Gyalwang Karmapa Investigation Affects McLeod Ganj By Rebekah Murphy On Thursday 27 January 2011, the Himanchal Pradesh Police raided Gyoto Tantric monastery where the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorjee is temporarily residing. This raid is the result of the arrest of Ashutosh and Sanjay Dutt the day before. They were arrested by Himanchal Pradesh police after recovering Rs. 1 crore in their vehicle. During the raid Rabgay Choesang, also known as Shakti Lama, was arrested in connection to the recovery of foreign currency worth under Rs. 5 crore (USD 1 million). These individuals are being held in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, which replaced the Foreign Exchange Regulatory Act on 1 June 2000. Central Agencies including the Enforcement Directorate, the
Intelligence Bureau, the Research and Analysis Wing and the Income Tax Department are currently conducting investigations into the sources of this money and for what purpose it would be used. The investigation is currently still underway. Many sources, including articles from the Times of India and CNN-IBN, have questioned the presence of Chinese Yuan among the foreign currencies, making unsupported claims that the Gyalwang Karmapa is a Chinese spy due to the presence of Chinese currency in the recovered monies. Chinese Yuan were present among the foreign currencies alongside Japanese Yen, US Dollars, Australian Dollars, Thai Baht, and other foreign currencies. Gyalwang Karmapa’s office stress that the source of the (continued on page 4)
Obama Hosts Hu during US Visit By Gretchen Stiteler On Tuesday, 18 January 2011, Chinese President Hu Jintao was greeted with a ceremonial 21-gun salute upon his arrival for a four-day state visit to the US. President Hu’s itinerary included a private dinner with US President Barack Obama on 18 January; a series of meetings followed by a joint press conference on 19 January; a formal state dinner – the first such ceremony held for a Chinese president in 14 years –the evening of 19 January; meetings with members of the US House and Senate the morning of 20 January; and a trip to President Obama’s hometown of Chicago 20 through 21 January. The summit of the two economic superpowers was much anticipated by the global community especially with regard to China’s human rights record. Hundreds of protestors representing Tibet, Taiwan, Falun Gong, and Uyghurs rallied outside of the White House during President Hu’s visit. As
the two leaders held their scheduled press conference on 19 January, protestors held their own conference outside. President of the World Uyghur Congress Rebiya Kadeer summarized the protestors’ collective belief that “President
Obama can make great change by speaking out on human rights issues. We all believe that Obama will not disappoint the hopes and dreams of millions of people suffering under Chinese rule.” (continued on page 5)