Karmapa Lama comes out of the cold

Karmapa Lama comes out of the cold
SUNETRA CHOUDHURY

NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 21: Emerging out of his isolation in Dharamshala, the 17th Karmapa, Urgyen Thinley Dorje, arrived in the capital today and expressed his wish to meet his devotees across the country, especially those in the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim. The Karmapa was on his way to his first pilgrimage -- which includes stops in Varanasi and Bodh Gaya -- since his controversial entry into India last January after a 900-mile trek across the Himalayas from Tibet.

But hundreds of devotees who had lined the streets and a large media contingent were disappointed when officials sneaked him into a hotel without even a photo-op. The Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu sect, has recently got refugee status but officials were wary about letting him meet the press.

The only people allowed to meet him were former Union Ministers and Rajya Sabha MPs Ram Jethmalani and Buta Singh and Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Kumar Chamling.

After Jethmalani told authorities that the ``world is watching and it (keeping him isolated) will give out wrong signals,'' it was decided that the Karmapa would walk out into the balcony so that the media below could photograph him.

Buta Singh was accompanied by Jain sanyasins during his audience with the Karmapa. Sources said he was invited because of his close relationship with Lobo Lobzang, one of the organisers and a member of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

Jethmalani, on the other hand, has been a vocal supporter of Dorje and had reportedly lobbied for him in the government as Law Minister. Jethmalani is also the legal advisor of the controversial Tai Situ Rimpoche, one of the high priests of the Kagyu order, who was persona non grata in India till 1998. Situ Rimpoche, who has several CBI cases against him, was the one who identified Dorje as the 17th Karmapa.

The Karmapa towered over the others in the room with his six-feet frame and looked older than his 15 years. As most of the interaction was through the interpreter, he would smile shyly when someone said something to him, as an acknowledgement.

He gave the traditional scarf with a bow to Jethmalani who responded by saying, ``I should be doing this to you.''

Jethmalani then asked him what he expected from the Indian government. ``I can then pressurise them to grant you that,'' he told the Karmapa. To this, he hesitated, so Jethmalani said: ``If you want, you can tell me later in writing.''

The Karmapa then said: ``I have come to see my devotees and followers all across India. We want to especially meet the devotees in Sikkim, which is a state of India.''

Jethmalani said that he sensed a kind of ``secret pressure'' exerted on India by China due to which he had not been allowed to visit the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, the headquarters of the Karma Kagyu order.

Jethmalani further said that the government should realize his role as a spiritual, cultural and religious figure and not just a political one, to which the Karmapa nodded. Jethmalani then said: ``But then again, you would be concerned about political issues such as the human rights of the people of Tibet.'' At this, the Karmapa smiled: ``I understand what you are saying.''

Jethmalani invited him for a reception where he said leaders of various political parties would be present, when the Karmapa returned from his pilgrimage in March. After this meeting, the Karmapa met Sikkim CM Chamling and his wife.

Chamling later told the media that he would request the Prime Minister to allow the Karmapa to visit Rumtek. Incidentally, the rival claimant to the title, Trinlay Thaye Dorje was in the Capital, last week.

The Karmapa leaves on his pilgrimage tomorrow.