It seems India is convinced to lift the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa’s travel restrictions imposed on him. The Home Ministry has proposed to lift the travel restrictions imposed upon the Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorjee to the Cabinet Committee on Security.
The Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorjee based in Himachal Pradesh in India has been restricted to travel across India with a condition to seek prior permission from New Delhi. The Home Ministry has proposed to lift that restriction to allow him to travel across India freely.
However it does not propose to exempt him from the ban imposed upon all the three Karamapa’s title claimants to visit the Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim.
“The Home Ministry has proposed to the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) that the Karmapa be allowed to travel to any part of the country, except Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, without seeking prior permission from New Delhi.” said the report in the Indian Express.
“All this while, the Karmapa had to wait for the Home Ministry’s clearance to travel in India. After the Cabinet Committee on Security clears the proposal, all he will have to do is to inform the Home Ministry about his travels. Except Sikkim, he can travel anywhere,” a Ministry official said.
The proposal is an indication that India is convinced of the fact the Karmapa is not a ‘Chinese spy’, which the Indian security agencies had long suspected about him. Since his arrival into India in the year 2000 at the age of 14, he had been ordered to seek prior permission to visit places of strategic importance in India.
Though the Dalai Lama has endorsed Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the 17th Karmapa, it does not necessarily mean that the latter succeeds him, said Amitabh Mathur, Adviser to the Home Ministry on Northeast subjects, including Tibetan affairs. The Karmapa’s travel restrictions seemingly eased up after the inauguration of the NDA government led by Shri. Narendra Modi. He was cleared to visit the controversial Arunachal Pradesh state in India.
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