Dharamsala, Feb 2 (PTI) Over 2,000 Tibetans took out a march here today to show their support for Karmapa Ugyen Thinley Dorje who said he has full faith in the Indian law and people will soon know the truth about the recovery of huge foreign currencies from his transit home.
Appearing for the first time before his followers since raids were conducted at the Gyuto monastery, Karmapa said, "There is no need to worry. India, unlike China, is a free country and I have full faith in it. Truth will be uncovered soon."
The Tibetans, including monks and nuns, marched 9 km to reach here from McLeodganj carrying Buddhist flags and portraits of Karmapa. They also chanted slogans and carried posters that read 'Karmapa is innocent. Let truth prevail'.
Meanwhile, the Karmapa's office reiterated that "the (recovered) sum (of over Rs 7.5 crore) represents unsolicited donations that have been made by the followers of the Karmapa from around the world to enable the substantial social and spiritual programmes of the Karma Kagyu order".
His spokespersons Karma Topden and Deki Chungyalpa claimed that Rs 5 crore was taken by the authorities from the monastery and the Karmapa office had sought to acquire
clearance since 2002 to deposit the cash donations under the Foreign Currencies Regulation Act of India.
"Until the necessary permissions are granted, the monastery diligently recorded and stored the currency on its own premises and we are currently in the process of providing this evidence to the authorities," they said in a statement.
Referring to the Chinese currency seized during raids, the statement said the Karmapa has a large and devoted following of Tibetans from Tibet and of Buddhists from the Chinese mainland who make offerings in the Yuan.
"The Yuan found constitutes less than 10 per cent of the cash in question and included currency from over 20 countries. Moreover, the Yuan seized by police include notes ranging from 1 Yuan to larger denominations, clearly indicating that they come from multiple, individual sources." Regarding allegations of improper land deals, the statement said that Karmapa has been hosted in a temporary residence in Dharamsala since 2000 and as the premises belong to another Tibetan Buddhist order, the Karmae Garchen Trust has sought to purchase land and build a new residence and monastery since 2007.
After the Trust identified suitable land in 2010, it informed the office of the district collector of Dharamsala and sought its approval to proceed with the purchase.
"The trust obtained both an essentiality certificate and a no-objection certificate from the Town and Country
Planning Department of the state government, indicating state government approval to proceed with the plans for purchase," they maintained.
The statement also said that Ashutosh and Sanjay, arrested for carrying Rs 1 crore, were acting on behalf of the seller of this land who insisted that the payment be made in cash.
The money was partial payment for this land that had received all necessary preliminary approvals from relevant government departments.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister P K Dhumal said the Himachal government had completed the preliminary probe and send the report to the Centre.
"The Dalai Lama and Karmapa are guests of the Union government and staying in Himachal Pradesh and it is for the Centre to take necessary further action in this regard," he told mediapersons at Palampur.
He reiterated that the Centre should fully reimburse the money spent by the state government on security of the Dalai Lama, Karmapa and other leaders. PTI
