Tibetans take out march, Karmapa says he has faith in Indian

Dharamsala, Feb 2 (PTI) Over 2,000 Tibetans took out a
march here on Wednesday to show their support for Karmapa
Ugyen Thinley Dorje who said he has full faith in the Indian
law and people will soon know the truth about the recovery of
huge foreign currencies from his transit home.
Appearing for the first time before his followers
since raids were conducted at the Gyuto monastery, Karmapa
said, "There is no need to worry. India, unlike China, is a
free country and I have full faith in it. Truth will be
uncovered soon."
The Tibetans, including monks and nuns, marched 9 km
to reach here from McLeodganj carrying Buddhist flags and
portraits of Karmapa. They also chanted slogans and carried
posters that read 'Karmapa is innocent. Let truth prevail'.
Meanwhile, the Karmapa's office reiterated that "the
(recovered) sum (of over Rs 7.5 crore) represents unsolicited
donations that have been made by the followers of the Karmapa
from around the world to enable the substantial social and
spiritual programmes of the Karma Kagyu order".
His spokespersons Karma Topden and Deki Chungyalpa
claimed that Rs 5 crore was taken by the authorities from the
monastery and the Karmapa office had sought to acquire
clearance since 2002 to deposit the cash donations under the
Foreign Currencies Regulation Act of India.
"Until the necessary permissions are granted, the
monastery diligently recorded and stored the currency on its
own premises and we are currently in the process of providing
this evidence to the authorities," they said in a statement.
Referring to the Chinese currency seized during raids,
the statement said the Karmapa has a large and devoted
following of Tibetans from Tibet and of Buddhists from the
Chinese mainland who make offerings in the Yuan.
"The Yuan found constitutes less than 10 per cent of
the cash in question and included currency from over 20
countries. Moreover, the Yuan seized by police include notes
ranging from 1 Yuan to larger denominations, clearly
indicating that they come from multiple, individual sources."
Regarding allegations of improper land deals, the
statement said that Karmapa has been hosted in a temporary
residence in Dharamsala since 2000 and as the premises belong
to another Tibetan Buddhist order, the Karmae Garchen Trust
has sought to purchase land and build a new residence and
monastery since 2007.