(TibetanReview.net, Sep22’20) – A purported message from His Holiness the Dalai Lama dated Sep 20, directing Tibetans to vote as the next Sikyong of the Central Tibetan Administration in 2021 a candidate who supports the current Sikyong and who would carry on his work has been dismissed as fake by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Sep 21.
The fake message written on a fake letterhead bears a fake seal of His Holiness the Dalai Lama but is empty of his signature.
The fake message said voters should choose the successor of Lobsang Sangay as an act of repayment of debt of gratitude owed to him for what was stated to be his enormous services rendered in that post. It calls on the voters to use their sense of discernment to make out who the candidate who supports him is.
The fake message said people with controversies or who had engaged in litigation should not be elected, which is seen as referring to a particular candidate.
The fake message came into online circulation despite the fact that the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama had already issued a clarification earlier, saying there was no question of the spiritual head of Tibet having any preferred candidate for any electoral post.
The Sep 21 clarification issued by the Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama said it was patently obvious that the fake message was designed to malign His Holiness the Dalai Lama and to harm the unity of the Tibetan people.
The clarification also said there had been previous circulations of fake messages, authorships and the like attributed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama and such incidents could recur in future too. It urged the Tibetan people to exercise caution and intelligence to remain free from such mischief-mongers.
The exile Tibetan elections begin without any official lists of candidates but those aspiring to get elected declare their candidature to express their interest to parliamentary or Sikyong posts to the voters. There are currently nine aspiring candidates for the Sikyong election.
