Chamling requests the PM to recognise the Karmapa

Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee has been requested by Sikkim Chief Minister Pawan Chamling to recognise the 17th Karmapa of the Kargyupa sect of Buddhism.In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr. Chamling said that the 17th Karmapa, often refered to as the red sect, is one of the four sects of Buddhism having about 300 monasteries of its own throughout the world.

Mr. Chamling also claimed that on this issue the Chinese authorities are in agreement with the Dalai Lama. He further poined out that the incarnate of the 16th Karmapa was recognised by the Dalai Lama in 1992 and called for immediate action in this regard to put an end to the smimmering controversy to avoid international ramification.

He also urged the Government of India to help in bringing the 17th Karmapa to the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim from the occupied Tibet in China.The three-page letter of the Chief Minister bore an explaination over the background of the controversy over the incarnation of the 16th Karmapa.

Meanwhile, the chief secretary to the Sikkim Government, in a letter to the cabinet secretary, has clarified that there was no record of a letter, purported to be written by the former chief secretary to the then cabinet secretary and the intelligence agencies regarding the Rumtek controversy.