India boosts security protection for Dalai Lama

Read RFA coverage of this story in Tibetan.

India has boosted security for the Dalai Lama, adding about 30 police commandos to protect the Tibetan spiritual leader amid reports of potential security threats, according to a person familiar with the matter and Indian media reports.

The move raises the security coverage for the 89-year-old Dalai Lama to the third-highest level, called Z-category, under the Central Reserve Police Force, or CRPF, the source told Radio Free Asia on the condition of anonymity because he wan’t authorized to speak to the media.

Video footage of the Dalai Lama in southern India showed armed CRPF commandos around a vehicle carrying the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Citing official sources, the Press Trust of India said the central government enhanced the Dalai Lama’s security because of “potential security threats.”

The Indo-Asian News Service said the move was prompted by a recent Intelligence Bureau threat analysis report.

RFA could not independently confirm these reports, and the security department of the Central Tibetan Administration — the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala, northern India — did not respond to requests for comment.

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs, the CRPF and the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also didn’t offer any comments.

The Dalai Lama normally lives in Dharamsala, but has been visiting a Tibetan community in southern India since Jan. 5.

Chinese opposition

The move comes amid growing concerns over the Dalai Lama’s safety due to China’s long-term opposition to his activities.

Beijing is seeking to appoint the successor to the Dalai Lama, who is expected to either name his successor or provide some indication regarding his succession when he turns 90 in July.

“This has led to growing desperation from the Chinese side,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Aditya Raj Kaul, told RFA.

The highest level of security in India, given to the Indian prime minister and his immediate family, is called the Special Protection Group.

Below that are the Z+ category, provided to top ministers in the central and state governments, and Z category, provided to prominent leaders and individuals based on their threat perception.

Since the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet into exile in India in 1959, the Indian government has assumed responsibility for his security protection, maintaining a 24-hour security patrol around his residence in Dharamsala to ensure his safety.

Whenever the Dalai Lama travels to different parts of India, his security arrangements are overseen by the central government, with state governments coordinating protection during his visits.

The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs directed the CRPF’s VIP security wing to take charge of the security for the Dalai Lama and ensure Z-category protection with around 30 CRPF commandos across the country, the Press Trust of India and other Indian media reported.

The CRPF’s VIP security wing is provides security to individuals as assigned by the ministry, including politicians, state government ministers, governors, spiritual leaders, business tycoons and other prominent individuals.

“Now there will be a massive security cover with commandos traveling with him in a multiple convoy and the possibility of additional state security cover,” senior Indian journalist and national security affairs specialist, Kaul, citing sources, told RFA.

In December 2022, security at Bodh Gaya in northeast India’s Bihar state had been beefed up after an alleged threat to the Dalai Lama from a Chinese woman.

However, the state police later clarified the incident was no threat to the Dalai Lama and that the Chinese woman had been detained and deported because she overstayed her visa.

Translated by Tenzin Dickyi and Tashi Wangchuk for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Kalden Lodoe, Tenzin Pema, Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.