CHAMLING WRITES TO SUSHMA FOR KARMAPA'S VISIT TO SIKKIM

GANGTOK: Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Kumar Chamling has written to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj seeking permission for the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje's visit to the northeastern state. The Karmapa is the head of the 900-year-old Karma Kagyu lineage. He resides at his temporary home, the Gyuto monastery, in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh after making a dramatic escape from Tibet in 2000. "I have written a letter to Sushma Swaraj seeking her assistance and cooperation in permitting the 17th Karmapa, His Holiness Ogyen Trinley Dorje, to visit any monastery in Sikkim, if not Rumtek Monastery, to bless our people," Chamling said.