Indian official says boy lama yet to seek asylum

January 15, 2000
Web posted at: 12:55 p.m. EST (1755 GMT)

NEW DELHI, India (CNN) -- A senior Indian official denied on Saturday earlier reports that the Karmapa Lama, who fled Chinese-ruled Tibet to India 10 days ago, has asked for political asylum.

Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes said he was not aware of any request made either by the Karmapa or anyone else for the lama's political sanctuary in India.

"In so far as political asylum is concerned, till (Friday) when I was there, there is no word of any kind of a direct request from Karmapa or from anyone on his behalf asking for political asylum," Fernandes told reporters in a New Delhi, India, news briefing Saturday.

Comments contradict earlier reports

Fernandes' comments contradict reports in Indian newspapers and from the official Press Trust of India on Friday that Tibet's parliament-in-exile in Dharmsala, India, had written a letter to the Indian government urging it to grant asylum to the 14-year-old lama.

MESSAGE BOARD Dalai Lama     RESOURCES TIME: Thunder Out of China

The Karmapa arrived at the Dharmsala monastery, home of the exiled Dalai Lama, on January 5 with his followers, including his sister, after a grueling eight-day, 875-mile trek across the Himalayas. Indian newspapers, The Times of India and the Tribune, report that the Karmapa wants to stay in India.

Karmapa was unhappy under Beijing's rule

The 17th Karmapa Lama, the highest Tibetan lama whose authority is recognized by China, had earlier been reported as saying he was frustrated by religious repression in China, and that he was upset he was not allowed to meet with his teachers in India.

China denies that the lama wanted to defect, and says he is welcome to return.

His enthronement was approved by China in 1992, and was used by Chinese officials as a symbol of their toleration of Tibetan Buddhism.

His defection is the most significant departure from Lhasa, Tibet, since Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after China's communist army entered Tibet and otherthrew the Buddhist theocracy there.

Correspondent Kasra Naji and Reuters contributed to this report.

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