CCS to decide whether to allow Karmapa to visit Sikkim

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will take a call on whether to allow Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje to visit Sikkim as demanded by the people of the state, a home ministry official said.
The Home Ministry has prepared a note on the Karmapa's visit to Sikkim and sent it for approval to the CCS, the highest decision making body of the country's security matters, the official said on condition of anonymity.
However, the Karmapa will not be allowed to enter the Rumtek monastery located in East Sikkim, even though he may be allowed to visit the state, the official said.

The central government had banned entry of all the three claimants to the title of Karmapa to the Rumtek monastery in East Sikkim in 1994.
The Sikkimese Buddhists who follow the Khagyu sect recognise the 31-year-old Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the real heir and successor of the 16th Karmapa who passed away in 1981.
The Sikkim government has written several times and passed resolutions requesting the Centre to allow Ogyen Trinley Dorjee to make his claim as the 17th Karmapa. The Centre has, however, not given any decision on it yet.

Ogyen Trinley 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 presently lives in Dharamsala and is also recognised by the Dalai Lama.
A delegation of monks of various monasteries of Sikkim had met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in May and urged him to grant early permission for Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje's visit to the state.