Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08KOLKATA116
2008-04-10 10:00:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Consulate Kolkata
Cable title:
TIBETANS ARGUE OVER A THIRD RINPOCHE AS CALLS FOR A
how-toVZCZCXRO8432 PP RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHGH RUEHHM RUEHLH RUEHNH RUEHPW RUEHVC DE RUEHCI #0116/01 1011000 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 101000Z APR 08 FM AMCONSUL KOLKATA TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1955 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC RHMFIUU/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0098 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0061 RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA 2389
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000116
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF IN CH NP
SUBJECT: TIBETANS ARGUE OVER A THIRD RINPOCHE AS CALLS FOR A
GORKHALAND STATE CONTINUE
REF: KOLKATA 66
KOLKATA 00000116 001.2 OF 002
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KOLKATA 000116
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF IN CH NP
SUBJECT: TIBETANS ARGUE OVER A THIRD RINPOCHE AS CALLS FOR A
GORKHALAND STATE CONTINUE
REF: KOLKATA 66
KOLKATA 00000116 001.2 OF 002
1. (SBU) Summary: During a March 27-30 visit to Darjeeling and
adjoining towns, ConOff spoke with the Tibetan community about
the unrest in Lhasa, and attended an enthronement ceremony for a
possible Third Reincarnation of the Domogeshi Rinpoche. ConOff
also visited the Tibetan Self-Help Center in Darjeeling, which
is funded by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Tibetans around
Darjeeling were very aware of the news out of Tibet, and the
Tibetan Solidarity Movement has been organizing rallies in the
area against the Chinese crackdown in Tibet. Tibetans in W.
Bengal are also caught up in current calls by ethnic Nepalis for
a separate Gorkhaland state in the Darjeeling area, as Bimal
Gurung's Gorkhaland Movement continues to make waves. End
summary.
The Diaspora
--------------
2. (U) During March 27-30, ConOff visited the Darjeeling area
of North Bengal, meeting with Tibetan Buddhist monastery
administrators, local Tibetan businessmen, and residents. An
estimated 120,000 Tibetans live in India, and approximately
7,000-8,000 Tibetans are believed to be living in North Bengal
and Northeast India. A sizeable portion of them reside in the
Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in North Bengal.
3. (U) On March 29, ConOff attended an enthronement ceremony
for a U.S.-born Third Reincarnation of the Domogeshi Rinpoche,
four-year-old Lobsang Jigme Wangchuk, at Samten Choling
Monastery in the town of Ghoom. Samten Choling is one of the
Tharpacholing monasteries run by the Yellow Sect, a Tibetan
Buddhist Sect that is historically allied with the Dalai Lama.
The young Third Reincarnation was located in Brooklyn in 2006
after a search organized by Yellow Sect leaders. (Note: The
previous/second reincarnation, Kyabje Domo Geshe Rinpoche, was
taken prisoner by the Chinese and released in 1961 after
repeated requests from the GOI. After his exile from Tibet, the
Second Rinpoche moved to India and worked with the Dalai Lama.
The Second Rinpoche passed away in 2001. End note.) The
enthronement was attended by around 500 local Tibetans and a
dozen Western followers of the Second Reincarnation.
4. (U) On March 31, at Gaden Chholing Gumba monastery in nearby
Pedong, a competing Yellow Sect faction scuffled with Lobsang
Wangchuk's followers over his enthronement claim. While 300
Wangchuk supporters tried to enter the monastery to enthrone
him, the rival group claimed that the true successor was Tenzing
Jigme Dhendup, who had already been enthroned elsewhere and whom
the Dalai Lama supposedly had blessed. Police were called out
to enforce a court order obtained by Dhendup's supporters
preventing Wangchuk's followers from entering the monastery and
holding an enthronement ceremony, and Wangchuk's enthronement
did not take place.
5. (U) There are a number of Tibetan monasteries in North
Bengal, providing communal bases for local Tibetans to share
news and discuss current events, including the recent crackdown
by the Chinese government in Tibet. Information about the
situation in China spreads more effectively now because of the
presence of cell phones and other communication technologies.
Tibetans around Darjeeling were quite aware of the unrest and
expressed support for their kin. There were also general
feelings of frustration with the GOI for not taking a harder
stance with China.
Registering Protest
--------------
6. (SBU) A number of protests in the region have been organized
by the Tibetan Solidarity Movement (TSM),a body supported by
the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, to draw attention to the Tibet
situation. On March 20, around 200 Tibetans left Darjeeling en
route to the Nathu-La India-China border crossing in Sikkim,
intending to express their support for Tibetans against China.
They were stopped by Indian police, however, at the West
Bengal-Sikkim border. In response, the Tibetan marchers began a
hunger strike. The Secretary of the Sangag Choling Monastery
(Dali Gonpa) in Ghoom, Ngawang Tenzin Gyatso (please protect),
told ConOff that the hunger strike lasted for three days until
the Dalai Lama sent word that it was not necessary to continue.
Further marches and demonstrations of support are planned in the
coming weeks.
KOLKATA 00000116 002.2 OF 002
7. (U) On March 31, the West Bengal and Sikkim sub-committee of
the TSM organized a protest march in Siliguri, and made a
five-point charter of demands. These included: 1)sending a
fact-finding international delegation to Lhasa for inquiry into
the March 14 massacre, 2)allowing "free" media to report in
Tibet, 3)immediate medical assistance for the victims, 4)release
of detained Tibetans in Lhasa, and 5)free movement of people to
and from Tibet.
Self-Help Under Government-in-Exile
--------------
8. (U) Post spoke with staff at the Tibetan Self-Help Center
(TSC) in Darjeeling. The Tibetan Government-in-Exile funds the
organization and the more than 600 employees describe themselves
as "Tibetan government bureaucrats." They provided a list of
over a dozen Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the TSC's regional
area of responsibility as well as contacts to other regional
Tibetan Self-Help Centers in Kalimpong and Sonada in North
Bengal. They stressed that the contacts were only for Tibetan
Buddhists, and that many other Buddhist monasteries exist in the
region.
Minority Woes
--------------
9. (U) Almost every Tibetan that ConOff spoke with stressed
that Tibetans have no voice in local politics in the region.
They lack voting rights, are a minority in the majority-Nepali
community, and say they are left to the whims of the Nepali
community agenda. The Tibetans say they support Gorkha Janmukti
Morcha (GJMM) leader Bimal Gurung - who is demanding a
Gorkhaland state - because they lack any other options and
because he is immensely popular among the region's Nepalis
(reftel).
10. (SBU) Gurung's call for a separate state of Gorkhaland is
likely to continue until the government relents. Former Chief
of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) Subhas Ghising no
longer enjoys popular support and even local Tibetans feel
Gurung may be less corrupt and provide better services for the
people than Ghising did. Ngawang Tenzin Gyatso observed that
Gurung's men had pressured Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the
area to provide support for the recent strikes in Darjeeling for
the Gorkhaland cause. The religious institutions were reluctant
to become involved in politics, but could not refuse.
11. (U) ConOff witnessed the presence of GJMM everywhere --
from small, isolated, mountainside hamlets to downtown
Darjeeling. Carnival style party flags were strung across the
streets and from building to building. Most private houses were
also flying larger individual party flags. Posters declaring
"We Condemn 6th Schedule" and other pro-GJMM graffiti were
ubiquitous throughout the region. (Note: Ghising had advocated
6th Schedule, or spQial tribal status, for Gorkhas in
Darjeeling, which was rejected by the GJMM and local Nepalis.)
While less prevalent, there were also large posters of Gurung in
Darjeeling. In April, GJMM captured the leadership of the local
municipality from Ghising's Gorkha National Liberation Front
(reftel).
12. (U) Comment: While current events in Tibet are
overshadowing the in-fighting among Tibetans in eastern India,
the standoff between rival Yellow Sect factions may require
intervention from higher-ups in the Tibetan Buddhist structure
to resolve. As in other parts of India, Tibetans appear to
remain outside the political structure, and in N. Bengal they
may get caught up in the growing Gorkhaland call. Bimal Gurung,
assisted by GJMM secretary Roshan Giri who is rumored to have
links to the Maoists in Nepal as well as the criminal
underground, is perceived as a ruthless and tough player. Over
the past few months, a series of strikes supporting Gorkhaland
calls were enforced by the GJMM even though some businessmen and
organizations were unenthusiastic. Until a solution to the
Gorkhaland demand arrives, instability will likely continue and
Tibetans will be caught up in the political situation in
Darjeeling.
SURAMPUDI
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL PREF IN CH NP
SUBJECT: TIBETANS ARGUE OVER A THIRD RINPOCHE AS CALLS FOR A
GORKHALAND STATE CONTINUE
REF: KOLKATA 66
KOLKATA 00000116 001.2 OF 002
1. (SBU) Summary: During a March 27-30 visit to Darjeeling and
adjoining towns, ConOff spoke with the Tibetan community about
the unrest in Lhasa, and attended an enthronement ceremony for a
possible Third Reincarnation of the Domogeshi Rinpoche. ConOff
also visited the Tibetan Self-Help Center in Darjeeling, which
is funded by the Tibetan Government-in-Exile. Tibetans around
Darjeeling were very aware of the news out of Tibet, and the
Tibetan Solidarity Movement has been organizing rallies in the
area against the Chinese crackdown in Tibet. Tibetans in W.
Bengal are also caught up in current calls by ethnic Nepalis for
a separate Gorkhaland state in the Darjeeling area, as Bimal
Gurung's Gorkhaland Movement continues to make waves. End
summary.
The Diaspora
--------------
2. (U) During March 27-30, ConOff visited the Darjeeling area
of North Bengal, meeting with Tibetan Buddhist monastery
administrators, local Tibetan businessmen, and residents. An
estimated 120,000 Tibetans live in India, and approximately
7,000-8,000 Tibetans are believed to be living in North Bengal
and Northeast India. A sizeable portion of them reside in the
Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in North Bengal.
3. (U) On March 29, ConOff attended an enthronement ceremony
for a U.S.-born Third Reincarnation of the Domogeshi Rinpoche,
four-year-old Lobsang Jigme Wangchuk, at Samten Choling
Monastery in the town of Ghoom. Samten Choling is one of the
Tharpacholing monasteries run by the Yellow Sect, a Tibetan
Buddhist Sect that is historically allied with the Dalai Lama.
The young Third Reincarnation was located in Brooklyn in 2006
after a search organized by Yellow Sect leaders. (Note: The
previous/second reincarnation, Kyabje Domo Geshe Rinpoche, was
taken prisoner by the Chinese and released in 1961 after
repeated requests from the GOI. After his exile from Tibet, the
Second Rinpoche moved to India and worked with the Dalai Lama.
The Second Rinpoche passed away in 2001. End note.) The
enthronement was attended by around 500 local Tibetans and a
dozen Western followers of the Second Reincarnation.
4. (U) On March 31, at Gaden Chholing Gumba monastery in nearby
Pedong, a competing Yellow Sect faction scuffled with Lobsang
Wangchuk's followers over his enthronement claim. While 300
Wangchuk supporters tried to enter the monastery to enthrone
him, the rival group claimed that the true successor was Tenzing
Jigme Dhendup, who had already been enthroned elsewhere and whom
the Dalai Lama supposedly had blessed. Police were called out
to enforce a court order obtained by Dhendup's supporters
preventing Wangchuk's followers from entering the monastery and
holding an enthronement ceremony, and Wangchuk's enthronement
did not take place.
5. (U) There are a number of Tibetan monasteries in North
Bengal, providing communal bases for local Tibetans to share
news and discuss current events, including the recent crackdown
by the Chinese government in Tibet. Information about the
situation in China spreads more effectively now because of the
presence of cell phones and other communication technologies.
Tibetans around Darjeeling were quite aware of the unrest and
expressed support for their kin. There were also general
feelings of frustration with the GOI for not taking a harder
stance with China.
Registering Protest
--------------
6. (SBU) A number of protests in the region have been organized
by the Tibetan Solidarity Movement (TSM),a body supported by
the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, to draw attention to the Tibet
situation. On March 20, around 200 Tibetans left Darjeeling en
route to the Nathu-La India-China border crossing in Sikkim,
intending to express their support for Tibetans against China.
They were stopped by Indian police, however, at the West
Bengal-Sikkim border. In response, the Tibetan marchers began a
hunger strike. The Secretary of the Sangag Choling Monastery
(Dali Gonpa) in Ghoom, Ngawang Tenzin Gyatso (please protect),
told ConOff that the hunger strike lasted for three days until
the Dalai Lama sent word that it was not necessary to continue.
Further marches and demonstrations of support are planned in the
coming weeks.
KOLKATA 00000116 002.2 OF 002
7. (U) On March 31, the West Bengal and Sikkim sub-committee of
the TSM organized a protest march in Siliguri, and made a
five-point charter of demands. These included: 1)sending a
fact-finding international delegation to Lhasa for inquiry into
the March 14 massacre, 2)allowing "free" media to report in
Tibet, 3)immediate medical assistance for the victims, 4)release
of detained Tibetans in Lhasa, and 5)free movement of people to
and from Tibet.
Self-Help Under Government-in-Exile
--------------
8. (U) Post spoke with staff at the Tibetan Self-Help Center
(TSC) in Darjeeling. The Tibetan Government-in-Exile funds the
organization and the more than 600 employees describe themselves
as "Tibetan government bureaucrats." They provided a list of
over a dozen Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the TSC's regional
area of responsibility as well as contacts to other regional
Tibetan Self-Help Centers in Kalimpong and Sonada in North
Bengal. They stressed that the contacts were only for Tibetan
Buddhists, and that many other Buddhist monasteries exist in the
region.
Minority Woes
--------------
9. (U) Almost every Tibetan that ConOff spoke with stressed
that Tibetans have no voice in local politics in the region.
They lack voting rights, are a minority in the majority-Nepali
community, and say they are left to the whims of the Nepali
community agenda. The Tibetans say they support Gorkha Janmukti
Morcha (GJMM) leader Bimal Gurung - who is demanding a
Gorkhaland state - because they lack any other options and
because he is immensely popular among the region's Nepalis
(reftel).
10. (SBU) Gurung's call for a separate state of Gorkhaland is
likely to continue until the government relents. Former Chief
of the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC) Subhas Ghising no
longer enjoys popular support and even local Tibetans feel
Gurung may be less corrupt and provide better services for the
people than Ghising did. Ngawang Tenzin Gyatso observed that
Gurung's men had pressured Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in the
area to provide support for the recent strikes in Darjeeling for
the Gorkhaland cause. The religious institutions were reluctant
to become involved in politics, but could not refuse.
11. (U) ConOff witnessed the presence of GJMM everywhere --
from small, isolated, mountainside hamlets to downtown
Darjeeling. Carnival style party flags were strung across the
streets and from building to building. Most private houses were
also flying larger individual party flags. Posters declaring
"We Condemn 6th Schedule" and other pro-GJMM graffiti were
ubiquitous throughout the region. (Note: Ghising had advocated
6th Schedule, or spQial tribal status, for Gorkhas in
Darjeeling, which was rejected by the GJMM and local Nepalis.)
While less prevalent, there were also large posters of Gurung in
Darjeeling. In April, GJMM captured the leadership of the local
municipality from Ghising's Gorkha National Liberation Front
(reftel).
12. (U) Comment: While current events in Tibet are
overshadowing the in-fighting among Tibetans in eastern India,
the standoff between rival Yellow Sect factions may require
intervention from higher-ups in the Tibetan Buddhist structure
to resolve. As in other parts of India, Tibetans appear to
remain outside the political structure, and in N. Bengal they
may get caught up in the growing Gorkhaland call. Bimal Gurung,
assisted by GJMM secretary Roshan Giri who is rumored to have
links to the Maoists in Nepal as well as the criminal
underground, is perceived as a ruthless and tough player. Over
the past few months, a series of strikes supporting Gorkhaland
calls were enforced by the GJMM even though some businessmen and
organizations were unenthusiastic. Until a solution to the
Gorkhaland demand arrives, instability will likely continue and
Tibetans will be caught up in the political situation in
Darjeeling.
SURAMPUDI