The Hindu : Sikkim outfit for recognition of boy monk as Karmapa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 17, 2002

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Sikkim outfit for recognition of boy monk as Karmapa

By Our Special Correspondent

Urgen Thinley Dorji

KOLKATA SEPT. 16. The Joint Action Committee of the All-Sikkim Buddhist Organisation today petitioned the Centre to recognise the boy monk, Urgen Thinley Dorji, as the 17th Karmapa of Sikkim's Rumtek monastery, seat of the Karma Kagyu sect of Buddhism.

The boy monk arrived in Kolkata today on a three-day visit amid tight security.

"Over the past two-and-a-half years since his (Dorji's) arrival in India from Tibet, this is a burning issue. Not only is it a popular demand of the people of Sikkim, but also of Buddhist followers the world over,'' Karma Chungyalpa, general secretary of the committee, a conglomerate of 42 Buddhist organisations in Sikkim, said in a statement here. He said Dorji enjoyed the support of the Sikkim Government as well as the All-Sikkim Monk Body Organisation. Dorji had fled Tibet to impart Buddha's teachings and receive empowerment, transmission and instruction of the Karma Kagyu tradition.

"In his own words, he could receive those empowerments from Situ Rinpoche and Gyaltsen Rinpochen, principal disciples of the former Karmapa, both of whom reside in India,'' he added.

On December 28, 1999, Dorji escaped from the 800-year-old Tsurphu monastery in central Tibet along with his five followers and reached Nepal. Later, he escaped to India and took refuge in Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh on January 5, 2000.

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Sikkim outfit for recognition of boy monk as Karmapa