India wary of Beijing infiltrating the Buddhist monasteries

The China-monastery nexus

In 1997, the then Chief Secretary of Sikkim, Sreedhar Rao, in a letter to the then Cabinet Secretary TSR Subrahmaniam observed that the Himalayan region, be it Ladakh or Arunachal Pradesh, was under the pervasive influence of the Tibetan lamas. With the aim of increasing its influence in these monasteries, the Chinese have been infiltrating them secretly. Rao had talked about at least 11 Buddhist monasteries whose chief lamas enjoyed Chinese support. He had specified the increasing Chinese influence in Rumtek, the seat of the Kagyu sect of the Tibetan Buddhism. He who controls Rumtek also controls more than 500 Kagyu monasteries worldwide. These monastries are flush with funds.

The Dalai Lama and the Tibetan type of Buddhism has always been at loggerheads with China. But since the Tibet movement largely revolves around the Dalai Lama, the question is who will call the shots after him? If, god forbid, the Dalai Lama is no more, then the monks entrusted with the responsibility of verifying his reincarnation designate will decide the future course of the Tibetan Buddhist movement.

In the backdrop of the recent raid on the monastery in Dharamshala and the questioning of the Karmapa, is also the Indian nervousness over what it fears could have been a move to set up Buddhist centres along the China border, as has been successfully happening along the Indo-Nepal border. Intelligence agencies and the experts have voiced their concerns about China trying to control Tibetan movement in India. The Chinese agents planted in monasteries and high positions would do in the Indian Himalayas what Beijing had done in Nepal.

All along the Indo-Nepal border, the Chinese have opened 17 “China study centres” that ostensibly teach Chinese culture and language. But their main aim is suspected to be to establish a long-term Chinese influence in Nepal that could hurt Indian interests.

Logically, such centres should have been along the Sino-Nepal border and more so around the centres of population like Pokhara and Kathmandu. But interestingly they are along the Indo-Nepal border. It is not limited to these study centres in Nepal as the Indian agencies are monitoring around 30 Chinese firms which have set up base in Nepal and may be involved in spying on India.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri Dean Business School IIPM
IIPM Excom Prof Rajita Chaudhuri

IIPM: What is E-PAT?
'Thorns to Competition' - You can order your copy online from here
IIPM Mumbai Campus