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DHARAMSHALA
November 15: In an attempt to prevent Tibetans with Chinese Passports to
attend next year’s Kalachakra initiation, the Chinese officials have
started confiscating passports, according to RFA.
The officials have also directed the Tibetans already outside Tibet to
return. Moreover, authorities in Qinghai, Sichuan, and Gansu are collecting
all passports under the pretext of ‘affixing new seal’, says a source.
“They say the passports will be returned once the newly required seals of
township and village authorities are in place,” the source added.
According to another source, many suspect this as an attempt to prevent
Tibetans from travelling to India to attend the Kalachakra in Bodh Gaya.
Notices have been sent to families of those outside the country to report
back or face severe consequences.
According to a third source, a group of Tibetans travelling in Nepal and
India for pilgrimage and to attend the Kalachakra initiation were called
back.
“Their relatives called and told them to return immediately, telling them
that Chinese officials had come to their homes to order their return,” the
source said, adding the officials have warned that the government officials
who had vouched for the passport holders could lose their jobs.
However, those who hold passport with visas for business travel are
exempted from the confiscation drive.
The 34th Kalachakra organized by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA)
is scheduled from January 3-13 next year at Bod Gaya after the cancellation
of the initial scheduled Kalachakra initiation last year. The holy town has
so far hosted the initiation four times – 1974, 1985, 2003 and 2012.
The Kalachakra initiations are considered the epitome of all Buddhist
teachings by Buddhists the world over and are attended by devotees from
around the world as well as Tibetans from inside Tibet.
The Tibetan spiritual leader has given 33 Kalachakra initiations so far
since 1954, the year he gave it the first time at Norbulingka, Tibet. The
last one was held in Ladakh in 2014.
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