The biggest
item was for politically related expenditure, at
$US7 million. The next biggest was administration,
which ran to $US4.5 million. Almost $US2 million was
allocated to running the government-in-exile's
overseas offices.
For all that
the government-in-exile claims to do, these sums
seemed remarkably low.
It is not
clear how donations enter its budgeting. These are
likely to run to many millions annually, but the
Dalai Lama's Department of Finance provided no
explicit acknowledgment of them or of their sources.
Certainly,
there are plenty of rumours among expatriate
Tibetans of endemic corruption and misuse of monies
collected in the name of the Dalai Lama.
Many
donations are channelled through the New York-based
Tibet Fund, set up in 1981 by Tibetan refugees and
US citizens. It has grown into a multimillion-dollar
organisation that disburses $US3 million each year
to its various programs.
Part of its
funding comes from the US State Department's Bureau
for Refugee Programs.
Like many
Asian politicians, the Dalai Lama has been
remarkably nepotistic, appointing members of his
family to many positions of prominence. In recent
years, three of the six members of the Kashag, or
cabinet, the highest executive branch of the Tibetan
government-in-exile, have been close relatives of
the Dalai Lama.
An older
brother served as chairman of the Kashag and as the
minister of security. He also headed the CIA-backed
Tibetan contra movement in the 1960s.
A
sister-in-law served as head of the
government-in-exile's planning council and its
Department of Health.
A younger
sister served as health and education minister and
her husband served as head of the
government-in-exile's Department of Information and
International Relations.
Their
daughter was made a member of the Tibetan parliament
in exile. A younger brother has served as a senior
member of the private office of the Dalai Lama and
his wife has served as education minister.
The second
wife of a brother-in-law serves as the
representative of the Tibetan government-in-exile
for northern Europe and head of international
relations for the government-in-exile. All these
positions give the Dalai Lama's family access to
millions of dollars collected on behalf of the
government-in-exile.
The Dalai
Lama might now be well-known but few really know
much about him. For example, contrary to widespread
belief, he is not a vegetarian. He eats meat. He has
done so (he claims) on a doctor's advice following
liver complications from hepatitis. I have checked
with several doctors but none agrees that meat
consumption is necessary or even desirable for a
damaged liver.
What has the
Dalai Lama actually achieved for Tibetans inside
Tibet?
If his goal
has been independence for Tibet or, more recently,
greater autonomy, then he has been a miserable
failure.
He has kept
Tibet on the front pages around the world, but to
what end? The main achievement seems to have been to
become a celebrity. Possibly, had he stayed quiet,
fewer Tibetans might have been tortured, killed and
generally suppressed by China.
In any
event, the current Dalai Lama is 72 years old. His
successor — a reincarnation — will be appointed as a
child and it will be many years before he plays a
meaningful role. As far as China is concerned, that
is one problem that will take care of itself,
irrespective of whether or not John Howard or Kevin
Rudd meet the current Dalai Lama.
michaelbackman@yahoo.com,
www.michaelbackman.com
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Copyright
© 2007. The Age Company Ltd.
