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Tibetan religious figure murdered in China

Akong Rinpoche and two monks were stabbed to death in Sichuan province

Archive photo EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

Archive photo EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

BEIJING, October 9. (Itar-Tass) – Well-known Tibetan religious and public figure Akong Rinpoche has been murdered in the Sichuan province in Southwest China, reported South China Morning Post.

The 73-year-old lama, and two other monks, one of which was his nephew, were murdered by robbers in

Chengdu city. The police have detained three suspects.

After a failed 1959 Tibetan insurgence Akong had to flee to the United Kingdom. In 1967 he founded the first Tibetan monastery in a western country: Samyé Ling in Scotland. In addition, he founded ROKPA, an international humanitarian organization focused on medical and educational programs.

After making amends with the Chinese government, Akong started visiting the country often, supervising humanitarian projects.

Akong is also known for his participation in the search for the seventeenth Karmapa in 1992. Karmapa is the head of the Karma Kagyu, a sub-school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is believed that the Karmapa is reborn after death in a new body, and his reincarnation is sought out by monks through special rituals.

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