China denies Karmapa links

Ananth Krishnan

 

PTI Buddhist monks during a candlelight vigil in support of 17th Karmapa Ugyen Trinley Dorjee, popularly known as Karmapa Lama in Bodhgaya.

The Chinese government has denied suggestions that it had links with the 17th Karmapa, whose monastery was recently raided in Dharamshala, saying the accusation reflected the Indian government's mistrust towards China.

An official of the Communist Party’s United Front Work Department, which is in charge of minority and religious affairs and Beijing’s representative in talks with the exiled Tibetan religious leader the Dalai Lama, said media reports in India were inaccurate.

“The speculation by India’s media, regarding the matter of the Karmapa as a Chinese agent or spy, shows that India is keeping its mistrustful attitude toward China,” Xu Zhitao, an official at the department, told the State-run Global Times newspaper on Sunday.

Nearly $ 1.6 million in foreign currencies was found following a raid in a monastery in Dharamshala. Representatives of the Karmapa, who is the head of the Kagyu school and one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most revered leaders, said the money was from donations from his followers.

They have denied Indian media reports which claimed that the money, which included notes in Chinese Yuan as well as other curriences, was an indication of the Karmapa's ties to the Chinese government. As yet, Indian authorities have released no evidence to suggest links between the Karmapa’s monastery and the Chinese government.

The Karmapa is a widely revered figure among Tibetans in China –perhaps second only to the Dalai Lama – and receives donations from his followers here every year. Many Tibetans, including one writer here who has been a prominent critic of the Chinese government’s religious policies in Tibet, have expressed anger online at the claims that the Karmapa was a Chinese spy.

The Dalai Lama has indicated his support to the Karmapa, calling for a thorough indication. He also said the Karmapa had many devotees in China, and that donations would have “naturally been received” by him.

He suggested “some negligence”, rather than a political conspiracy, behind the issue.

Ogyen Trinley Dorje (25) is the 17th Karmapa. Born in Qamdo county in Tibet Autonomous Region, he was recognised in 1992. He was the first “Living Buddha” whose appointment was confirmed and approved by the Communist Party of China, which took control of Tibet in 1951.

Dorje left Tibet for India in 1999, arriving in Dharamshala. The circumstances of his departure have been debated. Some say his departure from China had caused embarrassment to the government, considering he was the first major appointment who had both the recognition of Chinese authorities as well as legitimacy among Tibetans.

In contrast, the appointment of the 11th Panchen Lama, the highest-ranking figure after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect, was controversial. Gyancain Norbu was appointed by the Chinese government in 1995. Earlier that year, Gendun Choekyi Nyima had been chosen as the 11th Panchen Lama. He subsequently disappeared and is believed to be in detention.

Norbu, who has official backing and has been presented in China as the official face of Tibetan Buddhism with both the Karmapa and the Dalai Lama in India, has not been accepted by many Tibetans in China.

The Karmapa has been seen by some as Tibetan Buddhism’s most important figure after the Dalai Lama, and as a possible successor to the Dalai Lama as a leader of the exiled Tibetan movement.

While the Chinese government often criticises the Dalai Lama as a “splittist”, it has generally refrained from commenting on the Karmapa.

The Chinese media rarely discusses either the Karmapa or his departure to India. On Monday, Mr. Xu said: “Karmapa left China in 1999 for the purpose of religious behaviors [sic], just as he claimed.”