Bandi Sanjay Kumar, India’s Minister of State for Home Affairs, and others in a delegation visit the Dalai Lama on 14 February 2025, at Bylakuppe. It is the day on which PM Modi met President Trump. Karnataka Home Minister Dr. G. Parameshwara, (not seen in this photo) also met the Dalai Lama. Sikyong Penpa Tsering “President” of CTA also was present. (Photo: Tenzin Choejor | Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama). After about 5 weeks of stay here, the Lama was finally back home in Dharamshala on Feb 21.
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar arrived from Hyderabad and visited the Bylakuppe Tibetan settlement in Karnataka Feb 14. He reportedly “sought the blessings of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, who is currently recuperating, from a knee replacement surgery” (for which he was specially flown to USA in June 2024), in Bylakuppe. Karnataka Home Minsiter was also present. But why two Home Ministers, why in Bylakuppe? And why now? “Amid heightened security concerns, the Centre has now granted the Dalai Lama Z-category armed protection” (DD News). Thus it is clear it was not merely for blessings. Security concerns? Media stories were floated slyly suggesting threat from China, which is part of the disinformation by Indian agencies, in alliance with the USA. Dalai Lama has been safe in India for over six decades, despite India-China conflicts. The developments come even as Biden passed a new Resolve Tibet Act with bipartisan support. President Trump is in a hurry, re-orienting the American foreign policy, but continues hostility towards China. Part-1 of this article, together with a few photos, seeks to look into some of the intriguing issues involved. Part 2 will discuss other issues, including…Biden signs ‘Resolve Tibet Act,’ passed with bi-partisan support, while Dalai Lama was in USA. Modi-led India continues subservience to the global hegemonic strategy of USA in the Trump era.
First about Bylakuppe..it is situated 80km from Mysore and near Coorg, is the birth (in 1967) place of Penpa Tsering, “elected” in May 2021 as Sikyong (President of CTA -Central Tibetan Administration, or Tibetan govt-in-exile). Like his predecessor Lobsang Sangay, he was groomed by USA and India. He served as North America Representative of the Dalai Lama, and as the executive director at the Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre (TPPRC) in Delhi. US officials, including the co-ordinator for Tibetan Affairs, Maria Otero, an Under-secretary of State , in 2011, had visited Bylakuppe. But Chinese, even mediapersons, were never allowed.
The title of Sikyong (President) was created in 2012 after the 14th Dalai Lama decided not to assume any political and administrative authority as the head of CTA, though he wields de-facto authority. The very existence of CTA, ie., Govt-in-exile (with Ministries of Home, Information etc) is a brazen violation of international law, and UN principles, and is wielded by those who speak of a “Rules-based” world order. It is funded and sustained by agencies of USA and the West besides India, their instrument to play anti-China politics, and is deemed a political successor to Dalai Lama.
Why now? Next elections for CTA are due in 2026, and Tsering currently visited Bylakuppe, the largest Tibetan settlement outside Tibet, attended some “official” functions, inaugurations, and claimed achievements of his administration. Bylakuppe is a place where factions (like Shugden cult, that made charges of corruption) opposed to the Dalai Lama had thrived. Tsering, emphasised the CTA’s Middle Way Approach as the “official” policy for seeking a peaceful resolution to the Sino-Tibetan conflict. However, with stints in the “Tibetan Freedom Movement,” and with a double-tongue, he provocatively says “we are in exile because of China’s illegal occupation of Tibet.”
The Dalai Lama is accompanied by his physiotherapists, and is largely spending his time resting, exercising and going for walks, starofmysore.com reported, Feb 14, 2025, after a visit by its reporters.
“Amid heightened security concerns, the Centre has now granted the Dalai Lama Z-category armed protection. The Union Home Ministry has directed the VIP security wing of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to take charge of his security nationwide. Previously, he was under the protection of the Himachal Pradesh Police, with additional security provided during travel to Delhi or other locations. Following a Central intelligence review, he will now be safeguarded by a dedicated team of around 30 CRPF Commandos working in shifts.”
*** ***
Bylakuppe, a CTA centre of intrigue by Dalai Lama and his supporters
“Heavy security has been deployed around the imposing Tashi Lhunpo monastery where Dalai Lama (who inaugurated it in 2016) is currently staying. A posse of 300 policemen have been posted at the monastery and outsiders cannot just walk into the monastery.”
It is only one of such monasteries, nunneries and other institutions, built in and by India. Often they are replicas of those in China’s Tibet.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration, i.e., the illegal parallel “govt-in-exile” allowed by India for decades in Dharamshala of Himachal Pradesh, was on his “official” visit to Karnataka’s Bylakuppe, visiting the “Tibetan Local Justice Commission,” monasteries, schools, community institutions etc. He conveyed his greetngs to President Trump.
Bylakuppe currently houses 70,000 Tibetans, including monks, who study and live in the seven monasteries located in the area. “The Dalai Lama is visiting Bylakuppe after a gap of seven years,” for a rather long stay, reported thefederal.com, 14 Jan 2025. After weeks of stay here, the Lama was finally back home in Dharamshala on Feb 21.
The Tibetans were initially given 3,504 acres of forest land by the Mysore government in 1961 by the then Chief Minister S Nijalingappa, for their rehabilitation and resettlement, on which they had to cultivate and also build their homes, schools, hospitals and monasteries.
“Today, there are more than 70,000 Tibetan refugees living in India for the past six decades in ten states and two Union Territories. In Karnataka alone, they are located in five settlements spread over nearly 15,000 acres.”
The Hans India News Service, accompanied Bandi Sanjay from Hyderabad, and reported, 14 Feb 2025)
“ Bandi Sanjay held a meeting with the Dalai Lama’s representatives, local officials, and Buddhist monks to address their concerns. Many Tibetans who arrived in India in 1950 still do not possess Aadhaar cards, leading them to request the establishment of a special Aadhaar centre in the region. They also sought proper compensation for land lost due to road expansion projects; and that Tibetan farmers in Bylakuppe be included in Karnataka’s welfare schemes, which provide financial assistance to local farmers. They expressed that compared to Indian citizens, they face significant restrictions when travelling abroad and inviting relatives to India.”
The above shows that notwithstanding Tibet being raked up by America and the media, Tibetan exiles in India are reconciled to their plight in India:
Among those octogenarians the Dalai Lama met is one Thinley, who was just 12 years old when he accompanied the Dalai Lama, when the latter fled to India in 1959 from Tibet, still clings to the hope that His Holiness will also take him back to his “homeland”. “I was born in Tibet and I miss my home”, he told The Federal through an interpreter. A wish echoed by 33-year-old Tsering Palden, born and brought up in India, manager of an Old Age Home in Bylakuppe: “everything depends on the Dalai Lama… Meanwhile, we are doing our work here, cultivating our fields…”
However, every now and then, some false hopes are sought to be raised. Some of them are in search of greener pastures in the West, as we see below, like sections of Indians are. The Trump regime dampens their hopes.
*** ***
Who will be the next Dalai Lama? How a religious belief became an issue of political contention
Times of India, Aug 22, 2024, reported:
“Before Lama’s trip to US, a group of US lawmakers met Dalai Lama in India and told him that they would not allow China to influence the choice of his successor.”
It indicates interference by USA together with India in China’s internal affairs. In both countries, the policies have bi-partisan support of ruling classes.
This question reportedly came up in Bylakuppe, and it “dominates the minds of many exiled Tibetans is who will be the Dalai Lama’s successor. Jigme Tsultrim, chief representative, Central Tibetan Administration (CAB) or the Tibetan government in exile, and who is the spokesperson for the Tibetan settlements in south India, told The Federal in Bylakuppe that the official stand from CAB is clear:
“People in Tibet are still very much committed to the Dalai Lama despite his six-decade long absence,” he claimed and said: “The final word will come from the Dalai Lama. According to Dalai Lama’s visions, he has publicly declared that he will live till he is 110 years(!)” Now he is aged 88 plus. They are confident that “the Dalai Lama will give instructions on what is to be done before he passes.”
The Tibetans have the idea of identifying rebirths of previous spiritual leaders in their next life as a young child…This is a very unusual idea among Buddhists, because Buddha discouraged attempts to find out about your previous life…though it’s not prohibited…Tibetan Buddhism is the only branch, a minority, that has this idea of reincarnations, according to some experts.
The Dalai Lama in 2019 stated, while talking about his successor, that after his death he is likely to be reincarnated in India…thus a religious belief became an issue of political contention : Seeking to exploit it in their favor, the US and India have been insisting that China should have no role in it. Traditionally Beijing had to approve that.
There were reports that USA was keenly interested in the “re-incarnation” of the next Dalai Lama, and that there have been consultations with India on the subject. The sangh pariwar too held conventions and recommended India must have a strong role in it.
It was in that context that a US Congressional delegation, and the notorious anti-China leader Nancy Pelosi, had in June 2024 visited Delhi and Dharamshala, met Modi and other authorities including the Foreign Minister and Ajit doval, the NSA chief who had headed the RAW earlier. In the next few days the Dalai Lama was flown to USA. It was ostensibly for his knee replacement, though excellent facilities were available in India, and in Delhi itself. Hundreds of people from USA and the west come to India and get their knee treatments.
The CTA spokesman added: In 2023, the Chinese government had said “all reincarnated Tibetan living Buddhas, including Dalai Lamas and Panchen Rinpoches, must be looked for within the country (ie, China), decided through the practice of lot-drawing from the golden urn, and receive approval from the (China’s) central government”.
Dorjee Rinpoche, who felt this is a “worrying” issue, said he is concerned that China should not take over the decision of naming the next Dalai Lama like they did with the Panchen Lama, the second highest spiritual authority.
Curiously they see a decisive role for the USA and India, as Brahma Chellaney suggested, as noted above:
“President Joe Biden should take the opportunity presented by the Dalai Lama’s knee treatment to fulfill a 2020 campaign promise to meet with the Dalai Lama. More broadly, the US should work with India to devise a multilateral strategy to counter Xi’s plan to capture the more than 600-year-old institution of the Dalai Lama. This must include efforts to persuade the Dalai Lama to spell out, once and for all, the rules that must be followed to identify his successor.” The “opportunity” indeed was a created one.
Back in 1995, the Dalai Lama had recognised six-year-old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama, but this choice was rejected by the Chinese government, which took the boy into custody.
“We don’t want China to name the 15th Dalai Lama,” firmly asserted Tenzing Dorjee. But, he quickly added that he hoped that the current Dalai Lama will live for a long time and the Tibetan issue will be resolved by then.
According to Tibetan poet Tendon Tsundue, this question has to be asked of India. “What is India going to do? The Dalai Lama is a global and important figure but if China decides to fill up the position of the Dalai Lama, will India keep silent? What answer will India then give to the people in the Himalayan regions like Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, etc., as they are all followers of the Dalai Lama? New Delhi is going to have to answer to the people in the Himalayan region,” he said.
Tsundue strongly criticised the fact that people in India support the Palestine issue but completely ignore the plight of their neighbouring country Tibet. Obviously there can be no comparison:
Palestine (PLO) is a member of UN which recognizes it as a political entity, while Tibet is regarded as part of China, also by USA and India, notwithstanding issues harped by the West.
China insists it will choose his successor as Tibet’s chief spiritual leader, and he must be from inside China. That has the Medium of Tibet’s Chief State Oracle contemplating what might come next:
“His Holiness is the fourteenth Dalai Lama, then there will be a fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth,” the medium, known as the Nechung, said. “In countries, leaders change, and then that story is over. But in Tibet it works differently.”
Added to this successor drama is “elections” for CTA to make claims of democracy. Modi-led BJP claims it is opposed to politics of inheritance. But it is only for record. It has leaders associated with many dynasties, bot within BJP and among NDA allies like Deve Gowdas, Chandra Babu, Paswans, Pawars, to name a few. It extends it also to Tibetan exiles in India.
Tibetan Buddhists believe that learned monastics are reincarnated after death as newborns. The Dalai Lama, who is currently recuperating in the United States from a medical procedure, has said he will clarify questions about succession – including if and where he will be reincarnated – around his ninetieth birthday.
Any successor will be inexperienced and unknown on the global stage, it is felt. That has sparked concerns about whether the movement will lose momentum or grow more radical amid heightened tensions between Beijing and Washington, long a source of bipartisan support for the Central Tibetan Administration, or CTA, Tibet’s government-in-exile.
The CTA and its partners in the West, as well as India, which has hosted the Dalai Lama in the Himalayan foothills for more than six decades, are preparing for a future without his influential presence.
The Chinese foreign ministry said in response to Reuters’ questions that it would be open to discussions with the Dalai Lama about his “personal future” if he “truly gives up his position of splitting the motherland” and recognized Tibet as an unalienable part of China.
The People’s Liberation Army marched into Tibet in 1950 and announced its “peaceful liberation.” After a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, a young Dalai Lama fled into exile in India.
Chinese authorities have “tried to insert themselves into the succession of the Dalai Lama but we will not let that happen,” said Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee during his Dharamsala visit.
(Reuters, VOA News 2024, July 6)
Normally these things are all away from media glare, except in such rare occasions as this one. Even now, Big media under-played it, and did not probe why security needed to be enhanced now. And how USA and India are meddling in creating a successor to the Dali Lama, and notably, even before his demise.
*** ***
The folly of the ‘Tibet card’ or ‘Dalai Lama card’, and the new Forward Policy did not yield results. What failed over the last 60 years can not succeed now, experience tells. Many experts are warning against it, like…
Alka Acharya JNU Professor, School of International Studies, and former director, Institute of Chinese Studies, Delhi, had warned in March 2018:
“For this one so-called ‘Tibet card’ that we appear to hold, the Chinese have six in their hand.” And that is all the more dangerous given the volatile and inflammable situation in North-east, aggreavated by the divisive politics of the sangh pariwar.
*** ***
See Part 2 will discuss other issues, including… Biden signs ‘Resolve Tibet Act,’ passed with bi-partisan support, while Dalai Lama was in USA. Modi-led India continues subservience to the global hegemonic strategy of USA in the Trump era.
“Dalai Lama on 2024 Aug 21 had met Biden administration officials in New York City as the India-based Tibetan spiritual leader continues with his effort for Tibetan self-rule,” wion news.com reported August 22.
For more on Dalai Lama’s Bylakuppe visit, see..
https://thefederal.com/category/states/south/karnataka/dalai-lama-visit-to-bylakuppe-166730 (14 Jan 2025)
https://starofmysore.com/vip-politicians-seek-blessings-from-dalai-lama-at-bylakuppe/
*** ***
See for more on Tibet Dalai Lama and related issues, by the author…
Indian Hawks Join Hands With US Vultures Against China ( June 16, 2020).
https://countercurrents.org/2020/06/indian-hawks-join-hands-with-us-vultures-against-china/)
Dalai Lama turns 85 today and 60 years of that he served US imperialism, operating from Indian soil, playing havoc with India-China Relations (06/07/2020)
https://countercurrents.org/2020/07/dalai-lama-turns-85-today
Disinformation, a key instrument of India’s foreign policy in relation to China and Pakistan? (01/07/2023)
Ramakrishnan is a political observer, who contributed to countercurrents.org.
