Dalai Lama envoy quits after Kremlin ‘foreign agent’ label
THE Dalai Lama’s envoy in Russia has resigned after the Kremlin labelled him a “foreign agent” for criticising its war in Ukraine.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche, who is considered the reincarnation of a saint, called for Buddhists in Russia to maintain “courage and steadfastness” as he quit as Supreme Lama in Kalmykia.
“In my thoughts, deeds and prayers, I remain entirely with the Kalmyk people and the Buddhists of all Russia, to whose service I have dedicated my life,” he said.
Russia has three predominantly Buddhist regions: Kalmykia, on the Caspian Sea coast, and Buryatia and Tuva in Siberia. Born into a Kalmyk family in Philadelphia in the United States, the 50-year-old Telo Tulku Rinpoche studied in a Buddhist monastery in India before moving to Kalmykia in 1992.
He hosted the Dalai Lama in Kalmykia in 2004 and 2018, and also oversaw the construction of the biggest Buddhist temple in Russia and Europe in 2005.
The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhists, has criticised the war in Ukraine and called for peace.
The Kremlin relied on fringe regions of Russia, such as Kalmykia, to supply thousands of soldiers for its invasion of Ukraine in February and for a further mobilisation in September.
Telo Tulku Rinpoche, an increasingly vocal critic of the war, helped Kalmyks in Mongolia who fled from mobilisation, a stance that angered the Kremlin.
The “foreign agents” law was introduced in 2012 against NGOS that took cash from foreign organisations. It was strengthened in 2021 and 2022 and has been used to crack down on dissent.