China’s government announced last week that it is planning new restrictions on Tibetan Buddhists by requiring that all reincarnated lamas, or tulkus, must have Beijing’s approval.
“The measures, which are deliberately targeted at one of the core belief systems of Tibetan Buddhism, reveal the Party's agenda to undermine and supplant the Tibetan religious hierarchy and weaken the authority of legitimate Tibetan religious leaders including the Dalai Lama,” according to the human rights group International Campaign for Tibet.
“These stringent new measures strike at the heart of Tibetan religious identity,” said Lodi Gyaltsen Gyari, special envoy of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader. “They will only create further resentment among the Tibetan people and cannot override the Party's lack of legitimacy in the sphere of religion.”
Also In This Edition
The government measures were announced by Beijing’s State Administration for Religious Affairs. They stipulate that reincarnations of "living Buddhas" who do not have government approval are "illegal or invalid." The pronouncement intended to convey that the Tibetan system of recognizing and educating reincarnated lamas is no longer relevant because it is the government that decides whether a reincarnation is a legitimate religious figure or not.
China continues to hold in custody Gendun Choekyi Nyima, a boy recognized by the Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama, as part of its efforts to prevent Tibetans from freely practicing their faith.
