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India hems and haws on Karmapa's future as China frowns

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

Even as the government continued stonewalling questions on the fate of the 17th Karmapa Lama, the third highest spiritual authority of the Tibetan Buddhists, his followers and pro-Tibetan groups have begun to step up pressure on the government to grant him asylum in India.

The Karmapa Lama, who made a dramatic escape from his monastery outside Lhasa in Tibet and crossed the snowbound Himalayas to arrive in India last week, has been shifted to a secret place near Dharamshala. The Karmapa Lama, 14-year-old Urgyen Trinley Dorje, is revered as a Living Buddha and also as head of the Kagyu sect of Buddhists.

The government today continued with its bland statements, saying it was looking into the matter. "As of today, we are still inquiring into the arrival of the Karmapa Lama to India," said the ministry of external affairs' spokesperson.

He added that once the government did have details on the arrival and its implications, it would make a statement.

The spokesperson reiterated that the government had not received any request for the grant of asylum for the Karmapa Lama nor had any Western nation put pressure on India to provide asylum to the Karmapa Lama.

However, while India has almost always accepted requests for political asylum, there have been notable occasions in the past like with Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, and earlier with Svetlana, daughter of Soviet leader Josef Stalin who later left for the US.

According to news agencies, the Chinese government spokesman Zhu Bangzad said he was confident that India would take the "right" step keeping in mind the improving Sino-Indian relations.

The Chinese spokesman insisted that the Karmapa Lama had not fled the country but had just gone abroad. Asked what Beijing would do if the Karmapa Lama fled China and if India did grant the Lama asylum, he replied, "There are too many ifs in your question and cannot be replied."

Meanwhile, even as the government continued to go slow on the case, the supporters of the 17th Karmapa Lama began showing their support and demanding that the government grant asylum to him.

Former Jammu and Kashmir minister Pinto Norbu, a Buddhist who hails from Ladakh, said the escape is of great significance and a blow to Beijing.

"China understood the importance of the Karmapa Lama and had sought to build him up as an alternative to the Dalai Lama in Tibet," he said.

Norbu said he hoped that India would continue with its fine traditions and grant asylum to the Karmapa Lama. "In the normal course of events, India should grant asylum. After all, it has granted asylum to so many Tibetans who have fled persecution in Tibet," he added.

The Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association has also welcomed the arrival of the Karmapa Lama to India. The association pointed out that many of his followers live in India, from Ladakh in the northwest to Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast and that his predecessor, the 16th Karmapa Lama, had established the Kagyu lineage at the Rumtek monastry in Gangtok, Sikkim. Thus, the association insisted that the Karmapa Lama had not fled China but "arrived home to India".

However, while there is jubilation on the one hand, there is also some concern on the other. The Kagyu sect has been divided ever since the 16th Karmapa Lama died and two successors have been named. While the Urgyen Trinley Dorje, who fled Tibet, has been recognised by both the Dalai Lama and the Chinese authorities as the successor (considered the reincarnation of the previous Lama), at Rumtek monastry, another person has been set up as the 17th Karmapa Lama.

It is feared that the rivalry between the two sets of supporters could create trouble, though not immediately. The other claimant to the Kagyu sect head, Thinley Thaye Dorje, had also escaped from Tibet to India via Nepal in March 1994.

Yet, Urgyen Trinley Dorje's supporters are insisting that he is the true successor and that he must take his rightful place at Rumtek monastry.

Both sides appear to be preparing to present their respective cases in the days to come.

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