The story below was published last week in Blitz, an Indian Magazine by Bijender Sharma.

>From Bijender Sharma in Dharamsala

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, is facing assassination threats from an extremist Tibetan cult that many believe is fostered and funded by China.

The Dalai Lama is one of 14 top Tibetan leaders on the hitlist of the Dorje Shugden cult, a radical group opposed to the Chinese-occupied country's government-in exile base here. Fears over the Dalai Lama's safety have been heightened following the Feb. 4 knifing to death of Lobsang Gyatso, the principal of the Dharamsala based Tibetan Dialectics Institute (TDI), and two of his students-allegedly by the cult.

In the wake of the triple murder, top Intelligence Bureau officers and senior officials of the External Affairs Ministry came to this sanctuary in the foothills of the Himalayas to review security arrangements for the Dalai Lama. The Indian officials and the Tibetan government-in-exile have chalked out an elaborate plan to protect the Dalai Lama from coming to harm at the hands of the cult, which terms the Nobel Peace Prize winner a political rather than spiritual leader.

The Dorje Shugden cult, also known Gyalchen Shugden, indulges in the worship of a spirit called Dolgyal, a practice that has been frowned upon by the Dalai Lama. The Dalai Lama has stated that the "inclination of this (Dolgyal) spirit is to harm, rather than benefit, the cause of Tibet," but that hasn't stopped the cult from coming into prominence, more so over the past two years.

BLOODY CHINESE HAND EXPOSED

The Tibetan government-in-exile has gone a step further in its criticism of the cult, saying it is "harmful to the personal safety of the Dalai lama" and that ordinary Tibetans could only practice it at the expense of Tibet's national interest. Neutral observers are convinced that the cult is backed, even sponsored, by a Chinese government determined to sow dissent with the ranks of Tibetans and eliminate those at the forefront of the Tibetan struggle for freedom.

The Tibetan government-in-exile has accused China of playing up Dolgyal devotees of "counter the influence of the Dalai Lama and weaken support for Tibet's independence." The cult has offices in, among other places, Italy and Britain, where it operates under the banner of the Shugden Supporters Community. Its Indian headquarters is in Delhi's Manjnu-ka-Tilla area, from where its coordinates the activities of its fundamentalist followers.

The cult has plenty of funds flowing from foreign sources into its account, an aspect which is now under investigation by Indian intelligence agencies. Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh police has, in a confidential report to central intelligence agencies called for "close and strict surveillance of Dorje Shugden followers residing in Delhi and Banglore," where the majority of Tibetan refugees outside of Dharamsala reside.

Sources in the Tibetan government-in-exile allege that the priority for Dorje Shugden activists is to encourage violence and tension between locals in Dharamsala and Tibetan refugees with the objective of undermining the Dalai Lama's spiritual and temporal authority. Cult members are the prime suspects in the murder of TDI principal Gyatso - the most vocal of those opposed to the cult - and his two students.

Gyatso, a close confidant of the Dalai Lama, was warned some time back by the cult through a letter sent from its Delhi headquarters. Gyatso had been on a visit to Hong Kong last month and on his arrival in Delhi, security personnel noticed some suspicious looking men at the airport.

Now thought to be the killers, they followed Gyatso to Dharamsala in an Ambassador car hired at the Delhi airport. They then used another car to make getaway after brutally murdering the professor and two of his students. The state police thinks the killers are now hiding in the Tibetan settlement in Bangalore. Jamphel Yeshi, the president of a body representing Dorje Shugden believers, is seen by the police as the key man in the case. The police have also arrested a suspect whose confessional statement is expected to provide the leads that will help unravel the conspiracy behind the triple murder. The suspect, only known as Kelshan, was, according to highly placed sources, paid Rs. 10,000 in Delhi recently to incite local Indians against Tibetan settlers.

The strategy of the cult seems to be two-pronged: elimination of all staunch Dalai Lama disciples and the provoking of clashes that would drive a wedge between locals and refugees. Among the 14 prominent religious leaders believed to be on the cult's hit-list are Prof. Samdhong Rimpoche, the speaker of the Tibetan Assembly and two ministers in the government-in-exile. Rimpoche has already been provided with extra security, as have been the others under threat.

Protecting the Dalai Lama, though, is the priority. On the advice of Indian intelligence agencies orders have been placed for the immediate installation of sophisticated security equipment at the Dalai Lama's palace. It has been decided to replace the barbed wire fencing around the palace with a nine-foot high wall. Sources have told BLITZ that the screening of Tibetans working inside the palace has also begun. Special passes are being issued to the palace staff and authorities have placed a Special Frontier Force unit comprising Tibetans on alert. Additionally, the External Affairs Ministry considering buying a bullet-proof Mercedes car for the Tibetan leader.

The costs for the extra security which is expected to cost Rs 6 crore, will be borne by the Centre. The Dalai Lama is presently on a pathbreaking six-day "private visit" to Tawain, a tour that is guaranteed to further antagonise Chinese authorities, bringing together as it does Beijing's twin adversaries.