Union minister Veer Bhadra Singh had expressed support in this matter for the monk, who fled Tibet and took shelter in this country a decade ago, speakers at a gathering of Buddhist monks and devotees said.
Condemning the allegations against the 17th Karmapa Ugyen Thinley Dorjee as 'malicious and unsubstantial', his devotees today said the Buddhist monk was not personally involved in the management of the funds seized from Sidhbari Monastery in Himachal Pradesh.
Union minister Veer Bhadra Singh had expressed support in this matter for the monk, who fled Tibet and took shelter in this country a decade ago, speakers at a gathering of Buddhist monks and devotees said here.
The allegations that the Karmapa was a spy "could very well be the work of an enemy" and media allegations of the monk visiting Hong Kong to meet Chinese representatives were "unfounded and untrue".
"There are currencies of around 25 other countries hauled during the raid, so does that make the Karmapa a spy of all the countries?" they asked and questioned the opening of the Nathula border for trade by the Centre if there was such a serious threat of espionage from China.
The allegations are a matter of grave concern for Buddhists across the world and the cash recovered from Sidhbari Monastery, where he has been living in transit for the past 10 years, are accumulated donations, they said.
The money recovered from Sidhbari Monastery are those of Saraswati Charitable Trust and Karmae Garchen Trust formed by Karmapa Office of Administration which could not be deposited in a bank under Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA) pending permission by the government.
The Saraswati Charitable Trust was created first and then the Karmae Garchen Trust but the FCRA permission sought repeatedly to deposit the foreign currencies received as donations was yet to be received, they said.
"With no legitimate means of depositing or exchanging this foreign currency, the money was left to pile up over time, awaiting the day when it could be legitimately deposited," they said adding investigation into the issue should continue with all respect that a 'Dharmaguru' deserves.
The speakers said allegations of acquisition of land by Tibetan settlers at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh were baseless as there are no monasteries of the Kagyu sect, to which the Karmapa belongs, there.
Karmapa Reception Committee general secretary Karma Tshering said 150 supporters are on their way to Majnu ka Tila in Delhi to stage a dharna there in support of the Kramapa.
Volumes of Erik D Curren's book 'Buddha’s Not Smiling' were burnt at the meeting for exposing the alleged corruption in Tibetan Buddhism.
The nine-point resolution adopted at the meeting urged the Centre to conduct a fair, thorough and transparent probe into the matter at the earliest.
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