The government has asked Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who is in the United States, to return to India as desired by his followers, officials said Wednesday.
The Cabinet Committee on Security, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has also decided to allot a piece of land to the Karmapa in Delhi to construct his monastery.
The government has asked the Karmapa to return to India as his followers want him to stay in the country, an official privy to the development said.
However, the official said, the Tibetan spiritual leader is believed to be reluctant to return to India as he wants unrestricted movement within the country as well as abroad.
Currently, he is allowed to travel anywhere in India, except the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim, but he has to take the permission of authorities for his travel due to objections raised by the intelligence agencies.
The Karmapa is upset that he has to take permission every time he wants to go anywhere, unlike the Dalai Lama, who is free to travel anywhere without restriction, the official said.
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Dorje uses a Dominican Republic passport for his travel abroad.
The CCS has decided to allot a piece of land to the Karmapa in Delhi, possibly in the Dwarka area, another official said.
The Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, also the chairman of the Delhi Development Authority, is scouting for land and is expected to decide the place soon.
The Karmapa wants to build a monastery as his current abode in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh is small, the official said.
The Sikkimese Buddhists who follow the Khagyu sect recognise the 32-year-old Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the real heir and successor of the 16th Karmapa who passed away in 1981.
However, the central government had banned entry of all claimants to the title of Karmapa to the Rumtek monastery in East Sikkim in 1994.
The Sikkim government has written several times and passed resolutions, requesting the Centre to allow Dorje to make his claim as the 17th Karmapa. The Centre has, however, not given any decision on it yet.
Dorje, head of the Karma Khagyu (Black Hat) tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, was born in Tibet and had escaped to India through Nepal at the age of 14. He reached the Tibetan exile quarters at McLeod Ganj on January 5, 2000.
He is recognised by the Dalai Lama.