[Buddha-l] Is there any basis for the allegations concerning the "expulsion" of Ani Karma Lhamu?

[Curt Steinmetz]

Yes, I saw that, Joanna. It is essentially a restatement of the public 
position that the NBF has posted on their website.

What I have not seen is any response from the journalist, or from the 
TOI, acknowledging that the original article was in error. Meanwhile, 
the TOI and other media outlets and websites and online discussion 
groups have continued to treat the original TOI article as true.

Included among those who are continuing to perpetuate the false 
allegations against the NBF (and Nepali Buddhism generally) are several 
Buddhists voices, sadly.

The back-story to all this, in my opinion, is that Nepal might be (well) 
on its way to becoming the next Tibet.

Curt

On 8/12/11 11:11 PM, Jo wrote:
> Did you see the reader comment at the TOI link you supplied? It affirms:
>
> Nepal Buddhist Federation has never said that she is expelled from the
> nunnery and that she lost her religion, as has been wrongly quoted. Ani
> Karma Lhamu alias Sangita Lama, the nun in question has been brought to
> Nepal from Siliguri, India, and is currently admitted in TUTH in Kathmandu.
> The members of the NBF personally met her and her relatives in the hospital
> where her condition is still very unstable. NBF also met the authorities of
> the Karma Samtenling Nunnery at Pharbing, which she left a year ago when she
> went to India to pursue further studies. She is not expelled from the
> nunnery. Acharya Norbu Sherpa during the press conference only reacted to
> the question whether the nun still maintains celibacy. He spoke in reference
> to breaking of vows in the vinaya rules about monks and nuns in general and
> not specifically referred to the present case which, he said, even was not
> expected in Buddha's time. Such philosophical debates are his personal views
> and are not the official stand of NBF. NBF in collaboration with our allied
> Association Tamang Lama Gedung Sangh and the concerned nunnery is taking
> steps to accommodate her back into the nunnery when she recovers and
> discharged from the hospital. NBF will do everything in its power to help
> restore the dignity of the nun and continue to fight for justice. As you
> know that Buddhists in general has been suppressed in Nepal during the 240
> years and only last few years, we are finding some space of expression in
> the emerging democracy. Yet it is a fact that most of the activities of the
> NBF for the preservation and promotion of our religion never get the
> required coverage in the media and this is a continuous struggle for us. You
> may now realize Government's apathy to our community in Nepal, as you have
> rightly said in the following article that the nun finally got admitted into
> the Government hospital only after lots of political and social pressure.
> Unfortunately, such harsh treatment to monks and nuns do not generally make
> news in our country which has approximately 5000 monasteries, living in
> difficult conditions from Drachula to Taplejung. On the contrary the
> monasteries and nunneries in general in Nepal has been a subject of
> systematic negative media campaign for the last few years including such
> baseless allegation of possessing weapons and our monks and nuns live in
> perpetual fear. Under such circumstance, your regular write ups on the
> plight of our nun are a welcome step. I hope you will continue to take up
> the plights of monks and nuns in Nepal and help us retain the dignity of the
> place of birth of Lord Buddha. We will assure you of our cooperation.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com
> [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Curt Steinmetz
> Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 10:10 AM
> To: Buddhist discussion forum
> Subject: [Buddha-l] Is there any basis for the allegations concerning the
> "expulsion" of Ani Karma Lhamu?
>
> What appears, at least to me, to be an especially ugly smear campaign has
> been making the rounds on teh interwebs for a month now. The gist of the
> story is that a Nepali nun (named Ani Karma Lhamu, and also referred to as
> Sangita Lama) was (or was going to be) expelled from the Sangha of nuns
> because she had been raped. That (in my view intentionally false) version of
> events appears to originate from a July 11 article in the Times of India
> (TOI) written by Sudeshna Sarkar and titled "Gangraped Nepal nun now faces
> expulsion from nunnery" (fair warning: the details of the brutal attack on
> this young woman are truly horrifying and
> heart-breaking):
> http://tinyurl.com/3s94jnn
>
> The Nepal Buddhist Federation (NBF), for its part, has publicly taken the
> position that no such expulsion ever took place, and indeed there is (so far
> as I can tell) no evidence whatsoever that any such expulsion was ever
> considered at all. In fact the NBF have committed themselves to ensuring
> that she is returned to the nunnery where she lived and trained for years
> prior to her trip to India (where she was raped by five men on a bus). Here
> is the NBF statement:
> http://www.sherpaworld.com/show.php?at=1&sn=4115
>
> A great deal of self-righteous chest-beating has occurred on blogs and
> online discussion forums, all of it, in my opinion, based on false
> allegations and misleading insinuations contained in the TOI article.
>
> Does anyone know of any independent sources of information regarding this
> case, or in any other way have any light to shed on this very dark story?
>
> Curt Steinmetz
>
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l
> -----
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 10.0.1392 / Virus Database: 1520/3829 - Release Date: 08/12/11
>
> _______________________________________________
> buddha-l mailing list
> buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com
> http://mailman.swcp.com/mailman/listinfo/buddha-l