CTA issues rebuttal for ANI report on indefinitely postponed Tibetan Religious Leaders Conference

CTA Spokesperson Sonam Norbu Dagpo pictured with CTA President Dr Lobsang Sangay. File Image.

DHARAMSALA, Dec 3: The Central Tibetan Administration, the exile Tibetan Government in exile has issued a rebuttal to a report published by the ANI on the indefinitely postponed 13thTibetan Religious Leaders Conference.

In a statement issued on Dec 1 and made public on Dec 2, the CTA has responded to the ANI report titled ‘13th Tibetan Religious Leaders Conference indefinitely postponed’, dated November 30, filed by Amitabh Mathur, a former advisor on Tibetan affairs to the Government of India.

“The Department categorically cited the sudden demise of the supreme head of the Nyingma tradition, Kathok Getse Rinpoche, who passed away on November 19 this year, in Nepal, and in respecting the sentiments of the followers of Nyingma tradition as the reason,” Sonam Norbu Dagpo, Spokesperson of the CTA reiterated.

The CTA further stated in their clarification that notwithstanding the ANI report, His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said that holding the conference despite the passing of the “very high lama”, the head of Nyingma tradition, the oldest Buddhist tradition as “inappropriate,” while responding to questions from the press at Gaggal airport upon his return from Japan on Nov 25.

The ANI report stated increasing divisions within the Tibetan community, the gap between HHDL’s private office (Gaden Phodrang) and the CTA, uncertainty over the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s attendance to the meeting as well as no certainty about top-level participation from the Nyingma sect among others.

“Any other reason being cited by independent sources are not true and stem from mere speculation,” Dagpo concluded.

The organisers of the conference, the Department of Religion and Culture of the CTA announced on Nov 24, that the ‘13th Religious Conference of the Schools of Tibetan Buddhism and Bon Tradition’ scheduled to take place from November 29 to December 1 in Dharamshala has been indefinitely postponed.

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