JOIN USRecognised as a reincarnation of the 16th Karmapa by the Dalai Lama 26 years ago, Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje, who is considered the most significant Tibetan monk after the Dalai Lama, is unlikely to return to India from the US.
The 33-year old monk, who has now spent fourteen months in the US (his longest stint so far) after he left Dharamshala in May last year, may possibly stay in US "indefinitely or even seek asylum in America", an English daily reported, quoting intelligence and sources in the Himachal Pradesh police.
Unlike his stay at the Gyuto Tantric Monastery in Mcleodganj near Dharamshala — the headquarters for the Tibetan government in exile — where Dorje was under "watchful eyes", his sojourn in the US appears unrestricted.
Dorje has been staying at the Gyuto Monastery since 2001 after his exile. His prolonged unexpected stay outside India, which has left the Tibetan community "anxious", would ideally want him with them in India.
Dorje, it is said, had escaped Tibet in 1999 and reached Dharamsala in the winter of 2000 after reportedly trekking over 1,000 km, dodging the Chinese military.
The Karmapa quoted controversy in 2011 when the Himachal police, following an arrest of a driver of a local businessman, recovered several crores in many currencies from the Gyuto monastery where Dorje stayed.