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                       17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje

The Indian government has issued a request that the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje return to his temporal home. This request follows the revelation that he had acquired a Dominican passport this month after extending his stay in the United States. Citing the importance of his return to the Tibetan refugee community, Indian officials have offered certain assurances in order to negotiate his homecoming.

Having expressed a desire to travel without any hindrance, Ogyen Trinley Dorje is said to have acquired the passport in order to circumvent foreign travel restrictions imposed by India, which once questioned whether the lama was working as a foreign agent after his dramatic escape from occupied Tibet. Ogyen Trinley Dorje has since been assured that he is no longer suspected of such charges, and that he would be permitted to travel more freely both domestically and abroad.

Notably, the revocation of previous travel restrictions would include the right to travel to the Indian state of Sikkim, where he had been completely denied the right to visit since arriving in India in 2000. Travelling to Sikkim is of particular importance since it is home to the Rumtek Monastery, which is the traditional seat of the Gyalwang Karmapa. However, Indian officials have made clear that this new policy would not include the right to visit the monastery itself, especially since there is an ongoing legal dispute between two claimants for the title of Karmapa. In addition to easing travel restrictions, the Indian government has also started scouting land near New Delhi for the purpose of providing Ogyen Trinley Dorje with a larger and more centrally located monastic compound.

According to Sikyong Lobsang Sangay, President of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, Ogyen Trinley Dorje will return to Dharamshala this November to attend a meeting of the heads of the different religious sects of Tibetan Buddhism. However, some have expressed concern that he may instead seek asylum abroad since a previous promise to return by June 2018 went unfulfilled. His absence, which is said to be an embarrassment to Indian intelligence agencies, also has important geopolitical implications.