The religious persecution of Dorje Shugden Buddhists by the Central Tibetan Administration began in 1996 and intensified in 2008. Dorje Shugden practitioners have been labeled as “enemies of the state”, “anti-Dalai Lama”, “anti-Dharma”, “Chinese spies/sympathizers”, “demon worshippers”, etc. The religious persecution of Dorje Shugden followers led by the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) has been going on for 29 years. The aftermath of the religious ban by the Dalai Lama and the CTA has profoundly affected the lives of Tibetans and forcibly changed the global Tibetan Buddhism landscape over the past twenty-nine years. Millions of lives have been threatened, the sanctity of Tsongkhapa’s lineage has been thrown into disarray, and countless spiritual paths have been destroyed.

However, the propaganda and persecution by the Central Tibetan Administration have failed to completely eradicate the practice of Dorje Shugden. After all, Dorje Shugden practice is core to the Gelugpa tradition and is highly respected. Even the 14th Dalai Lama reveres Dorje Shugden, as do his successors — the 5th Dalai Lama, the 11th Dalai Lama, and the most revered teachers of the 20th century.
In January 2020, nearly 24 years after labeling Dorje Shugden an enemy of the Tibetan people, the Dalai Lama finally signaled a softening of his stance toward the protector. While he had explicitly prohibited the practice of Dorje Shugden under any circumstances in the past, this time he effectively endorsed the worship of Dorje Shugden, but only as a birth or land deity. The Dalai Lama’s comments destroyed the CTA’s justification for depriving Dorje Shugden Buddhists of their constitutional right to religious freedom. The previous justification was that the practice of Dorje Shugden (in any form) would threaten the Dalai Lama’s life.

On June 2, 2021, in a teaching on Lama Tsongkhapa’s Tog jö dün leg ma, the Dalai Lama admitted for the first time since the ban on Dorje Shugden that discrimination against Dorje Shugden was a mistake . This is in stark contrast to the language and tone used by the Tibetan leadership to deliberately incite hatred against Dorje Shugden and its practitioners. As a result, even if there is no hostility towards Dorje Shugden Buddhists, they are seen as “un-Tibetan” and “un-Buddhist”. Government officials and ambitious monks deliberately flaunt their contempt for this sacred practice, as hatred of Dorje Shugden has quickly become a career path in Tibetan politics and monasteries.

The ban on Dorje Shugden practice is dangerous and destructive, creating an irreparable split within the Tibetan monastic community. From the perspective of a constitutional democracy which the CTA claims to be, its persecution of Shugden Buddhists is unlawful and a breach of human rights. Simply put, it is not the business of a democratic government to decide which religion is legitimate and which is not. It is the business of the government to guarantee the freedom of religion which the CTA failed to do.