IIIIIIIII Date: 26.05.02
A Statement regarding the contempt of the Court by the so called Denzong Lhadey Tsogpa on the 15th of March and the law and order problems created by the same group from the 3rd of April and which is still going on.

The Rumtek Controversy has been going on for nine years now and people have been fed with a lot of lies and rumours regarding the Controversy. Here I would like to throw some light on the background of this Controversy, so that the general public can get a clear picture of what is really happening behind the closed curtains.

This time, the so-called Denjong Lhadey Tsogpa of Sikkim tried and is still trying their best to stop the inventorisation of the properties of Rumtek Monastery from proceeding any further. They contempt the Court order and they are the ones who ambushed the Rumtek Monastery on the 2nd of August 1993. This only goes on to show that maybe, they have stolen the antiques from the Monastery and have already shared the money received for them. This is the same group that brought Urgyen Thrinlay from Tibet to India by deceiving the Chinese Government. It is very clear that they are just trying to cover up the theft by bringing him to Rumtek. He will be used for sometimes and then sent back to China via Taiwan, so as to disguise the truth in such a way that the people will start doubting him and will put the blame on him instead. They are using Urgyen Thrinlay's life just for their own benefits. They appointed him when he was a baby just to sell him for money and when things didn't work out as was planned; they made him a Tibetan Refugee in India.

Now, they are even plotting to try and attack the Judge along with the Commissioner as well as the Honorable Court, all because of the fact that they are extremely desperate. The moment the Inventory starts, it will bring about the fall of so many prominent people along with some bureaucrats from the Home Ministry and the Ecclesiastical Department of the Government of Sikkim.

I proposed to Urgyen Thrinlay Dorje last year, that the two Karmapas should meet and compromise between themselves to try and solve this controversy in the most peaceful way. But then, the Joint Action Committee was so nervous about the outcome of the meeting that they interfered and disturbed the proposal by saying that there cannot be two Karmapas. This is rather strange because the Joint Action Committee stands in no position to say something like this when Urgyen Thrinlay himself didn't say a word. This is all because of the solid truth that if the two Karmapas meet, then the Committee's ugly character and the thefts committed by it will be laid bare. In fact, the members of Denjong Lhadey Tsogpa, Joint Action Committee and the All Buddhist Association of Sikkim are made up of the Four Political Families of Sikkim, namely, the Lharipa, Martang Topden, Kunzang Sherab and Passang Namgyal families together with some other families related to them, all of whom are under the payroll of Situ Rinpoche's partner Mr. Chen Lu An of Taiwan. The members of these four families and their relatives constitute to form the aforesaid parties and they just wear different masks so as to confuse and prolong the Inventory. And also, the Government of Sikkim, through the Chief Minister, Mr. P.K. Chamling, announced during a public gathering on the 15th of March, 2002 that the Government of Sikkim recognizes Urgyen Thrinlay Dorje as the Holder of His Holiness the late 16th Gyalwa Karmapa's seat in Rumtek. Well, the question that arises here is, does the Government of Sikkim hold any position in the Karma Kagyu Lineage that is almost 900 years old? The Sikkimese Government seriously violated the law of a Secular Nation by interfering in the religious affairs of the Karma Kagyu Lineage.

This ambitious group of people even tried to mislead the Commissioner by telling him that the items listed in the Inventory, cannot be touched by anyone other than the Karmapa himself, but this is completely fictitious and baseless. After the late 16th Karmapa passed away in 1981, the caretakers with the help of late Jamgon Kongtrul Rinpoche, opened the boxes and even cleaned the Vajra Crown by Jamgon Kongtrul's own hands - some of the caretakers who assisted him are still alive. When Situ Rinpoche produced the so-called authentic prediction letter of the late Karmapa for the recognition of Urgyen Thrinlay as the Karmapa, We, the Four Rinpoches, along with the authorized caretakers, opened the main treasure box and removed the personal 'Gau'(relics box) of the late Karmapa that contains the holy relics. Then we put the letter in that Gau and put it back in the treasure box, which was on the 19th of March 1992. Moreover, in the month of May 1992, Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsab Rinpoche along with the Ecclesiastical Department invited His Holiness Sakya Trichen Rinpoche and opened the treasure box located in the room where the Vajra Crown is kept and took out the precious Gau. Then they opened the Gau, removed the letter and produced the letter for Sakya Trichen Rinpoche to read and even published the letter in the newspapers. Therefore, their claim that the items cannot be touched by anyone else other the Karmapa himself is to mislead the Commissioner by adopting the concept of the religion that believes in untouchables, a concept that never existed in Buddhism.

The Government of Sikkim always blamed the innocent Senior Lamas of Rumtek Monastery by saying that they were causing Law and Order problems in the State. Many a times, they even put the blame on me. Now this time, you see, Tai Situ and Gyaltsab Rinpoche's parties created very serious Law and Order problems by contemning the Honorable court. But the funny thing is, the Sikkimese Government is helping these parties instead of punishing them for causing Law and Order problems in the State. Hundreds of outsiders from Sherabling Monastery in Himachal Pradesh, Bokar Tulku's Monastery in Mirik, together with followers of the Gelugpa Sect, from India and Nepal were and still being brought to Rumtek Monastery with knives and iron rods. A large number of these people are not really Monks but just wearing Monk robes since they are on the pay roll. By preventing the Commissioner together with some other responsible people from entering into Rumtek Monastery and proceeding with the Inventory, these parties are trying their best to cover up the thefts committed by them.

Now, all that is left for us to see is, whether the Home Ministry of the State of Sikkim, will take the side of the thieves and go against the decision of the Honorable Court. Or respect the decision and maintain Law and Order in the State by punishing those responsible for violating them and help the Inventory to proceed without any problems.

Finally, I would like to call upon the Honorable Governor and the General Public of Sikkim to come forward voluntarily and support the Honorable Court's decision. If the decision of the Court is not supported, then the State of Sikkim will become an institution of Gangsters and this contagious disease will be unstoppable and result in turmoil and unrest in the State of Sikkim.

Kunzig Shamarpa