Opinions

A few days ago, some people I had just made friends with made their way from Chengdu to their hometown somewhere in eastern Tibet to celebrate Losar, the Tibetan New Year. I asked them if they celebrated both C

While China is free to believe that it has done nothing to raise hackles around the world, more so in its neighbourhood, that is far from the truth. It makes little sense for Beijing to feign surprise that other nations are preparing to

Now that Ogyen Trinley Dorje, better known as the 17th Karmapa, has been cleared of money-laundering charges by the Indian government, it is in order to take a look at the inept handling of a matter of great national importance and

Last spring, I was waiting for a bus in Cairo. Dawn was just breaking, and Tahrir Square, where the bus station was located, was empty except for the omnipresent face

Sooner or later, all dynasties, even Chinese ones, come to an end. The Qin dynasty, which marked the start of imperial China in 221BC, lasted but 15 years. The Han, Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties were far more enduring. But even they came and went

On June 28, 1992, three senior lamas responsible for the recognition of the reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa approached the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. Following instructions in a poem-letter left behind by the 16th Karmapa, Tai Situ Rinpoche and Goshir Gyaltsab Rinpoche as

On 28 January 2011, the State Council Information Office and Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China issued the following notice to its people: "For the disturba

So the Himachal Pradesh government continues with its flip-flop on the Karmapa issue with the state chief secretary making a formal announcement declaring that the “state governm

Anyone following the Indian media's obsession this month with a Buddhist monk would think the stories came from the pages of a cheap spy novel. Last month, India's police foun

The prevailing gloom over the interrogation and lawsuits against the Karmapa and his officials for the ‘unaccounted’ cash stash reportedly seized by the Indian police ha