(TibetanReview.net, Dec15’24) –While the Government of Nepal permitted the holding of the Nanhai (South China Sea) Buddhism Shenzhen Roundtable in the country, but pointedly rejected any idea of the China-appointed Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu attending it, Lyarkar Lama, the controversial Vice Chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust, kept looking to bring him to the conference, according to Nepali media reports.
The visit has been halted, but the issue has raised critical questions, particularly about the role of Lyarkar Lama in facilitating such a controversial visit, noted nepalaaja.com Dec 13.
It said that despite preparations by Chinese stakeholders to bring the “Panchen Lama” to Lumbini, senior government officials actively worked to address the issue’s sensitivity and prevent the visit.
This situation has placed a spotlight on Lyarkar Lama, who has been criticized for his involvement in managing the arrangements for the “Panchen Lama’s” visit, the report said.
The report cited Lyarkar Lama’s history as one fraught with legal, moral, and professional controversies, making his role in the Lumbini Development Trust highly contentious.
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Earlier, on Dec 15, 2015, Kathmandu police discovered 14 bullets in Lyarkar Lama’s locker at the Nepal Investment Bank. The possession of such items by a Buddhist monk raised severe legal and ethical concerns, the report said.
His appointment as Vice Chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust was stated to be equally controversial.
Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation regulations say individuals with proven criminal records are ineligible for such positions. Nevertheless, the then Tourism Minister Sudan Kirati recommended Lama for the role, and the appointment was approved by the cabinet under Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda).
It was at that time reported by the kathmandupost.com Aug 6, 2023, that Lama was appointed to the post (for a five-year term) despite the fact that he had earlier been charged with several crimes, including foreign employment fraud, possession of illegal firearms, accumulating property disproportionate to his known source of income, and possession of dual citizenship and passport.
He was stated to be a central committee member of the CPN (Maoist Centre) headed by Prachanda.
Before that, he was CPN-UML member, and became the state minister for finance in the Jhala Nath Khanal-led government in 2011. The party had made him a lawmaker under the proportional representation category after the first Constituent Assembly election.
However, he was reported to have resigned from the post on Apr 21, 2011, just 11 days after assuming office, after he ran into controversy for possessing a Nepali citizenship certificate, an Indian passport and a Tibetan refugee identity card.
The report continued that he then quit the UML and later joined Prachanda’s Maoist party, which in Feb 2015 made him a lawmaker.
He was also, earlier, appointed the chairman of the then Monastery Management and Development Committee (later renamed as the Buddhist Philosophy Promotion and Monastery Development Committee), by the Nepali Congress in 2001-02, the report said.