Centre asks Karmapa to return

The Union government has asked Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who is in the United States, to return to India, an official said on Wednesday.

The Karmapa, however, is reluctant to come back to India as he wants restrictions on his movement within the country as well as abroad set aside, he added.

The Sikkimese Buddhists who follow the Khagyu sect recognise Dorje, 32, as the real heir and successor of the 16th Karmapa who passed away in 1981. Born in Tibet, he escaped to India through Nepal at the age of 14 in 2000 and reached the Tibetan exilequartersat McLeodganj.

Initially it was suspected that he may have been deliberately sent to India by Beijing so that he could become a leader of Tibetans living in exile here, and wean some of them away from the Dalai Lama. Restrictions were put on his movement and he was not allowed to visit the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim.

He is allowed to travel elsewhere in India but has to take the permission of authorities. Dorje uses a Dominican Republic passport for his travel abroad. He is recognised by the Dalai Lama. The government offered him a piece of land in Delhi to build a monastery but he is yet to accept the offer, an official familiar with the development said.

The Karmapa wants to build a monastery as his current home in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh is small, the official said. He is expected to return later this year to attend a meeting of all Buddhist sects in Dharamshala.

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