began a trek. His team walked for 12 hours, entering Nepal. The border was fairly easy to cross. It was only a few hours' journey by train from Gorakhpur to Lucknow from where the seven-member group reached Dharamsala via Delhi in two taxis. The Dalai Lama's office was informed by telephone on arrival.

The travel account treads the fine line between the happenstance and coincidence. It rather smells of a deliberate action. As if to divorce the lama from Chinese links, there are stories doing the rounds in McLeodganj of how he called Tsurphu on reaching Nepal, how the phone was answered by a Chinese voice, how the 'Karmapa' heard the sounds and shrieks of searching and interrogation in the background. Intriguingly, the lama boy surfaced at Dharamsala and met the Dalai Lama instead of going to the traditional seat of the Karmapa at the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, which could have been easier for him and his entourage to travel than going to Dharamsala.

Later on a Hong Kong based journalist went on to investigate this purported escape and made some startling discoveries. The article titled 'Lama Drama' has been published in Yug Udbodhan, a Buddhist magazine from New Delhi, as none other would carry it. Evidently this 'escape' was well planned with the direct involvement of the Dalai Lama and the CIA together with the JAC of Sikkim, read Tai Situpa. Moreover a helicopter had been hired to airlift him from the border to Pokhara where he rested at the Tibetan govt's hotel! Intriguing if nothing else! This clearly brings into focus the question: What exactly are the Tibetans up to in India?

The response from China was surly. Initially, the Chinese issued a statement that the young 'Karmapa' had come to India to collect some of his belongings — the Black Crown and an ancientbell among them. In fact, it is the China factor that had the Ministry of External Affairs of India in a bit of a tizzy. If it really was a defection, it was a public relations disaster for Beijing whose Tibet policy in recent years had moved from suppression of religious authority to its manipulation. Initially, Beijing sought to wipe out the monks' privileges, denounce their faith and swamp Tibet with ethnic Chinese migrants. It came to realise that the average Tibetan cherished the Buddhist faith and its institutions with an uncommon fervour. The Ministry of External Affairs has realised over the years that Tibet-China relations were an enormous game of chess, one in which India at times seemed no more than that hapless chessboard. Therefore, the Miriistry of External Affairs has been circumspect in reaction, waiting for other players to show their hand. It will not be incorrect to state that for the enlightened Tibetans led by the Dalai Lama, India is none other than a footmat!

Four days after the arrival of the lama boy at McLeodganj, Zho Bangzao, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, hinted that granting political asylum to the 'Karmapa' would violate the 'panchsheel' (five principles of peaceful co-existence) on which Sino-Indian relations were based. A few days later, Zhou Gang, Chinese Ambassador to India, advised India not to use the presence of the 'XVIIth Karmapa' in India for "anti-political and anti-social activities against China".

The Government of India denied having received any request from the lama boy or the Dalai Lama for granting asylum to the visitor. However, it admitted having received a 'personal' memorandum from Mrs. Dolma Gyari, a member of the Tibetan parliament-in-exile, seeking grant of political asylum to the lama boy.

'Tshering Lama', actually Lama Shree Narayan Singh has written many letters to the President of India since 1998, expressing his concern over the activities of the Dalai Lama, Situ Rinpoche and his group in connivance with the Chinese authorities to usurp the heritage of the Karmapa. Unfortunately all these representations have met with no success. The present NDA govt continues to favour the Dalai Lama in spite of everything, perhaps because he is pliable to its peculiar religious stance. It is common knowledge that the Dalai Lama is feted by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad at the expense of the indigenous Buddhist population.

At the same time, Ms. Julia Teft, US Coordinator for Tibet, arrived in India. She is also the Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration. The US was at pains to explain that her visit to Dharamsala had nothing to do with the arrival of the 'Karmapa'. The US officials emphasised that her trip to India had been in the pipeline for five months and shewas to visit Tibetan refugee camps as she visited those of Afghan refugees.

They pointed out that her visit had been mandated on the understanding that it would take place when the Dalai Lama was on his annual retreat. Was it merely an embarrassing coincidence that she came just when the 'Karmapa' arrived in India?

India sought to deflect Chinese pressure over the 'Karmapa' presence in India, asking Beijing to provide 'specific details' about the journey of the 14-year-old 'Living Buddha' from Tibet. Beijing had sought information on Lama Ugyen Trinley Dorje. The spokesman of the Indian ministry of Foreign Affairs said, "The Chinese side has been asked to share with us specific details about the Karmapa's departure from Tibet, the route taken and other relevant matters."

In a seemingly desperate bid to hide its role in the departure of the lama boy, Chinese police detained at least two monks of the Tsurphu monastery on 15 January. Reports say that all monks in the monastery have been confined in the premises by armed police — a sign that some are being questioned — while at least two have been taken away to the headquarters of the autonomous council of Tibet at Lhasa. Perhaps the move was meant to create confusion about China's stance.

Intrigue, deception and an air of mystery have made a China-Tibet puzzle difficult to decode. Preliminary Indian official investigations do not show that the boy lama and his entourage slipped through the heavy Chinese security cover. On the contrary, the investigations suggest that they had a fairly smooth passage out of their Chinese-controlled homeland, indicating that Beijing may at least have acquiesced in the departure.

Ugyen Trinley Dorji cannot indefinitely sustain his Karmapa claim without the vajra mukut. It is vital for him and those who propped him up to secure that spiritually indispensable item. Moreover, his presence in India could aid the Chinese designs to divide the Tibetan exile community by fostering open discord between the rival contending sides and bringing a bad name to the holy institution of the Karmapa.

Since the ban on the entry of Situ Rinpoche in India was lifted in mid-1998 by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party-ledgovernment, the activities of the pro-China group in the succession war again hotted up. In a vilification campaign against Shamar Rinpoche, a news item appeared in an Indian newspaper alleging his links with China. S hamar Rinpoche vehemently denied it.

In the last week of November 1999, Bairi Kyentse Rinpoche organised an ordination ceremony at Bodh Gaya for his son who was recognised by Thaye Dorji (recognised by Shamar Rinpoche as the reincarnation of the Karmapa) as the reincarnation of Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, one of the senior Kagyu order trulkus. Tashi Wangdi, the Minister for Religious and Cultural Affairs in the Tibetan government-in-exile, wrote to the Indian Home Minister apprehending trouble over the investiture of the 'fake' lama. At the same time, Bairi Kyentse received a letter from Dharamsala in which it was written that they (the Dalai Lama government) have told Situ Rinpoche and his party not to create trouble during the ceremony at Bodh Gaya. The scheduled ceremony could not take place since Bairi Kyentse Rinpoche was indisposed!

This was in spite of the fact that the Dalai Lama, during a visit to Kagyupa Vajrayana Monastery of Bairi Khyentse Rinpoche, had acknowledged his son as an incarnation of the late Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche and performed his 'hair cutting ceremony'. Weird are the ways of Tibetan politics! One wonders as to whether the Dalai Lama has taken upon himself the authority to declare as to who is fake and who is genuine, as if his authority stretches throughout the expanse of Buddhism.

The Sikkim government then made an extraordinary turn-around. Despite a change of guard at the helm of affairs, it remained steadfastly with Situ Rinpoche. It helped the Situ group to grab the Rumtek monastery. From time to time, the successive Chief Ministers pleaded the case of Situ Rinpoche to allow entry to Ugyen Trinley Dorje into India. Even in Novemner 1999, Pawan Kumar Chamling, Chief Minister of Sikkim, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of India reiterating his request in favour of Ugyen Trinley Dorji. However, the Sikkim government and politicians alike preferred to maintain a studied silence when Ugyen Trinley Dorji landed in India. But with a foot in his mouth, Sikkim Chief Secretary Sonam Wagdi volunteered information on phone to an Indian newspaper that Sikkim locals were 'rejoicing' and were hopeful that the historic Rumtek monastery which had not had a head for almost 17 years would finally have one. He added that once the Dalai Lama accepted Ugyen Trinley Dorji as the Kagyu leader, the people of Sikkim had come to repose their faith in the 14-year-old lama.

A few days later he invited an Indian wire agency man at Gangtok to give information that the visiting lama was already an Indian since he was the reincarnation of the late XVIth Karmapa. He was blissfully unaware that the status of the late Karmapa was that of a Tibetan refugee. It is an utterly preposterous idea. Following the logic that the XVIth Karmapa — or any Karmapa — is of Indian origin simply because Buddhism has its roots in India, one would be tempted to accept that all Buddhist Masters from around the world are of Indian origin. This argument will also include all Buddhists across the world as having an Indian origin. Contrary to the popular notion that was highlighted with motives other than religious, a majority of the Buddhist population in Sikkim has faith in the Nyingma order, the oldest among the four orders of Tibetan Buddhism. The Gelugpa presence has been negligible, highlighted only recently with the Dalai Lama having given the Kalachakra empowerment in Gangtol.

In the meantime, Shamar Rinpoche has reiterated his old proposal. Way back in 1995, he proposed to Drugchu Lachungpa, a former Sikkim minister and member of the Joint Action Committee, and Palden Lachungpa, Secretary of the Sikkim's Ecclesiastical Department:

Tai Situ is a Buddhist teacher, and so am I. We should both behave accordingly. Therefore, we should both respect each other's nominee, which would prevent any schism in the lineage. Since the Chinese government has authorised Ugyen Trinley to take over the Tsurphu monastery in Tibet, which was the Karmapa's traditional Seat before the exile of the XVIth Karmapa, it was only logical to allow my nominee, the Indian Karmapa, to take over the Rumtek monastery in India. ,

However, Situ Rinpoche says that there is only one Karmapa, and that is his nominee, whose recognition has been validated by the Dalai Lama.

Dharamsala will not give its mind to journalists. However, a letter from the Dalai Lama to Rabi Ray, former Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Lower House of Indian Parliament) clearly stated that the Dalai Lama wanted the visitor from Tibet to stay in India. The Dalai Lama forewarned India that she would make a terriblemistake if she did not let the 'Karmapa' stay. Earlier, Rabi Ray had pleaded the case of the lama boy for political asylum. After a two-month-long studied silence, the Dalai Lama told BBC: "The Indian Government has informally and unofficially indicated to me that the Karmapa Lama, who recently fled from Tibet to India, would most probably be allowed to remain in India." A number of right-wing politicians and academicians have also joined the chorus to support Situ Rinpoche.

II

Various events have taken place since the publishing of this book. Ugyen Trinlay Dorji has been granted refugee status in India as of Feb 2001. The Dalai Lama had gone personally to New Delhi Jan 28 to plead his case in front of the the Prime Minister when they were assembled to discuss the earthquake in Latur.

The previous April he had been sent by the Dalai Lama to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh for a thorough medical check up. Ugyen Trinlay Dorji remained an in patient for a fortnight during the course of which a thorough medical check-up was conducted on him. It was reported seperately in Amar Ujala and Navbharat Times that the panel of five doctors constituted under Dr. S. K. Sharma, then Director, had found conlusively that the person they had investigated could not be 16 yrs of age medically. Rather, they stated that given the size of his organs and so on, his age must be determined as being between 24 and 27. The sad part about Indian politics is that when the govt itself has a vested interest, it is capable of doing anything. This report has therefore disappeared.

It is amazing however as to the manner in which even moderately intelligent people fail to utilise their common sense when confronted with an authority. Since the Dalai Lama has given Ugyen Trinlay Dorji a birth certificate stating that he was born 25-6-1985, it must be so! Anyone who sees this person can ascertain for one's ownself that he has facial hair to the extent that no adolescent Tibetan could ever have and that he is clearly in his mid-20s.

Taking the above into consideration Lama Shree Narayan Singh of Munger, yet again filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court which was dismissed as no lawyer was willing to take the brief. He found himself unable to make a clear and logical presentation in court resulting in its dismissal!

Video recordings of Urgen Trinlay Dorji during ceremonies in bodh Gaya Dec 2001 are in circulation and it is amazing that from the President of India downwards, none is willing apparently to look into this matter deeply. Perhaps this is due to political pressure from Uncle Sam for whom it is of the greatest importance that their 'baby' the Dalai Lama be molly coddled and his illegal govt kept running smoothly.

Clearly the threat is being contained in other ways!