By Chime Tenzing
It’s now more than a decade since the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje’s epic escape journey across the Himalayas, but little has changed. He had escaped imprisonment in Tibet into a hall of mirrors in exile, but India failed to provide him a sanctuary of hope. Unfortunately, he has never found a ‘home away from home’ here, after more than a decade of his escape to the land of his masters!
The prevailing gloom over the interrogation and lawsuits against the Karmapa and his officials for the ‘unaccounted’ cash stash reportedly seized by the Indian police has been a feast of sorts to the Indian media. Under the garb of ‘breaking news’, the sensational journalism surfaced overnight everywhere, in both TV and print and the ‘speculative reportages’ based on superficial researches sent shock waves across India and abroad. Followers of the Karmapa were left fuming as well as helpless with the way Indian media carried out headlines after headlines with hypothesis that the spiritual guru, revered by millions, is a ‘Chinese spy’ and an agent of communist government with the reported links with Beijing!
While the law takes its own course, the depressing episode has opened up a Pandora’s Box of allegations against the young – from a Chinese spy to a political pawn to a money launderer! Without digging into the heart of the matter, the manner in which the press wallahs broke the news to the public did nothing more than adding insult to the injury. Among other things, it has clearly put on show the ‘unadventurous attitude’ of the Indian media and its government towards Karmapa, in particular and the Tibetan exiles, in general. Regrettably, this episode and the gossips doing rounds have brought unnecessary discomfiture in the century old guru-chela relationship between the Indian and the Tibetan communities, at least psychologically!
The ambivalent attitude of the Indian government on Karmapa has also been revealed clearly this time, again. This leaves us thinking whether Karmapa is an ‘uninvited guest’ or a ‘refugee’ in India, Or, if he is looked upon as a potential Chinese spy then why did India grant him stay permit in the first place when he escaped more than a decade ago to seek a safe haven here. Are the Indian sleuths, known for their investigative acumen, so weak and gullible that after more than a decade of his presence on the Indian soil they are still not sure about his genuine aspirations of seeking asylum in India? These are the few questions that naturally cross our mind if one is to buy the India’s unenthusiastic stance on Karmapa.
Tibetans have always regarded India as a land of arya bhumi and for this reason alone, Tibetan leaders chose India as an ideal sanctuary for its exiles. Tibetans are well aware of the plaguing population and the poverty of the country that they would never have wished to burden it more with their presence here, if it weren’t the religious ties that Tibet had with India! If I may point this out, despite the parsimonious hospitality extended to the Tibetan ‘refugees’ in India, Tibetans have always been over-generous in expressing their gratitude to the Indian people and its government for providing them a safe haven in times of hardship.
While Tibetan refugees always regard Indian brothers and their government with highest of respect, they have reasons to feel the heat of the tightening grip on them by the government with the introduction of new measures to curtail their freedom in exile. This is clear from the recent proposal made by the Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister to New Delhi for establishment of special monitoring units in its Central Bureau of Investigation in Shimla and Dharamsala – to keep tabs on ‘illegal activities’ of the Tibetans. This development clearly indicates the emergent intolerance of the ‘undesired presence’ of the Tibetan refugees in the state.
Even after more than a decade since Karmapa arrived here, the Indian government has still made no pronouncement on the Karmapa’s status. Subject to India’s Foreigners’ Act, neither citizen nor officially a refugee, he remains a stateless like all the Tibetans here. He is still forbidden from traveling to his seat in Rumtek, although the Indian government has given no official explanation why! Despite having been questioned on several occasions by Indian intelligence officials about his escape, despite the pleas and reassurance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and despite the pleas from the State Government of Sikkim, the Indian government still harbors suspicion about the Karmapa’s escape and his motives!
In a personal letter to the then Indian Prime Minister, A.B Vajpayee, Karmapa had attempted to assuage the fears of the Indian government, reiterating that he had escaped from Tibet ‘by his own choice’, and stating that ‘he wished to go to Sikkim to fulfill the wishes of his followers’.
It maybe noteworthy to learn that in the course of his journey across the Himalayas, Karmapa had composed a poem, ‘A Joyful Aspiration’, which was published shortly after his arrival in India, and which had included a moving stanza praising His Holiness the Dalai Lama:
Inspiring festivals of merit in the Land of Snow
You are the Supreme One holding a pure lotus
With the beauty of all good qualities,
A treasure for eyes to behold,
May your life be long, steadfast as a diamond vajra
Whatever the rumors, Karmapa himself had made clear his devotion to the Dalai Lama, and his commitment to the cause of Tibet. He had made it clear that his escape was partly prompted by his desire to be close to the Dalai Lama. Sadly, the manner in which the recent issue was brought to limelight by the Indian media, Tibetan exiles have all the more to worry about the fate of their future on the Indian soil.
While the Indian law comes out with its own findings on the unaccounted cash seizure, it is unfortunate that despite all the refutations, facts, pleas and proofs about the real motive behind his escape to India, there has never been a superior rapport between the Indian government and the Karmapa. There has always been this curious case of ‘karmic disconnection’ between the two!
