Tashi Namgyal Khamshitsang, a trustee of the Dalai Lama Trust in United States has been named as the acting secretary of the trust after suspending Tenzin Dondhen earlier this year. Tenzin Dondhen has been suspended over strong allegations of corruption and misuse of his position as the personal emissary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in the US.
Despite the controversy about Tenzin Dondhen aka Lama Tenzin erupted in October this year, the official website of the Dalai Lama Trust displayed Tashi Namgyal Khamshitsang as the new acting secretary of the trust last week despite there has been no report about the investigation into Lama Tenzin’s corruption allegations.
“It is not known in what circumstances he has left his position as secretary of the trust. It has made no public comment about the new appointment or the status of its investigation into Dhonden. The trust and the Dalai Lama’s office did not respond to requests for information for this article. Emails to Dhonden’s attorneys asking about his fate and future plans also went unanswered.” said the report in The Guardian.
The report also added that the prominent Buddhists across the United States have welcomed the appointment of the new secretary.
“I would like to join many others in expressing my deep gratitude to you all for stepping in to protect the precious reputation and legacy of His Holiness through effecting the recent transition of the leadership of the Dalai Lama Trust,” Thupten Jinpa, the Dalai Lama’s principal English translator in a letter to the trustees as published in the Guardian.
Daniel Kranzler, a Seattle businessman and philanthropist claims that despite he introduced Tenzin Dhonden to many high profile people like Steve Jobs, he singer Dave Matthews. His allegations are that he has been demanded of huge cash payments by Lama Tenzin for the Dalai Lama’s appearances to events.
However, Dondhen has strongly denied of all allegations against him.
“These false allegations, raised after nearly a decade, are an attempt to unfairly tarnish Lama Tenzin’s reputation. Lama Tenzin has lived a modest life, working tirelessly to organize public events, that have enabled millions to connect with the mission of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.” a representative for the monk said in a statement earlier in October.
Tashi Namgyal Khamshitsang was born in Tibet and arrived in Nepal in 1960 at an early age of six. He had been part of Tibetan government services since 1973 and served until 1999 in various capacities including Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in Nepal. He was among the first batch to join SFF to do voluntary military training. He also served two terms as the General Secretary of Tibetan Youth Congress, the largest organization of Tibetans in Exile.
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