Kathmandu, August 10: The International Association for Tibetan Studies (IATS) has announced that its upcoming conference on Tibetan Studies will now be held online. This decision follows an order from the Nepalese government directing Kathmandu University (KU) not to host the event. The recent actions of the current Nepalese government have sparked new discussions regarding the administration of Prime Minister Balendra Shah.
Local media reports link this decision to concerns raised by China. However, KU has stated that it is unaware of any such pressure.
Originally, the 17th seminar of the IATS, a significant global gathering for Tibetan scholarship, was scheduled to take place in Kathmandu from August 23 to 29.
The Himalayan Center for Asian Studies at KU and the Rangjung Yeshe Institute were collaborating with IATS to organize this event.
In response to the government directive, the IATS board convened an emergency online meeting on August 7 to determine the next steps. On August 8, IATS issued a statement saying, “The board voted in favor of taking responsibility for the conference organizer and conducting the 17th seminar online. The program will remain the same, and participants can join and present from wherever they are. Unfortunately, adjustments for different time zones will not be possible.”
According to the announcement from the IATS board, KU was instructed not to host the seminar scheduled for August 23 to 29 on August 3. IATS reported, “This directive was personally communicated to KU’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Rishikesh Wagley, Registrar Prof. Dr. Rajiv Shrestha, and Prof. Dr. Sagar Sharma of the Himalayan Center for Asian Studies (HICAS) by Chief Secretary Govind Bahadur Karki and Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Bahadur Rai.”
IATS stated that neither the conference organizers nor the association received any formal written notification from the government regarding this decision. The board mentioned, “Unfortunately, these directives were confirmed through further verbal discussions with government representatives.”
Following the government’s instructions, KU’s Himalayan Center for Asian Studies and the Center for Buddhist Studies have delegated further decisions and responsibilities related to the event to the IATS advisory board.
The IATS board described this as an unexpected and inappropriate intervention in a purely academic program and expressed concern. The association noted that all parties had agreed to hold the seminar at Kathmandu University in 2023, and no objections were raised during the three-year preparation period.
According to IATS, the organizers invested three years in preparing for this event and incurred significant expenses, while over 700 candidates had already purchased airline tickets and booked hotels in Kathmandu.
The association stated, “The complete cancellation of this conference by officials raises questions about future academic events in the country and poses risks to both economic and reputational damage.”
IATS emphasized its commitment to ensuring that the academic program proceeds and continues to provide an international platform for scholarly exchange on Tibetan and Himalayan studies.
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