President of the Central Tibetan Administration Lobsang Sangay speaks during an event on 27 November 2019. File photo/Tibet Sun/Lobsang Wangyal
By Lobsang Wangyal
Tibet Sun Onlinenews, 27 December 2019
The Lobsang Sangay-led exile Tibetan Cabinet offered an apology to Penpa Tsering in Case no 20, accepting that their charges made to justify his ousting were regrettable.
Announcing the apology on the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in both Tibetan and English, the highest office of the exile Tibetans said: “The ten-point clarification issued by the Kashag on the replacement of Mr Penpa Tsering from the service of Representative to North America was based on unreliable sources and misunderstandings, thereby unintentionally defamed his dedication, competence, and character, and led to the spread of misinformation in the community.
“For this, the Kashag [the exile Cabinet] expresses its regret.”
The Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission, in its judgment on 14 October, had dictated the text of the apology, as well as ordered that the same be published in both Tibetan and English on all CTA information outlets.
The Cabinet failed to meet the first deadline to apologise, 13 November, after which Penpa Tsering appealed to the court to take congisance of that fact. On 22 November the court gave a new date of 27 December, with a warning that Sangay and his colleagues would lose their eligibility to run for office and their voting rights if they failed to meet this deadline.
The second part of the original court order stipulated that the Cabinet pay Penpa Tsering’s lawyer’s fees for this case, amounting to 98,000 rupees (1,400 USD approx). This payment was fulfilled by the Cabinet by the 13 November 2019 deadline.
Famously known as “Case no 20”, this was a defamation case against the Tibetan exile Cabinet filed by Penpa Tsering, the former Representative of the Dalai Lama in Washington DC in May 2018, and became a contentious issue within the Tibetan community.
Tsering had been relieved of his Washington post, and charged with dereliction of duty, insubordination, and deficit of trust. Following this, 10 points were given by the Cabinet to justify his ousting, which points the court found groundless in deciding this case.
I think the written apology with no word of apologies but only regret and soe-soel in Tibetan is so much of wordplay and clearly trying to show displeasure and arrogance from the part of LS and his team of kalons wrt loss of #case20.
An open press conference with tibetan and/or outside media to give audio-visual statements and interview will be the best possible relief to Penpa Tsering la, former Speaker of house and former Representative of HH for North America.
Only then the true justice with case 20 will be served.
LS and his Kashag did not follow the full verdict of TJC, They just issued a written statement without any press conference but there is “difference between Regret and Apology”. They are so self absorbed or self centered that they are not able to say Apology through Verbal by press conference. This Skiyong and Kashag has created disunity, confusion among the Tibetans. It will be in Tibetan history.
1.5 million dollars!!! Was the key point of this disput! between LS & PT!
PT insist on it for transparency!
where as LS ignore his suggestion!
On the contrary, LS by using Kashag, just to divert his name, invented 10 points imaginary mistakes to PT!
Supreme court of Tibet in exil Dharamshala has given the verdict!
LS has published reluctantly simply at the last minute in tibetan and in english just “regret”!
but not any formal excuse of his (LS) decision to dismiss PT from the post of HHDL’s representative in America!
SO! NO ANY FORMAL APOLOGY!
They still desevre not to have civil rights!!
I mean…. still don’t deserve right to vote and not valid to be a candidate for any post!
LS (Mr Tourist) is the biggest traveller of tibetan leader in exil at free cost of our money!!!!
Unfortunately, still one and half year! please! don’t use our money to travel around the world as a tourist!
Tibetan parliament in exile failed to held Kashag accountable for all the turmoils in our Tibetan community but Tibetan supreme justice commission saved the day. First two pillars of Tibetan democracy fared poorly but TSJC stood firm and shown the only way to Kashag. This is a great victory of democracy and truth. Say no to regionalism and communalism, it only serves the purpose of corrupt politicians and not anyone. Case number 20 has shown us how self serving bad politicians and leaders has made bad moves which never helped to bring freedom and right to self-determination of Tibetan people.
At last, the insurgency is over! It looks like it has left a bad taste in the mouth after all the hue and cry of “injustice”. Never before in the history of Tibetan Kashag had its own subjects riling, abusing, and turning against it. When Mao asked the Tibetans to rise against the Government of Tibet in 1949, Tibetans treated it as a blasphemy. However, after losing our country to foreign occupation and living on foreign soil riding on the good will of the host but nothing else, some had the temerity to protest in front of the Kashag when it came to “defend” their self-interest. This is at a time when we are facing poor attendance of protesters on 10th of March. Without any consideration for the adverse effect it will naturally have on the movement, the vested interests, either driven by their ego or worse acting on the behest of foreign saboteurs.
The last year has been a self-destructing exercise that has no winners. Our unity has been severely damaged by the bad blood spilling in every facet of our existence. The vested interests left no stone unturned to demonise, discredit, and humiliate the Kashag and its leader. They inflamed the situation by incendiary accusations against the leader by unsavoury characters who sought to exploit it for their selfish purposes by driving a wedge between the Tibetans hailing from different parts of the country. HH The Dalai Lama has been in pains to tell Tibetans that “if you consider me your friend, never talk about cholka or Choeluk”. Unfortunately, the ragtag mob were tone deaf to such pleadings and instead used the cholka card to bludgeon their opponent and Kashag. They made a mockery of Kashag and ridiculed the members. We have to ask if these people have any loyalty to the Tibetan Government or agents of a foreign country?
I wonder from where this effectiveness of the Tibetan Justice Commission comes from now!? When the Parliamentarian Mr. Dawa Tsering didn’t comply with its judgment, and dragged the Justice Commissioners to Indian court, but again the judgment of the district court went in favor of the Justice Commission, why didn’t the Justice Commissioner showed such effectiveness character of issuing notices and contempt proceedings etc against Dawa Tsering THEN????
I find the present effectiveness of the Justice Commissioner so fishy and politically-motivated against this Kashag and its Cabinet.
And it’s so unfortunate to witness how people are misusing the system or the de-facto judicial system of exile governance, favoring an individual, putting the whole system at stake.
General Tibetan
There is absolutely no need to apologize, the court decision was based on the fear of being accused of being biased, and the court had no alternative but to find in favour of PT.
Penpa Tsering is a hypocrite, he gives speeches about Tibetans mustn’t migrate to the West, but he sent his wife and kids to make a fake asylum claim. The man is greedy, the family was living in the US but since they can’t get free social security in the US, they moved to Canada to claim free social security and live off the Canadian taxpayers.
Everyone will soon forget PT and let him disappear quietly.
Reminds me of Saddam Hussein in hiding; or bad men in history such as Bin Laden and Pervez Musharraf brought down by fate. He was deposed by the very entity he was hired. Why seek court’s help, right?
Get well soon! Full of hatred, misunderstanding and above all ignorance!
This is a very funny apology; it expresses regret but doesn’t directly offer apology. It works still and it’s great. Thanks to Kashag for this timely, low-profile announcement. Now the next election will only get tougher. PT, although winning this case, looks dejected.
Looks dejected? R u kapil sharma? Lol ur infected heart will surely see dejected but keep it to urself lo. How on earth one can blanket one’s own narrow imagination to whole community.! Oh may be some phayul chikpa or relatives around you. But i & ppl around are relieved and our respect for PT grown many folds.
So it was felt that those words of mine came from the mouth of Kapil Sharma. Interesting. Whatever the case may be, I don’t have to sing a Tibetan song or wear our attire to prove myself a Tibetan because I’m not one of those gyakyar rongshangs (fake Tibetans who somehow sneaked into Tibet from the Indo-Tibetan border during those pre days. Neither I need to become a dance instructor after exhausting all the avenues.
Shall we hire kids from SFT to run in the next election? They used to have a bunch of them at one time!
Kashag posted a one liner “For this, kashag expresses regret…’ and that was enough for you narrow-minded people to be blanketed, relieved and respect grown manifold to the defendant. Very very interesting. Imagine me speaking these words from the mouth of Kapil Sharma. BTW do watch ‘kis kis ko kiss Karun’ starring Kapil. Your respect for him will grow manifold too.
I won’t let this posting go in vain without being specific:
* gyakyar rongshangs = kyiRONG and RONGjongs, where rong deriving from the word RONGpas or RONGShangs
His Holiness the Dalai Lama often says, “Truth will eventually triumph”. This is exactly what happened today when the Lobsang Sangay-led Kashag met the Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission (TSJC) deadline by saying Sorry to Mr Penpa Tsering (RE: loss of “Case No. 20”), through official Tibetan and English media. Whether this sorry or regret was expressed following the court ruling warning that Sangay and his colleagues would lose their eligibility to run for office and stripped of voting rights if they failed to meet 27 December 2019 deadline, or from pressure from Tibetan people and others, or from fearing the displeasure of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, or, as one commentator says, under pressure from his cabinet members “in order to save their future probable green pasture to feed in TIBETAN AILING politics”, the truth is that the Rule of Law and Democracy are the Victors. Even if China and the Chinese people are watching, there is nothing to be afraid of, as they will appreciate that even in exile we Tibetans enjoy true democracy and follow the rule of law.
As for “Lay gyum dre” that Kalon Sonam Topgyal spoke about when he addressed the press on 14 October, along with now-disgraced “Cabinet lawyer” Lobsang Dakpa, is it fair to say “lay gyum dre” as truth has badly hit both Sikyong Lobsang Sangay and Lobsang Dakpa. SD must be regretting because this “lay gyum dre” thing has made them a laughing-stock and come back to haunt them!
The Tibetan Supreme Justice Commission, the judicial wing of Tibetan Democracy, has further shown their integrity and capability to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan people, and the watching world, including China and the Chinese people, and thus further earned everyone’s respect.
Kashag accepting the ruling from the Tibetan Supreme Justice doesn’t necessarily mean that they agree with the decision but agree to disagree and abide by the ruling, to uphold the rule of law.
I cannot comprehend how Kashag is responsible for the ouster of Kungo Penpa Tsering la from the post of Representative of North America. Still puzzled why Kahsang had to give reasons for his firing when Everyone including Kungo Penpa Tsering la himself knew that he was hired and fired by the Private Office of His Holiness. Even his Godfather-His Eminence Samdhong Rinpoche could not save him from being fired.
Haha on your first point, you have answered yourself in the latter paragraph. Kashag was responsible and was at fault because they gave frivolous excuses for ousting Penpa la. They didn’t have to give the reasons and shouldn’t have!! Kashag should have kept both their loose mouth and conniving brains shut after the ousting. Penpa la didn’t fight the ousting, but the accusations born out of LS’s vendetta.
This is a welcome development. Governments come and go, even our own Gaden Phodang government is gone before our own eyes. But the nation and the its people would go on for thousands of years to come as we did till now.
In this context, truth, justice, democracy and rule of law is more important than any individual, a group or a government.
Hope, Tibetans would stick to these values and principles than any individual in the society, however they may seem indispensable.
Finally, Kashag under Lobsang Sangay bowed its head before the surmountable pressure, not from the judgment of the commission but from within its cabinet members, in order to save their future probable green pasture to feed in TIBETAN AILING politics.
It’s a complete victory of one’s own ego supported by the partisan nature of individuals, organisations, and representatives. Actually, there should be a strong urge to save the credentials and name of the Central Tibetan Administration’s Kashag amongst other things, but nobody cared about such name KASHAG in front of their personal gain and motives. This will have a great repercussion for the future, and has set an utter bad precedent in the history of the Tibetan government-in-exile.
Mr. Lobsang Sangay, instead of feeling relaxed and counting few months left of his tenure, should be working on how to save the name KASHAG and its portfolio for the future from all these attacking lots. At least not for himself or his cabinet this time but for the future.
I AM NOT A SUPPORTER OF LOBSANG SANGAY BUT I HATE TO SEE OR WITNESS WHAT OUR KASHAG AND ITS NAME HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO. What a shame!
The language of Kashag’s statement is ambiguous. I am not sure if it is an apology or an expression of unhappiness over the court’s verdict! Regret, as it is used in the statement, can be interpreted as regret over Kashag’s initial actions against the plaintiff or regret over the fact that the court had ruled against Kashag. I have no interest in communal politics but this is my fair understanding of the statement. Any thoughts?
Exactly my thoughts. Very careful and clever choice of words by kashag. It’s almost humiliating.
On a closer look, the statement in English is not an accurate translation of the statement in Tibetan. I hope whoever wrote the English version has understood the intent of the statement and is competent in English. Would Kashag mind revising the English statement for the record? To me, this is reminiscent of “doublespeak” (originally doubletalk), a term coined by George Orwell in his distopian novel 1984, which means “deliberately euphemistic, ambiguous, or obscure language”.
Victory to rule of law.
Supremacy of Justice Commissions is very important for any normal society.
Justice Commissioners: utmost gratitude for protecting the institution and there by our nascent democracy.
Congratulations.
Fellow Tibetans: Love your nation. Elect right people to right office.
My respect to all the civil servants of our government, but not to political appointee playing partisan politics like North American Representative Ngodup Tsering always chasing photo opportunities or Australian Representative Lhakpa Tsoko stirring unnecessary trouble in community instead of playing the role of unifier.