 India clamps travel restrictions on an influential exile monk
The Indian government has moved to limit the freedom of movement of
one of Tibetan Buddhism's most influential monks, the 24-year-old
Karmapa Lama, refusing to allow him to tour nine European countries from
May to July for a series of teachings, lectures and initiations for his
devotees.
The travel ban has caused apprehension both in the
exile community and among the Karmapa Lama's followers in the west. The
restrictions come at a time when many in the exile community
increasingly see the youthful monk, whose name is Ogyen Trinley Dorje,
as the political successor to lead the Tibetan Buddhist movement after
the Dalai Lama.
"The process has begun to find out why this
visit was not possible and what positive conditions are needed to make
the visit possible in near future," said Ringu Tulku, the coordinator of
the cancelled visit, in an email to Asia Sentinel.
It is not
necessary to look farther than Beijing. Dorje, who was named the Karmapa
Lama at the age of 7, is a particular bête noir to the Chinese, who
gave him recognition as Tibet's first living Buddha and had hoped to
groom him as an influential and patriotic Tibetan leader, giving him
gifts including a color television and a car. He ranks as the spiritual
leader of the Black Hat sect, one of four major schools of Tibetan
Buddhism, behind only the Dalai Lama and Panchen Lama in the Tibetan
spiritual hierarchy.
However, to Chinese fury, in December 1999
the Karmapa, then 14, pretended to go into seclusion but instead slipped
out a window of the Tsurpu Monastery with a handful of attendants. He
began a daring 1,450-kilometer winter trip across some of the most
forbidding terrain on the planet by foot, horseback, train and
helicopter to Dharamsala, making world headlines and embarrassing
Beijing. He was given refugee status by India in 2001.
Partly
for that reason, the Indian government, virtually since the Karmapa Lama
arrived in Dharamsala, has been careful to not annoy the Chinese by
allowing him unfettered movement, according to a source in New Delhi,
although it did allow him to visit the US in 2007. The cancellation of
the European trip came just before the Indian Minister for External
Affairs, SM Krishna, made an official visit to Beijing.
The
restriction of Tibetans in exile has always been at the top of agenda
for Beijing, which has complicated relations with India. Giving the
Dalai Lama a half century of free movement has allowed New Delhi to use
the Tibetan leader as a card to play in border issues with China. But
India also recognizes that restricting the freedom of the Dalai Lama,
Tibetan Buddhism's supreme leader, would create an international
firestorm and may well wish he hadn't been allowed free movement in the
first place. Thus restricting the young Karmapa's travel could be viewed
as a way of stopping trouble before it begins. Permission to travel
either to other parts of India or overseas is granted only at the
discretion of the Indian government.
"In 2008, he sought
permission to visit some forward areas of Himachal Pradesh and Leh
Ladakh, but New Delhi refused," the Delhi source said. "Obviously, New
Delhi didn't want to annoy the Chinese, who were hypersensitive about
the Beijing Olympics and would definitely have viewed Indian permission
to the Karmapa to visit areas close to the Chinese border just before
the Olympics as an unfriendly act."
The Karmapa Lama himself in a
statement to his Europe devotees said "My proposed visit has had to be
cancelled for reasons beyond my control. I was very much looking forward
to meeting with my European students, visiting your dharma centers,
giving teachings, and having the opportunity to gain first-hand
experience and insight into the great variety of European life and
culture."
"I was wholeheartedly preparing for this visit so you
will understand that I too was sad and disappointed when I learned that I
would not be able to come this time. However, I hope that this is
merely a temporary setback and that I will definitely be able to visit
Europe in the near future," the monk said.
The youthful
religious leader is hugely popular among young Tibetans, partly for his
escape but also because of his undeniable charisma. He passes much of
his time in the protected top floor of Gyuto Monastery near Dharamsala, a
complex guarded by Indian policemen and intelligence officers who keep a
constant watch on his activities. He is not even allowed to roam around
the outside the complex without prior permission.
The Karmapa
gives daily public audiences and blessings in the complex, with a
limited number of private audiences twice a week. The media is mostly
kept away. He is occasionally allowed to visit the Dalai Lama and for
short trips to visit for religious functions, monasteries and schools in
and around Dharamsala.
India is also believed reluctant to
allow him to travel because his status is under challenge as the real
successor to the 16th Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, who died as a
refugee of cancer in Chicago in 1981. Trinley Thaye Dorjee is also vying
for the throne of the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, the official seat of
the Kagyu lineage. Both have been kept away until the matter is settled.
The case is in an Indian court for a ruling on who has the right to the
assets of the Black Hat Lama. His rival co-claimant lives in Kalimpong,
India and often tours European countries. Although the Dalai Lama has
endorsed Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the true Karmapa Lama, it is believed
that the pretender has strong connections to the Indian ministry and it
would have been easy for him to cancel his rival's trip.
Although
the Karmapa Lama has spoken many times about his desire to enroll into a
university for formal education, particularly to learn modern science,
with his movement restricted, his desire remains unfulfilled.
The
Tibetan government-in-exile spokesman Samphel Thupten said he respects
the Indian government's decision. "We have always wanted the Karmapa
Lama to visit places abroad to reach more students, his disciples.
However, as the Tibetan government in exile sees it, it would be
improper to speak against our host India; it is bound under the Indian
authorities' decision and will follow that".
However, since the
Europe tour cancellation has come into light, the exile community and
Buddha practitioners in the West across has demanded urgent action,
signing petitions and letters to the Indian government. Tibetan exiles
and thousands of western followers from more than 30 countries have
signed the petitions.
Charlee Parkison, a student of Karmapa Lama
in the United States and her group are heading the global petition,
called "The Roaring Lions," says thousands have signed their plea to
allow the Karmapa Lama freedom of movement. "We want the Karmapa to come
in West to teach us, his messages of compassion," Parkison said.
Lobsang
Wangyal, an exiled Tibetan photojournalist, says India still has to
prove what it stands for in terms of political freedom.
"It
would be in the best interest of India to allow the trip," he
said."Tibetans are not happy to see the current decision but hope the
trip will be allowed eventually. It's just a matter of time; the
restriction shouldn't have been put at the very first place as India
loses face on the global level."
Saransh Sehgal is based in
Dharamsala, India. He can be reached at
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