May 13, 2002.
Letters@time.com

Dear Sir,

Thank you for a wonderful special issue on Asian Heroes. It is wonderful that we are now being acknowledged as equal partners in the world.

I was intrigued at the inclusion of Urgen Trinlay Dorje, UTD, as one amongst them.

The article on him was clearly NOT written by Tenzing Sonam as claimed. The syntax, vocabulary and maturity of concepts reflect the finesse of a person whose native language is English. You are urged to confirm as to whether the article was written by him personally or by a ghost writer.

The media has played a phenomenal role in creating icons in the modern age. UTD is apparently emerging as one such even though the verities concerning him might disqualify him as one.

Prior to publishing this write up on him, had I been the editor, I would have certainly done a lot of basic groundwork to find out the truth concerning him.

For a start the enthralling tale of his 'escape' in the dead of winter needs to be evaluated from a practical point of view.

There certainly exists one stream of thought that he has been planted by the Chinese Govt in India for obvious reasons.

A courageous lady journalist from Hong Kong unraveled certain hidden and mysterious aspects of this so-called escape with fascinating details indicating the direct involvement and funding of the CIA and the purported Govt of Tibet in exile of the Dalai Lama in this escapade. We can send you a copy of the report as downloaded from the net and published in a Buddhist magazine in India .

Your attention is also drawn to the confidential report of May 1997 of the Chief Secretary, Govt of Sikkim, K. Shreedhar Rao, quoted in the Indian media. Clearly his prognostications concerning UTD are coming to be.

You might also not be enamoured by the obstructionist tactics being employed by him and his followers to prevent a proper inventory being taken of the assets of the Karmapa's monastery in Rumtek, Sikkim, in direct violation of the orders of the District Judge in Gangtok, Sikkim who has appointed a panel of Reserve Bank of India officials for this purpose.

Most important of all is the actual age of this person vis a vis his purported age. Few Tibetans, who are of Mongolian descent, show budding beards and moustaches in their mid to late teens. Your vast experience with such people surely provides you with a datum for a proper and dispassionate evaluation of the said Karmapa's age.

Perhaps you are aware that during an extensive medical check up carried out by a panel of doctors under Dr. S. K. Sharma, the then Director of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Research in Chandigarh, India April 00. This was reported in Amar Ujala, a Hindi daily as also in another, Navabharat Times.

The doctors had stated in their report after measuring the size of the person's various organs and so on, that the person investigated by them would be in age between 24 to 27 years. This is in direct contrast with the birth certificate issued to Urgen Trinlay Dorje, the purported 17th Karmapa, giving his date of birth as June 26, 1985 by the Dalai Lama.

Characteristically the Govt of India has suppressed this report merely perpetrating this incredible subterfuge on the entire world.

It would be sad that in this modern rational and scientific age, scientific medical evidence is superseded by the statement of an erstwhile religious feudal and incompetent monarch.

Is the Dalai Lama really any different from the Kaiser who precipitated WWI and then had to spend hours waiting to enter the Netherlands as a refugee, having created uncounted suffering for Europe due to his own incompetence. The work by Winston Churchill on this period of history makes remarkable reading -- his comments universally applicable.

The ordinary person is left wondering as to the reasons why the Dalai Lama is being promoted as the 'Pope' of Tibetan Buddhism in spite of the multiplicity of traditions totally unrelated to him in the same manner as the Catholic Church is independant of the multifarious Protestant denominations, each in turn independant of each other.

Thus he is hallowed with an aura of impecability. Perhaps the less said concerning this Nobel Laureate, the better. However, would it come as a surprise to you to know that child abuse of novice boy monks in his monasteries is the rule rather than the exception?

The manner in which this has been highlighted vis a vis the Catholic Church is encouraging and shows that the tradition is alive and amenable to change and reconciliation. On the other hand, the Dalai Lama, his Gelugpa tradition of Tibetan Buddhism etc are being projected as the vision for the future of the world!

One wonders as to how many of your readers would condone leave alone indulge in child abuse! Even the UN in its recently concluded conference on children has issued a statement requiring the protection of children from sexual abuse!

The subterfuge and politics Tibetans indulge in may be deduced from the book titled The Water Bird and Other Years by K. Dhondup, available from Dolkar Herbal Medicines, D-10 Kalkaji, New Delhi 110 019. You are urged to study this work closely not only with a view to understand Tibetan history 1876 - 1950, but also to understand the command of English as a language typical of the educated Tibetan in India .

This book will remove any illusions one may harbour concerning the apparent simplicity and goodness of the Tibetan peoples. I would at this juncture state, that having been married to a Tibetan lady for a while, and spent the most creative years of my life amongst them, except for the odd Tibetan, enlightenment and simplicity is a far cry!

We can only hope that you will study the phenomena of Tibet , the current diaspora, their aspirations and politico-religious [mis] adventures in proper detail before projecting them as residents of a lost Shangrila. A realistic assessment of the Dalai Lama and his following is essential.

Believe it or not, they are each as human as you, I and the rest of us. All else is 'maya' as we would say in India .

Yours sincerely,

Lama Shree Narayan Singh