Hate posters hit Mcleodganj

Posters threatening to kill the Dalai Lama and Tibetans if they did not leave Himachal Pradesh and India, were today found pasted on some wa...

Posters threatening to kill the Dalai Lama and Tibetans if they did not leave Himachal Pradesh and India, were today found pasted on some walls in Mcleodganj, home to the Tibetan spiritual leader and temporal head.

This is the first time such posters have been spotted here since the Dalai Lama made Mcleodganj his home. Printed in English and circulated by unknown Himachal Liberation Front, the posters used derogatory language against Tibetans in general and Dalai Lama in particular.

Police suspect it is the handiwork of some Hindu organisation or followers of the Shugden cult, which does not see eye to eye with Dalai Lama’s followers.

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The Tibetan government-in- exile considers this a serious development and a calculated attempt to create misunderstanding between Indians and Tibetans, who have been living here for more than five decades.

The Tibetans here are suspicious of Shugden cult followers who, they think, are out to create mistrust and distrust between them and the locals. The cult considers Dalai Lama’s followers enemies; their differences had spilled out a couple of years ago.

Chairman of Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies (Parliament) Toma Jugney said: ‘‘It’s a deliberate attempt to create uncertainty among Tibetans.” In the same breath, he said: ‘‘It’s a sort of propaganda sans truth.’’

Toma Jugney did not rule out the hand of Shugden cult followers in spreading the rumours and creating ill-will against Tibetans, as they did in Kathmandu last month by holding a press conference, alleging the Dalai Lama was engineering terrorism.

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Dharamsala Superintendent of Police Sanjay Kundu said that an inquiry has been started and police have been alerted.

The security for the Dalai Lama, who is not at Mcleodganj now, has been beefed up, he said.

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