NEW DELHI – The Indian government has assured powerful Buddhist groups from Sikkim that it is considering their demand to allow a senior Tibetan religious leader to visit his temporal seat of power in the northeastern state.
Leaders of the joint action committee of All Sikkim Buddhist Organisations have assured National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra that allowing Ugyen Trinley Dorje, the 17th Karmapa, to visit the Rumtek monastery in Gangtok would not lead to any law and order problems, as some Buddhist groups have claimed.
The delegation from Sikkim, led by Kunzang Sherab, met Mishra here on Saturday.
Mishra urged the Buddhist leaders to be patient while the central government considered their demand, said Sonam Topden, general secretary of the joint action committee.
But Topden noted the central government’s decision to restrict the movements of the Karmapa — who surreptitiously crossed over to India from Tibet in January 2000 — had hurt the sentiments of Sikkim’s large Buddhist population.
“The Karmapa’s followers in Sikkim are Indian citizens. The demand to let him visit Sikkim is a demand from Indian nationals who want to preserve and protect our religion,” Topden told a news conference here Monday.
The central government has reportedly been reluctant to allow the Karmapa to visit Sikkim, which borders Tibet, due to Beijing’s sensitivities as well as claims by a rival Buddhist group that Dorje is not the true 17th Karmapa.
The rival group has claimed that Trinley Thaye Dorje, a youth based in Kalimpong in West Bengal, is the true Karmapa.
This claims has its origin in the complex Tibetan formula of selecting a religious leader’s successor through the system of reincarnation. The Karmapa is the head of the powerful Karma Kagyu sect, which has some 200,000 followers in Sikkim, the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan and Nepal.
The Dalai Lama, the highest Tibetan Buddhist leader, has, however, endorsed Ugyen Trinley Dorje’s claim to the position of Karmapa.
Dorje, 18, has been living at Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh since India granted him refugee status in February 2001. His movements are restricted and he has to seek the government’s permission to visit his followers in other Indian states.
“There is no confusion about Dorje being the genuine Karmapa,” said Topden. “He should resume his rightful seat at Rumtek and it is high time this issue was resolved.”
Buddhist leaders also believe the recent progress made in Sino-Indian ties, as well as Beijing’s implicit recognition of Sikkim as a part of India in a trade treaty, could pave the way for a visit to Rumtek by the Karmapa.
“The de facto recognition given to Sikkim (by China) could make this possible,” Topden contended.
