# India

Ladakh to shutdown on Monday

It is against attempts to malign Dalai Lama

Statesman News Service | Jammu | April 16, 2023 11:07 pm

The Ladakh Buddhist Association (LBA) and the Ladakh Gompa Association (LGA) have jointly called for Ladakh shutdown on Monday to protest against the conspiracy to defame the Dalai Lama. Several prominent Muslim leaders in Kargil have also criticised those indulging in defaming the holy Dalai Lama.

Announcing this in Leh on Saturday, the LBA President Thupstan Chhewang said that all schools shall be shut across Ladakh and urged the government employees to skip their offices tomorrow to join a protest march followed by a rally in the Polo Ground at Leh. He said that board examinations will not be affected due to the bandh call. Vehicles will remain off the road, he said.

He said that Buddhists consider the Dalai Lama as their god and such attempts to defame him will not be tolerated. He sought apology from the media houses that circulated the doctored video.

A massive protest rally was taken out in Leh on Saturday that was organised by the LBA, LGA and the Tibetan community. The protesters alleged that under a conspiracy, a doctored video of the Dalai Lama was being used to defame him.

Ladakh’s MP, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal in a statement said: “It is disheartening to see baseless and malicious allegations being levelled against His Holiness. We must remember that the teachings of Buddhism are grounded in principles of peace and non-violence and baseless accusations have no place in such principles.”

Sonam Chonzom, President of the Ladakhi Alumni of Tibetan Children Village, has also in a statement criticised the attempts to defame the Dalai Lama.