Tawang, the normally placid town better known for its spiritual heritage, natural beauty and strategic importance, suddenly found itself at the centre of a bloody incident a few days ago. What appears on the surface to be a “pro-dam versus anti-dam” tussle reveals disturbing undercurrents on close examination.

Lama Nima Wangde, a student at the Tawang monastery, fell to one of the several hundred bullets fired by policemen that also killed one other person and injured at least eight on May 2, 2016. The cops had opened fire without warning and without an official order. The district administration erred by detaining the monk-turned-activist Lama Lobsang Gyatso, general secretary of Save Mon Region Forum (SMRF) under a non-bailable section for the second time within 48 hours. He was first arrested on April 26 on the charge of leading a protest at Gongkhar village, where the six-megawatt Mukto Shakangchu hydel project is coming up, and again on April 28 for defaming Guru Tulku Rinpoche, the abbot of Tawang monastery.

His jailing for 72 hours on flimsy grounds led hundreds of angry supporters to troop into the prison complex and culminated in the tragic turn of events. Despite having four days’ time and intelligence inputs, the administrators failed to respond appropriately. Why were the students of Tawang monastery supporting Lobsang after he was accused of insulting Guru Rinpoche? Is there a design to undermine the Dalai Lama’s authority over Tawang monastery? Media reports may have simplistically reduced this conflagration to an attempt “to silence anti-dam protesters”, but there is more to it.

To better understand this, one must first be familiar with the characters who have locked horns in a power play within and outside the second-oldest Mahayana Buddhist monastery, the Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen or Tawang monastery, as it is popularly known. The seat of the ‘abbot of Gaden Namgyal Lhatsen’ is highly revered. The life of the Monpas, the most populous tribe in Arunachal Pradesh, is delicately interwoven with religion, with the abbot exerting a pervasive influence on their socio-cultural life and, hence, a political influence too.

Amid the hullabaloo, word is out that three of the five secretaries at Tawang monastery are seeking the ouster of Guru Rinpoche; the two who support him are Lama Ngawang Tsering and Lama Dorjee Namgey. It is alleged that the rebel monks — Lama Lobsang Phuntsok, Lama Lobsang Thapkey and Lama Sang Leta — have been aiding Lama Lobsang’s campaign against the political and religious establishments.

The large presence of Gelukpa monks in that emotive, yet unruly May 2 protest could be construed as a rebellion within the monastery, as also an attempt to undermine the Dalai Lama, as the abbot is directly appointed by him. Such a construct is not unfounded, given the threat perception to the life of Guru Rinpoche, who is camping at Dharamsala. Sensing danger, he had earlier moved out of Tawang monastery to take shelter at an Indian army guesthouse. A day later, he left for Bomdila but the local administration expressed its inability to provide security. Guru Rinpoche later tendered his resignation to the Dalai Lama on May 6 but suspense over its status remains.

Ahead of the incidents of May 2, there were rumours that the powerful troika of Pema Khandu, his brother Tsering Tashi and cousin Jambey Tashi who represent the three legislative assembly segments in Tawang district — were miffed with the SMRF after it won a favourable verdict from the National Green Tribunal (NGT). The tribunal had on April 7 suspended the environment clearance granted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest for the Nyamjang Chhu hydropower project in Tawang’s Zemingthang area. There are allegations that the trio had instigated the non-bailable arrests of Lobsang.

Another version doing the rounds is that Guru Rinpoche, during a courtesy call on new chief minister Kalikho Pul on March 11, had agreed to support pro-dam activities. This, in turn, had angered Lama Lobsang and he released an audio clip questioning the Rinpoche’s nationality. This version however has been challenged by both factions. Supporters claim the Rinpoche never gave his assent when Pul had raised the subject; rather, he had sought aid to protect the Tawang monastery against the recurring landslides. Lobsang, on the other hand, said the audio clip was from 2012 when Guru Rinpoche had given a clarion call to monks to stay away from political activities related to the anti-dam movement.

The Panchayati Raj elections in 2013 and the Assembly elections in 2014 were contested on the ‘anti-dam movement’ plank in the Monyal region, comprising Tawang and West Kament districts. The much-venerated monk Tsona Gontse Rinpoche (TGR), who dabbled in electoral politics, was then attempting a comeback after the death of former chief minister Dorjee Khandu, the man who had reduced TGR to a political non-entity. TGR took the anti-dam posture and several monks were reportedly sourced from the Sera Jey Monastic University at Mysore in the build-up to the anti-dam agitations. It was alleged that Lama Lobsang, who had studied at this institute, played an instrumental role in this mobilisation. Though public sentiment was against the dams and the political hegemony of the Khandu family, TGR’s team failed to dent the family’s political fortunes. Today, this family is led by a political greenhorn, Pema Khandu, the eldest son of the late Dorjee Khandu.

A couple of months after the elections, 47-year-old TGR died under mysterious circumstances in New Delhi. It was reported that he had committed “suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan at his sisters’ house in Vasant Kunj, South Delhi”. Thereafter, the mantle fell upon Lama Lobsang to continue the struggle. Apart from the multiple versions and realities, a new conspiracy theory doing the rounds is that of possible Chinese involvement in derailing the Tawang hydro projects, which have a cumulative potential of generating 2,792 MW once commissioned. This theory assumes an added importance given the Dragon’s penchant for Tawang as an integral part of Southern Tibet’s geo-political history. In this evolving discourse of “my views vs your views”, undeniable is the need to investigate this new angle.

Jarpum Gamlinis the founding editor of Eastern Sentinelan English daily published from Itanagar

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