The New Indian Express ·
Nepal flash floods: Tibetan monks in Karnataka rush home as news of families trickles in
BENGALURU: Families of more than 20 Tibetan Buddhist monks staying in Tibetan settlements in Karnataka for religious studies, have been affected by last week’s flash floods in the Gyirong county area of Tibet, and Rasuwa village in Nepal. Some of them have rushed back home to verify the details. Many others anxiously await news of the safety of their loved ones from across the border.
Karnataka is host to the largest Tibetan diaspora in the world, settled in five settlements -- two in Bylakuppe in Mysuru district, and one each in Mundgod in Uttara Kannada district, Hunsur, again in Mysuru district, and Kollegal in Chamarajanagar district.
“While the Nepalese authorities are regularly updating data of the flood casualties, survivors, rescued and missing, there is a vacuum on information from Tibet by the Chinese state media controlled by the Central Communist Party,” Chief Representative Officer (CRO) South India, Central Tibetan Administration (CTA), Jigmey Tsultrim told The New Indian Express.
“As on August 31, families of 10-15 monks in the Sera Mey Monastery and one from Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, both in Bylakuppe, three monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery, Mundgod, and some monks from the Gaden Shartse Monastery, also in Mundgod district, have been affected by the devastating floods,” added Tsultrim. “The three monks from Drepung Loseling Monastery have left for their home after receiving news of their families,” he added.
The senior Tibetan bureaucrat said there are around 20,000 Buddhist monks who are students of these five monasteries in Karnataka.
“Of these, 40 to 45 per cent are from Tibet, which has been illegally claimed by China. They come here for higher religious studies. It takes 20 to 25 years of rigorous studies to become Geshe,” he added.
While the toll in Nepal from floods along the border with Tibet has crossed 1,000, according to the country’s disaster agency, more than 3,900 people remain missing, of whom more than 600 are workers believed to be trapped in the mud-filled tunnels at hydropower sites along the Trishuli river. According to the Chinese authorities, only 16 people have been confirmed dead and 546 are missing, including 261 foreign citizens.
Tibetans have been resettled in India since 1959 when the present 14th Dalai Lama and some Tibetans took refuge in India after the Chinese occupation of Tibet in the same year.