DHARAMSHALA, JULY 29: Nepal has said it will allow the body of a prominent Tibetan Buddhist leader to be brought into the country for cremation and last rites at Shar Minub monastery, the seat of Shamar Rinpoche.
The decision, said Information Minister Minendra Risal, was taken at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday to allow Shamar Rinpoche’s body to be brought in from India and cremated at his monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.
Nepal had earlier prevented followers of Shamar Rinpoche from bringing the body into the country, saying the Tibetan Lama had Bhutanese diplomatic passport.
Thousands of followers including several from outside Nepal are expected to participate in the last rites and the cremation that is expected to take place Thursday, according to reports.
The Nepalese Embassy in New Delhi had initially issued a “no objection letter” for the body of Shamar Rinpoche to be taken to Nepal for the last rituals but reversed the decision after Nepal’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued directives to revoke the permission.
As per the wishes of the late Shamar Rinpoche his body was scheduled to be brought to Nepal for cremation at his own monastery, the Shar Minub in Kathmandu.
Laxmi Prasad Dhakal, a spokesman for Nepal’s Home Ministry, said the “no objection letter was retracted after we came to know that Rinpoche was found possessing a Bhutanese diplomatic passport.”
Nepal, home to some 20,000 Tibetans, has accommodated Tibetan exiles for decades but has come under increasing pressure from China, a major donor for the impoverished country, to crack down on the political protests by Tibetan refugees on its territory.
The body of Shamar Rinpoche was kept at the Karmapa Buddhist Institute in New Delhi till July 1st, and then at Diwakar Institute in Kalimpong.
Shamar Rinpoche Mipham Chokyi Lodro was born in Derge, Tibet. At the age of four he was recognized by the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpei Dorje as the 14th Shamarpa.
The 14th Shamar Rimpoche was one of the three main disciples of the previous Karmapa. After the death of the 16th Karmapa, Shamarpa recognized Thaye Dorje as the 17th Karmapa in 1994. However, Tai Situpa Rinpoche chose another boy, Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the 17th Karmapa who was approved by the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
