Himalayan Buddhist Associations hold peace rally in support of Dalai Lama in Shimla, India

Himachal Pradesh, India: Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist Associations organized a peace rally in Shimla, India, to express solidarity with the 14th Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, after a viral video controversy. The associations accused China of attempting to tarnish the Dalai Lama’s image and defame him. The rally included several organizations, including the Himalayan Buddhist Associations Lahaul and Spiti, the Buddha Sewa Sangh Shimla, and the Indo-Tibetan Friendship Society Shimla.

During the rally, participants held placards, banners, posters, and Tibetan National flags and chanted Buddhist mantras and long-life wishes for the Dalai Lama. Sonam Dolkar, the organizer and member of the Regional Tibetan Women Association, questioned the timing of the viral video, which was released after one month and a week after the enthronement of the Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche, the highest Buddhist leader of Geluk pa school in Magnolia. She noted that the video was not original and had been completely edited.

Tibetan leaders and activists from across the world have expressed their solidarity and support for the Dalai Lama after the video of him purportedly kissing a boy went viral. The organizers of the peace rally emphasized that the Dalai Lama has been preaching and spreading peace around the world for the past 87 years and urged everyone to support him.

Manjeet Negi, a Himalayan Buddhist from Kinnaur, said that the Tibetan Buddhist monks see the viral video as a threat to the Buddhist religion and that they believe that China is behind it. The peace rally was not a protest but aimed to show the public and media the truth about the video and to defend the Dalai Lama’s image and legacy as a promoter of world peace.

In conclusion, the peace rally in Shimla, India, organized by Tibetan and Himalayan Buddhist Associations, demonstrated support for the 14th Dalai Lama and denounced the viral video controversy as an attempt to defame him. The rally aimed to show the reality of the situation and urged everyone to defend the Dalai Lama’s legacy as a promoter of world peace.