Little known, Tripura is the smallest hill state in India, with an area of 10,492 sq. kms. It is located in the Northeastern Region, sharing an international boarder with Bangladesh on three sides and a state border with Mizoram and Assam in the North-East. Buddhism in Tripura can be traced back to the 7th century A.D, as evidenced by the two Buddhist archeological sites, Pilak and Boxnagar. The indigenous ethnic communities of Mogs, Chakmas, Baruas, and Uchais have always practiced Buddhism, but, today, out of Tripura's population of 3.7 million, only about 150,000 people are Buddhist. For many years, Tripura was cut off from the outside world because of its geography and its lack of transportation and communication facilities.

Recently, however, there have been fierce waves of Christian missionary efforts in Tripura. The Buddhists have had to struggle to preserve their traditions and culture. These aggressive religious and cultural intrusions by belligerent Christian missionaries, being well-organized and well-financed, are having a pernicious influence on the traditional culture and threaten the disappearance of Buddhism from Tripura.

To counter this threat, Buddhist monks and devote lay followers decided to establish a Buddhist educational institute for lay Buddhist children, as well as for monks and novices. In 2002, Dhamma Dipa School was established under the leadership of Ven. Dr. Dhammapiya. This school began offering both religious and secular education to lay Buddhist children. Today there are 335 students enrolled in Dhamma Dipa.

As soon as Dhamma Dipa School was established, the organizers began looking for a suitable plot of land for a monastic educational institution, but they encountered many difficulties because of opposition from fundamentalists of other faiths. Finally, some devotees donated about 20 acres of land, and construction was begun in March 2007. One hundred eighty boys were ordained as samaneras (novices) and enrolled in Dhamma Dipa International Buddhist Academy, where they received Buddhist training in both Pariyatti (Theory) and Patipatti (Practice).

Everything was going well until May 28, 2007, when a sign, "Site for ITI,"appeared near our Buddhist Academy. (ITI is an Indian telecom giant.) On June 4, 2007, we received a letter from Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Govt. of Tripura (Letter No. 5186/SDM/SBM/REV/2007), asking us to vacate the land within three days, failing which action would be taken under section 15 of the TLR & LR Act (Tripura Land Records).

Both the monks and the lay devotees firmly resolved not to vacate and to go ahead with the Dhamma programme. In 2004, the Forest Department of Govt. of Tripura had already forced us to vacate another site. Every day for several months, thousands of lay devotees and a large number of monks and novices kept vigil to protect the Academy. The police prevented us from carrying out any construction, and there were several confrontations with the police. The communist politicians of the ruling state government, backed by the Christians, used all the government machinery to sabotage Buddhists activities. Eventually, however, the police withdrew because of strong public support for the Buddhist Academy. Nevertheless, there was a verbal threat that the Academy would one day be burnt down.

On Sunday, March 9, 2008, at 7 in the evening, there was an arson attempt in one of the classrooms. Fortunately, the monks noticed the fire, and it was quickly extinguished. Since there was no damage, the administration did not report the fire to the police. A general meeting was called, and it was clearly announced that the aims and objectives of the Academy were to serve humanity through the spread of the Buddha's message. Local daily newspapers published this statement and criticized the police for attempting to sabotage Buddhism in Tripura. Members of the opposition party condemned the actions of the state government, not only in public, but in the State Assembly as well.

Another reason for the government's opposition to the Academy might have been the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Dhamma Dipa School on January17, 2007. All media and local dailies vehemently criticized the State government, which is Communist, for not officially receiving His Holiness the Dalai Lama during this visit. The Academy was warned that His Holiness the Dalai Lama should have not been invited to Tripura, because his work is anti-Chinese, which makes him anti-Communist. The Academy responded that His Holiness was visiting Dhamma Dipa School in a purely religious capacity, to encourage us on our Dhamma activities, and that his visit was thus devoid of any political intention whatsoever.

The administration of the Academy suspects that the Christian missionaries took advantage of the Communist Party's objection the visit by His Holiness to foment opposition to the Academy itself and to prevent Buddhist activities from being carried out.

On Tuesday, June 24,2008, at 3:45 PM, while all monks and novices were in Dhamma classes, three residential Viharas of the Academy were set on fire. The monks and novices lost everything in the blaze. No one has claimed responsibility for the arson, but it is widely suspected that some of the Christian-backed Communist leaders sent miscreants to set the fires. It is not possible that fires accidentally broke out simultaneously in the three residences. They were set deliberately, and those responsible were most likely politico-religious fanatics, motivated by jealousy and hoping to destroy Buddhist education in Tripura.

A case has been filed with the police, and reports have been sent to the President of India, the Prime Minister, and the Home Minister. The police responded by conducting a superficial investigation, but it was obvious that this was merely for the sake of formality and that they did not take the fire at all seriously.

The Buddhists in Tripura, the general public, and the opposition party strongly support the Academy. Some Communist leaders are also beginning to lend their support. Even though we know who are our opponents are, we have decided not to confront them openly. We will re-construct our facilities and proceed with our Dhamma programs to demonstrate the positive impact that the Buddha's teaching has on society. Buddhism is not anti-Communist. It is complementary to Communism, and we are working for the welfare of society the same as they are. We hope that, in due course, the Communists will realize their misconceptions of Buddhism. We would like to maintain friendly relations with Christian missionaries, allowing them practice their faith and requesting that they allow us practice ours. The Constitution of India guarantees everyone the fundamental right to practice, preserve, and promote one's own religion and culture.

Our motto for solving this problem is "Winning over the enemy with Metta, Loving-kindness!"

We must wait and see how effective this will be in resolving these conflicts.

Be Happy!
Ven. Dr. Dhammapiya, Chairman
Bahujana Hitaya Education Trust
Manu Bankul, Sabroom,
South Tripua, India