CTA Calls Citizens of Other Nations “Criminals”

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. We call upon him respectully, and the leaders of other nations where Dorje Shugden practitioners may be found, to speak up against the defamatory statements being made by the Central Tibetan Administration

On March 17, 2014 the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA; Tibetan leadership based in Dharamsala) published a resolution on the Dorje Shugden ban (http://tibet.net/dolgyal-shugden/tibetan-parliament-in-exiles-resolution-concerning-dolgyal-17-march-2014/). It, amongst other things, labelled Dorje Shugden practitioners as “criminals in history”. Such a blanket statement is problematic when compared against the socio-economic and geopolitical demographic of 4 million Dorje Shugden practitioners who come from all over the world.

The resolution does not make any distinction between Tibetan and non-Tibetan practitioners of Dorje Shugden. It would therefore appear that the CTA have knowingly labelled citizens of other nations as “criminals”, when their only ‘crime’ is the fact they have their own religious beliefs and respectfully refuse to adhere to the Dalai Lama’s edicts. The CTA has overstepped the boundaries and are perhaps a bit arrogant for labelling citizens of other countries “criminals” for practicing Shugden.

Nothing that Dorje Shugden practitioners have done all over the world is against the laws of their land. Their protests have been permitted by the police and no violence has been directed at supporters of the ban.

Whatever the CTA has done however, up until now with regards to the Dorje Shugden ban has been illegal and undemocratic. Withholding medical treatment on the basis of a person’s faith is unethical, inhumane and not to mention illegal. Encouraging children to bully young Dorje Shugden practitioners is unethical. Lying about the state of our lamas in the way Penpa Tsering has done is defamatory.

We at DorjeShugden.com therefore support Diane Cadman’s call to Governor Chris Christie to protest against this defamatory statement against American citizens. We also call upon the federal governments of free nations to observe the statements by the CTA. We also request that the governments of other nations follow suit – wherever Dorje Shugden practitioners reside (for example the United Kingdom and Switzerland), we request these governments to protest against this statement by the CTA. Such a statement is an affront to the sovereignty of these nations who are duty-bound to protect their citizens against smear campaigns waged by foreign administrations.

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Gov. Christie should demand that the CTA desist, with immediate effect, all of their vague, fear-mongering language which makes false claims regarding the motivation of Dorje Shugden practitioners. For example, the CTA has yet to prove that Dorje Shugden practitioners have received any kind of ‘monetary gain’ as a result of protesting against the ban on Dorje Shugden. Yet in this resolution, they state clearly that Dorje Shugden practitioners protest because they receive “monetary and material incentives” from the Chinese government.

Furthermore, the Tibetan government has never explained with any real logic what “grave harm” has been caused to the faith of Tibet. Whose faith are they referring to, and how can the Tibetan leadership expect anyone to retain faith in their administration after more than 50 years of false promises and hopes for independence? The so-called loss of the Tibetan nation has nothing to do with religion, gods, God or deities. It has everything to do with the selfish mismanagement of the Tibetan Government that handled China wrongly in the 1950s resulting in them ‘losing’ their country. No one is to blame for the ‘loss’ of their country except their own government. That leads us to logically conclude that in the last 55 years, the CTA has failed miserably in acquiring Tibet ‘back’ or even nearing the goals of autonomy. Tibet is part of China and whose doing is this? Of course the CTA who signed their nation away.

The resolution in fact also contradicts many of the CTA’s recent statements against Dorje Shugden practitioners. On such glaring contradiction relates to the first two clauses of the resolution which recognises previous discussions on Dorje Shugden, as well as previous actions taken against Shugden practitioners:

(1) Reaffirms to carefully follow up the series of resolutions unanimously passed by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile on this issue in 1996, 1997 and 2008.

(2) Recognises and resolves to collectively disseminate to all people the actual issue as per the resolution/section (B) of article 5 passed during the Conference of the Heads, Abbots, Lamas/Trulkus and Representatives of the four schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon religion in 2009. It states: “Worshipping the worldly gods, particularly spirits for protection, contravenes the principle of following the three refuge in Buddhism. The conference unequivocally proclaims that any individuals or organisation propitiating Dolgyal, would not be affiliated to any Tibetan religious school.”

The CTA has recently taken to insisting that no ban has ever been enshrined in their halls of legislation. However this resolution recognises that on at least three separate occasions, effort has been taken to guard against the supposed danger arising from the worship of Dorje Shugden. As the CTA themselves note, the CTA took proactive steps “to lead the ignorant to righteous path” when it “unanimously passed resolutions on 6 June 1996, 17 September 1997 and 15 March 2008.” Despite this resolution clearly stating that Dorje Shugden practitioners are not welcomed, the CTA’s spokespeople seem quite happy to tell the world’s media that there is no such thing as ban on Dorje Shugden practice. Why pass resolutions when there is no ban? Of course there has been a ban and, at times, violent segregation.

Thus it seems that whilst the CTA is very adept at passing grandiose resolutions, their command of the English language is selective at best, and their logic quite lacking. This lack of logic is most apparent when, in this resolution, the CTA says this issue has nothing to do with religious freedom. In fact, this issue has everything to do with religious freedom. When a government passes four resolutions, each one reaffirming actions taken against a certain religious belief, practice or faith, THAT makes the issue about religious freedom.

It has been 55 years since the diaspora of the Tibetan peoples all over the world. Since that time, many have become citizens of various nations around the world. Tibetans can be found in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Taiwan, Switzerland, France, Canada and of course India and Nepal. This resolution however, ignores the fact that Dorje Shugden practitioners may not necessarily come under the jurisdiction of the Tibetan leadership and overrides the sovereign rights of these governments. To add, many practitioners of Shugden are not even Tibetan. So stop calling people who practice Dorje Shugden as criminals.

We thank Ms. Diane Cadman for bringing attention to this issue and call upon the governments of these various nations, wherever Dorje Shugden practitioners may reside, to exert due influence on the Tibetan administration for the defamatory statements that have been brought against their citizens.

To sign the petition, please click here: http://www.askthem.io/nj/questions/5468f6ea9d29c91cbd00000b?share=false