US embassy cable - 02KATHMANDU1443

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, Human Rights 
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