Respected Buddhist teacher under house arrest in Bhutan

KungaTashi

Respected Buddhist teacher under house arrest in Bhutan
The Buddhist Channel, Feb 3, 2007
http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=40,3674,0,0,1,0

Timphu, Bhutan -- A highly respected Buddhist teacher, HH Shadrung Jigme Ngawang Namgyal Rinpoche (Pema Namgyel, H.H. the 10Th Shabdrung Rimpoche) has been placed under house arrest by the Royal Bhutan government. No reasons were given for his detainment.

As of press time, Pema Namgyel remains in custody on the order of Home Ministry of Bhutan via the Incarnation Commitee, Bhutan Ministry of Culture. According to inside sources within Bhutan, Pema Namgyel has been barred from leaving Bhutan and has also been denied legal recourse.

A furore is being created by Pema Namgyel's students based in Bhutan and India. They have demanded the immediate and unconditional release of their respected teacher.

According to an official statement released by students from the Druk Ngawang Thubten Choling (Buddhist Institute for Higher studies and research), Pema Namgyel, his parents Mr. Tashi Dawa and Mrs. Weshi Wangmo and his oracle, the Choechong Tseurama were invited by HM The King of Bhutan and the Reincarnation Committee for a purported meeting in Timphu.

Pema Namgyel left Druk Ngawang Thubten Choling Monastery in Bodh Gaya, India with his parents, Mr. Tashi Dawa and Mrs. Weshi Wangmo, and the oracle on October 2005. However, since their arrival in Timphu they have been kept under continued government surveillance, and have since been denied permission to leave the Bhutan. They are also denied the rights to have visitors.

Pema Namgyel's students have condemmed the detention as "house arrest without justification of the law."

The student's statement also claimed that government had put the oracle Choechong Tseurama into police custody. The statement further states that Choechong Tseurama is currently held in a Timphu jail, and that his imprisonment violated international law.

The student body have made an urgent appeal to International Human Rights groups to initiate pressure on the government of Bhutan to immediately release Pema Namgyel. They also called for a complete enquiry into the monk's whereabout, the status of his health and reasons for his detention (as well as of his family and the oracle).

The students believe that the issue requires urgent action as they are concerned for the safety of the young monk's life. Any one or groups who wish to take up action to free Pema Namgyel may contact the following:

1) Donald P.Ray Jr.
(student of The 10th Shabdrung Rinpoche Pema Namgyal )
Fax:1-801-346-4790
Phone :974-1-980-327-4387

2) Druk Ngawang Thubten Choling Monastery contact information:
Contact: Khenpo Tsokyi Dorjii, Acting head of the Monastery
Druk Ngawang Thubten Choling
(Buddhist Institute for Higher studies and research)
Post Box:22 Bhagwanpur,Bodhgaya,
Dist.Gaya-824231,Bihar (India)
Tel:91-631-2200653, 2200892
Email:dntcinstitute@yahoo.com

Palzang

This seems to be a political thing. Here's some background info I found on Wikipedia:

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Shabdrung (also Zhabdrung) is the most important tulku lineage in Bhutan, equivalent in many ways to the Dalai Lama lineage of Tibet. The lineage traces through the founder of the country, Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal (b. 1594 -d 1651), who was the first to unify the warring valley kingdoms under a single rule. In Bhutan the Shabdrung is revered as the third most important personality behind Guru Rimpoche and the Buddha.

Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal initiated many important Bhutanese customs including the system of dual government by which power was shared between an administrative leader, the Druk Desi, and a religious leader, the Je Khempo. These offices proved important upon the death of the Shabdrung in 1651 as power effectively passed to them instead of to his son. In order to forestall a dynastic struggle and a return to warlordism, the authorities conspired to keep the death of the Shabdrung secret for 54 years. During this time they issued orders in his name, explained he was on an extended silent retreat, and kept his son under wraps.

Eventually the fiction could no longer be maintained, and the ruling authorities were faced with the problem of succession. An important person such as the Shabdrung, already recognized as a tulku, would be expected to be reincarnated shortly to take control of the country. How could this be prevented? And how could their own power be maintained during a transition? It has been suggested that the Druk Desi and Je Khenpo devised a practical solution, as the Shabdrung was indeed reincarnated, but not as a single person, but as three separate persons -- a body incarnation, a mind incarnation, and a speech incarnation. Despite their efforts at maintaining the power established by the original Shabdrung, the country sank into warring factionalism for the next 200 years.

The body incarnation lineage died out in the mid-18th century, while the mind and speech incarnations of the Shabdrung continued into the 20th century. In 1907 the Bhutanese monarchy was established, with Ugyen Wangchuck, the penlop of Trongsa installed as hereditary king with the support of Britain and against the wishes of Tibet. The royal family suffered from questions of legitimacy in its early years, with the reincarnations of the various Shabdrungs posing a threat. In 1931 when the 6th Shabdrung, Jigme Dorji, made an appeal to Mahatma Gandhi to oust the monarchy, the Shabdrung was assassinated by royalist forces.

In 1962, Jigme Nawang Namgyal (known as Shabdrung Rimpoche to his followers), the last of the Shabdrung incarnations , fled Bhutan for India where he spent the remainder of his life. Up until 2002, Bhutanese pilgrims were able to journey to Kalim pong, just south of Bhutan, to visit with the Master. In April 5, 2003, the Shabdrung died. Some of his followers claim he was poisoned, while Indian newspapers took pains to explain he died after an extended bout with cancer.

This is very curious as one thinks of Bhutan, of all places, as a Buddhist country, but apparently sentient beings are sentient beings wherever you go, and hatred, greed and ignorance rule everywhere. As you can see from the picture, he's only a little boy. Please pray that he will be safe.

Palzang