Tibetan spiritual leader Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorjem has claimed that Indian authorities have not responded to a visa application he submitted in October, reports said. The Karmapa, who leads the Kagyu sect, said the delay made him miss a meeting with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhists.
The Karmapa, who holds a Dominican passport and is believed to be in the United States, said he has been unable to return to India and is negotiating with the Indian government. He expressed hope that the matter would be resolved at the earliest.
“As you all know, I have a new passport,” the Karmapa said in a video address to the 36th Kagyu Monlam in Bodh Gaya on January 22. “Once I got the new one, my old document Identity Certificate became invalidated. “
The Kagyu Monlam is an important Tibetan Buddhist event attended by monks from the four main schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
“I went to the Indian Embassy in New York [In October 2018] and told them I needed to turn in my old travel document, and requested them to grant me a visa on my new passport,” he said.
Unidentified officials at the Ministry of External Affairs, however, refuted the Tibetan leader’s claims, The Hindu reported on Wednesday.
The Karma Kagyu school, which the Karmapa leads, is based in Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamsala. The Karmapa escaped from Tibet in 2000 and was once suspected to have links with the Chinese.
China, which considers Tibet to be an integral part of its territory, calls the Dalai Lama a separatist leader. Tibet is governed as an autonomous region of China.
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