S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001443

SIPDIS

GENEVA FOR RMA
LONDON FOR POL/RIEDEL
BEIJING PASS CHENGDU

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2012
TAGS: PREF PHUM PREL NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL POLICE SHUT DOWN PRESS CONFERENCE PROTESTING
DORJE SHUGDEN STATEMENTS

Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski, Reasons 1.5, (b),(d).


1. (C) Summary. Police in Kathmandu interrupted a press
conference held by a local Buddhist group on July 25 to
answer allegations made during a July 19 press conference by
followers of the controversial Dorje Shugden deity. Shugden
worshippers had accused Dharamsala of violating their freedom
of religion and engaging in "anti-China" activities from
Nepali soil. Police detained two organizers of the July 25
event in front of a crowd of about two dozen local
journalists. The local Buddhist group and the Dalai Lama's
personal representative in Nepal both issued statements
rebutting the Shugden followers' claims. End Summary.

Police Shut Down Counter-Press Conference
--------------


2. (SBU) Police closed down a press conference held by a
local Buddhist community group July 25 to protest statements
by followers of the Dorje Shugden deity that impugned the
Dalai Lama and Tibetan refugees in Nepal. Members of the
Dorje Shugden sect had held their own press conference in
Kathmandu July 19 to denounce the Dalai Lama's six-year-old
ban on the worship of the deity Dorje Shugden. Sect members
also alleged that the Dalai Lama's administration had used
Nepal for "anti-China" activities" for more than forty years.
In particular, they singled out Mustang district, in
north-central Nepal along the Tibet border, as the site of
such activities.

Two Organizers Detained
--------------


3. (C) The July 25 press conference, organized by the
"Srongtsen Bhrikuti Social and Cultural Upliftment
Association" at a hotel in the capital, ended abruptly after
a handful of policemen entered the hall and ordered the
proceedings to stop. The Dalai Lama's personal
representative in Nepal was reading a statement at the time.
According to a witness, the police asked who had organized
the event and whether the sponsoring organization was duly
registered. They then took two of the organizers, Nepali
nationals named Pasang Sherpa and Wangchuk Norbu, away to

police headquarters. Twenty-five journalists witnessed the
episode, including representatives of Nepal's major private
media outlets.


4. (S) Tibetans were bitter that their press briefing was
closed down while the Dorje Shugden press conference had not
been. One alleged that the Dorje Shugden organization
receives funding and support from the Chinese Embassy in
Kathmandu, and that the July 25 press briefing had been shut
down at the Chinese Embassy's urging.

Community Press Statement Proclaims Loyalty to Nepal
-------------- --------------


5. (C) Previously, local Tibetans had responded to the July
19 remarks made by a Dorje Shugden leader, the 13th Kundeling
Tagtsha Jetung, by releasing a statement to the media on July

21. The local Tibetans' statement said that Dorje Shugden
followers were attempting "to disgrace the Buddhist religion
and to disrupt the community." It continued, "we believe
that Tibetans in Nepal have always been loyal to the foreign
policy of the nation and thus have not carried out any
anti-China activities as reported." Community members met
earlier in the day to decide on a response and had enlisted
an ethnic-Tibetan reporter from a leading English-language
daily to draft it.

Sectarians Creating "Mistrust and Misunderstanding"
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) A statement released by the Srongtsen Bhrikuti
Association at the July 25 press briefing continued in the
same vein. It asserted that the Dorje Shugden followers were
trying to foment "mistrust and misunderstanding" between the
Tibet refugees and the government of Nepal. The statement
also defended the Dalai Lama, quoting at length from his
Nobel Peace Prize citation, and expressed gratitude to
Nepal's King, his government and the people of Nepal for
harboring Tibetans.
Dharamsala's Statement
--------------


7. (SBU) Another statement released at the aborted July 25
briefing, prepared by the Dalai Lama's representative in
consultation with Dharamsala, labeled the Dorje Shugden
group's statement "preposterous" and attempted to refute its
points one by one. This statement reviewed the history of
the Dorje Shugden controversy, including the February 4, 1997
murder in India of Tibetan religious leader Geshe Lobsang
Gyatso, an outspoken critic of Shugden worship.
Background on Srongsten Bhrikuti
--------------

8. (U) Membership in the Srongsten Bhrikuti Association
consists almost exclusively of Buddhists native to Nepal,
mostly ethnic Sherpas, Gurungs and others who live in the
high mountains adjacent to Tibet. The association runs a
clinic in the Boudha area of Kathmandu and provides free
medicine and ambulance services to the needy. They also
collect blood donations in cooperation with the Nepal Red
Cross. (Note: The association was named for the
eighth-century King of Tibet, Srongsten Gampo, and his Nepali
wife, Bhrikuti. End Note.)
MALINOWSKI