Dorje Shug Den Press Releases
Dorje Shug Den Press Releases
Dorje Shug Den Press Releases
Contact: Geshe Konchok Gyaltsen, Dorje Shugden Society House No 105, Old Tibetan Camp Majnu Ka Tilla, Delhi-54 Phone: (91) 11-23921169, Mobile:(91) 9910262029 Mail: [email protected], www.shugdensociety.info
www.shugdensociety.info
In response to such charges, the Indian Minister of External Affairs announced in November 2007 that it would formally investigate Shugden followers claims of discrimination against them by the Tibetan Government in Exile. The Dorje Shugden Society on Feb. 22 petitioned the Indian government for additional protection following the referendum that has denied material and spiritual resources to Shugden monks. Three days later, on Feb. 25, an estimated 200 local Indian police took up positions to protect the peace during an annual prayer festival at Sera monastery at Bylakupee in South India. The monks were forced to stay outside the monastery, where prayers were recited, but no violence was reported. Some of the monks at this monastery who practice Dorje Shugden crossed the rugged Himalayas into India with the Dalai Lama. They were his personal bodyguards. Now elderly, many are distraught by these latest actions against Shugden followers, experiencing a second exile, this time among their own people. Where are all living beings? asked one Shugden follower in an email sent to supporters outside the country. Where are peace, harmony, tolerance, and compassion that Tibetan Lamas talk and teach to the West? The Tibetan Government in Exile has issued a statement saying it will provide allotments to the repudiated monks and facilities if necessary. Concerns are growing among the followers that actions that shun Shugden devotees will not stop there, but will come to include residents of the 35 settlements offered Tibetan people under terms with the Tibetan Government in Exile. The Tibetan Government in Exile is calling for similar referendums in Tibet, and in Nepal, which has 10 settlements, and in Bhutan, which has seven. The Shugden Society hopes that attention to the Indian issue will protect the religious freedom of Shugden monks and their followers in these other nations.
www.shugdensociety.info
"Not to have any relation with those venerating Lord Shugden" is now being implemented in these monasteries as a complete social segregation. Those who remained non-convertable besides such drastic measures are now declared as 'unclean', 'traitors to the Tibetan cause', 'enemies of the Dalai Lama', and receive the treatment of an outcast society. Without the identity card for example, it is now impossible in Sera monastery to attend common prayers or to buy goods in the monastery shop. The 'unclean' ones have effectively been singled out, are now ostracized in every-day life, and religious Apartheid finally seems to be reality. Such words, such swearings, and such proceedings are unprecedented in Tibetan history. They do in no way correspond to a Buddhist way of life. As Tibetans, we are ashamed to see this happening in the name of our most cherished people, beloved country, and precious history.
www.shugdensociety.info News & Press Releases, 2008-03-01 3