Wednesday, the International Campaign for Tibet released a statement expressing disapproval of protestors from the International Shugden Community. The protestors were demonstrating against the Dalai Lama while he was attending the National Prayer Breakfast with President Obama.
Shugden worshippers have long claimed that they have been subjugated by the Dalai Lama, and the issue has received increased attention in recent days in light of Newsweek‘s recent story on the Dalai Lama, “Relentless: The Dalai Lama’s Heart of Steel,” which addressed the controversy.
The International Campaign for Tibet’s statement alleges “the way group has been denigrating the Dalai Lama is an affront to the Tibetan people and is causing great damage to the broader Tibetan issue.” It goes on to posit that “If the Shugden demonstrators are genuinely concerned about religious intolerance and persecution of the Tibetan people, they will serve the cause better by working to alleviate the plight of the Tibetans in Tibet, rather than focusing on their parochial interest.”
Read the whole statement, here. For more information, Columbia University professor and Tibet House co-founder Robert Thurman has dissected the International Shugden Community’s claims on the Huffington Post, here and here.
