Mother of late Tulku Hungkar Dorjee passes away months after his suspicious death in Vietnam 

By Tenzin Chokyi

DHARAMSALA, 13 May: Grief has claimed the life of a prominent Tibetan religious figure, late Tulku Hungkar Dorjee’s mother, after her son died under suspicious circumstances in Vietnam while escaping Chinese persecution in late March. 

Dukar Dolma, the mother of Tulku Hungkar, passed away on 6 May around 5 pm local time at her residence near the Lung Ngon monastery in Golok, Amdo, occupied Tibet, after a prolonged illness brought on by grief. She was 85, according to a Tibetan news media outlet, Tibet Times. 

Reliable sources from occupied Tibet have told the Tibet Times that  Dukar Dolma became ill and her health deteriorated significantly due to grief, approximately three months after the disappearance of the late Tulku, who was reportedly hiding in Vietnam to escape the Chinese crackdown on Tibetan educators and their institutions.  

According to the report, she consulted a doctor at a hospital in Xining and received treatment for more than three months. However, due to recent worries, her health became very critical. The report noted that her health did not see any improvement from the treatments, and about ten days ago, she returned to her hometown in Golok, where she reportedly passed away.  

In January, the late Rinpoche is said to have sent a symbolic letter to his mother, in which he portrayed China as a hunter and himself as the prey being chased. Through this metaphor, he conveyed how he had been compelled to leave behind his monastery, students, and followers. He also suggested that, despite fleeing a great distance, the hunter was still on his trail and that his capture appeared imminent.

Two months later, on 28 March, Tulku Hungkar — the abbot of Lung Ngon Monastery and a prominent advocate for the poor and for Tibetans living under Chinese occupation — was reportedly executed in Vietnam in a joint operation carried out by Vietnamese police and Chinese authorities.

Until then, he had been living in Vietnam, seeking refuge after years of reported harassment and repression by Chinese officials in occupied Tibet. His strained relationship with the Chinese state was said to have originated from his founding of several monasteries and schools for Tibetan nomadic children, institutions that operated independently of government control

His refusal to formally receive the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu, during a visit to the Golog region in August last year has drawn further scrutiny from authorities.

 Notwithstanding the international scrutiny against the unexplained death of the Tulku in Vietnam, both the Chinese and Vietnamese governments have maintained their steadfast silence on the matter.

Furthermore, five monastic representatives from Lungon Monastery who travelled to Vietnam to retrieve his body were only briefly allowed to view his face on April 10. Just ten days later, on 20 April his body was reportedly cremated around 1 a.m. local time without the consent of his family or monastery.