Dalai Lama holds mass gathering

[third eye]

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Dalai Lama holds mass gathering


Tens of thousands of ethnic Tibetans have poured into the town of Tawang in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh to hear an address by the Dalai Lama.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader is currently on a week-long tour of Arunachal Pradesh - itself a source of dispute between Beijing and Delhi.

Beijing has accused the Dalai Lama of trying to undermine its rule in Tibet and says the visit is anti-China.

The Dalai Lama insists his visit is a spiritual lecture tour.

The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 when Chinese troops crushed an attempted uprising in Tibet.

In August this year, the Dalai Lama, 74, made another hugely controversial visit - to Taiwan, another region China considers part of its territory.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Tawang says tens of thousands of people began pouring into Tawang in the early hours of Monday morning to hear the Dalai Lama speak.

Many had travelled for days to be there and some had come from neighbouring Bhutan, our correspondent says.

Banners and Buddhist prayer flags lined the streets.

"It made us very happy to catch a glimpse of him. Nobody is more important to us than him. The Dalai Lama is our god," Karmayacha, who travelled 20 miles to attend the meeting, told the Associated Press news agency.

People packed an open-air polo ground to hear the Dalai Lama's address.

"Compassion and peace are the two words that should be remembered by all," the Dalai Lama is quoted by the AFP news agency as saying when he opened his programme of religious teaching.

He also opened a hospital in the town, to which he had contributed 2m rupees ($40,000).

Although it is a remote frontier town, Tawang has immense strategic value. Its 300-year-old monastery is one of the most influential outside of Tibet.

Thousands of Buddhist devotees listen to Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama during a preaching session in Tawang, in the northeastern Arunachal Pradesh state, India, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009
Many devotees travelled for days to see the Dalai Lama

It was at this monastery that the Dalai Lama sought refuge when he fled 50 years ago.

The Dalai Lama has made a number of visits to the town over the years since then.

"My visit to Tawang is non-political and aimed at promoting universal brotherhood and nothing else," the Dalai Lama said on Sunday.

Arunachal Pradesh's Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu said Beijing had "no right to interfere in India's internal matters".

The trip comes just weeks after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh.

China strongly criticised that trip, accusing Mr Singh of ignoring its concerns.

China and India fought a brief border war in 1962 - partly over Arunachal Pradesh - and the frontier has yet to be settled despite several rounds of talks.

Trade between China and India has flourished in recent years, but several border disputes - including over Kashmir and Sikkim - have never been resolved.

Mistrust between Delhi and Beijing has recently gained momentum with reports in the Indian media of Chinese incursions along the border.

BBC correspondents say the fact that India has allowed the Dalai Lama's visit to go ahead is a sign of current tensions.

When the two countries enjoyed better relations, especially in the late 1990s, Delhi did not allow the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh or any area contested by China.

[Bullhead]

Please do care to look at these maps...


Communist Countries before USSR Break Up:




Communist Countries Now:


Comments: Each and every Communist country has till now disintegrated buy itself...without any external help.

Lets see who gets fractured...and when.

[SinoIndusFriendship]

Originally Posted by Bullhead

Please do care to look at these maps...

Comments: Each and every Communist country has till now disintegrated buy itself...without any external help.

Lets see who gets fractured...and when.

How many Caste-regimes exist in the world? One or Two?

In the past during the age of European Colonization there were dozens. When Apartheid S Africa existed there were 3. Now there's only 2 left: India + Israel.

Let's see which is the last one standing.

[grey boy 2]

I wonder how long India can still play with this old fool DL's card ?

He is close to 80 years old, hell will be his only destination very soon.

Those play with fire will surely get burn at the end.

[SinoIndusFriendship]

Originally Posted by grey boy 2

I wonder how long India can still play with this old fool DL's card ?

He is close to 80 years old, hell will be his only destination very soon.

Those play with fire will surely get burn at the end.

Best comment you said in a while comrade! Sometimes I wonder if India is playing with the DL or if it is playing with itself?

[seiko]

Originally Posted by SinoIndusFriendship

How many Caste-regimes exist in the world? One or Two?

In the past during the age of European Colonization there were dozens. When Apartheid S Africa existed there were 3. Now there's only 2 left: India + Israel.

Let's see which is the last one standing.

What do you meant by caste regimes??If you mean countries on religious basis there are lots of countries ... but seriously i don't get what you are saying..can you please elaborate??

[dabong1]

Will the indians let the Dalai Lama have Tawang where they can set a country called tibet and then maybe the chinese might take more notice of indians clames of wanting a free tibet and might follow the indian lead?

[seiko]

Originally Posted by grey boy 2

Yeah right, better worry about your country first when;

(1) India tops world hunger chart, worry about your stomarch first.
India tops world hunger chart- Politics/Nation-News-The Economic Times

(2) India rank 134 out of 182 countries in Human development.
India and the Human Development Index | The Imagined Universe

(3) India rank 171 out of 175 countries in public health spending.
India ranks 171 out of 175 in public health spending, says WHO study - India - The Times of India

This is the real image of the so called Incredible India, enjoy !

Here we go again....why dont you stick this post..It will help you from posting this thing again and again..

[Bullhead]

Originally Posted by grey boy 2

Do Indians Caste-democracy believe in basic human dignity ?

India Failing to Control Open Defecation Blunts Nation?s Growth - Bloomberg.com

Caste-democracy:

I never knew that Democracy had that branch as well...care to elaborate.....Please

[Nemesis]

As it has been rightly pointed out that the Dalai Lama wont be around for long. However, what happens if the next Dalai Lama happens to be from tawang?? No wonder the Peoples republic of China is making noises about Arunachal .

I personally think India has conveyed the message that India is willing to use the Dalai card whenever it wants

Call me naive but the GOI shouldnt use Dalai Lama as a strategic asset. We should take a "Free Tibet stand" not because it would give us strategic leveling against China but because it is the right thing to do.

[Kavin]

Originally Posted by grey boy 2

I wonder how long India can still play with this old fool DL's card ?

It is China, which plays DL's card. See below..

Dalai Lama says China reading too much political meaning into his travels

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, said Saturday that China was overpoliticizing his travels and claimed his decisions on where to go were spiritual in nature, not political

Originally Posted by grey boy 2

He is close to 80 years old, hell will be his only destination very soon.

If you believe in Hell/Paradise thing, you should also accept only God can judge whether his destination is hell or paradise, am I right?

[Kavin]

No Strain India - China Relation Due To Dalai Lam's Arunachal Trip, Says India

Saying that the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh cannot pose any strain for the India – China bilateral ties, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said that the relationship will acquire "more substance and relevance" in days to come.

"There is no strain in bilateral ties," Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said while answering the media on questions related to the straining of Sino-India bilateral tries due to Dalai lama’s Nov 8 Arunachal visit.

"Our position is very clear," Rao said, stressing that Dalai Lama is free to visit any place in India, till he does not meddle with the political activities of the nation.

Describing the relationship with China as "complex", Rao said the rise of India and China was "a source of dynamism" in the region and the world.

Addressing the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses seminar, which was being held on discussion related to South Asia, she mentioned that India-China relationship will be acquiring "greater dynamism and relevance" in the future and will not be affected by the presence of “outstanding issues".

She also mentioned that such issues would take some time and entail greater political will on part of both countries.

[PlanetWarrior]

Originally Posted by praveen

gentlemen ignore the two trolleteers and continue with the discussion.I personally think India has conveyed the message that India is willing to use the Dalai card whenever it wants

Dalai Lama is the spiritual head of the Buddhists. China has millions of Buddhists and so do India. If the Chinese government and some of the Communist supporting people of China choose to shun Buddhism and religion then surely all they could do is let the spiritual head of Buddhism visit any part of any country in which he is a guest. Demanding that the world shuns the Dalai Lama purely because some people in Tibet still view him as the head of government of Tibet (a stance which he rejects) is pure bullying of an old spiritual leader by China. They were successful in getting South Africa to recently reschedule his visit (an act which was condemned by Mandela) but India must stick to its rule of religious tolerance and not bow to China on this issue. Buddhists are a significant minority in India and their beliefs like all other religious beliefs in India must be respected and protected by the Indian government.

[praveen]

Originally Posted by PlanetWarrior

Dalai Lama is the spiritual head of the Buddhists. China has millions of Buddhists and so do India. If the Chinese government and some of the Communist supporting people of China choose to shun Buddhism and religion then surely all they could do is let the spiritual head of Buddhism visit any part of any country in which he is a guest. Demanding that the world shuns the Dalai Lama purely because some people in Tibet still view him as the head of government of Tibet (a stance which he rejects) is pure bullying of an old spiritual leader by China. They were successful in getting South Africa to recently reschedule his visit (an act which was condemned by Mandela) but India must stick to its rule of religious tolerance and not bow to China on this issue. Buddhists are a significant minority in India and their beliefs like all other religious beliefs in India must be respected and protected by the Indian government.

Buddhism is not a monolith there are many branches in it .Dalai lama is the head of the Vajrayana buddhism which originated in bengal during the Pala rule ,later followed by Tibetians.They are actually afraid that they are losing the window of opprotunity ,while dealing with India.If they are not able to do it now in the nxt 5-10 years .They will not be able to for eternity because even india is on a high growth trajectory.Sending him to Tawang shows India does not care two hoots about China

[Bezerk]

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