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| Tawang, in preparation |
| Saturday November 7, 2009 |
| The apparent sense of alienation in India's Northeast is perhaps never felt as acutely as in Arunachal Pradesh, particularly Tawang where the international media community has descended to report on the arrival of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. Foreign nationals representing the media were denied entry at the last minute. It's as remote as it can be. Telephones refuse to connect. Internet is a matter of chance. Water supply and electricity can also be scarce. But there's little dissatisfaction amongst its residents. They hope that things will be better someday. But for now, life is as usual. Tawang is in bridal makeup. Dressed for the occasion to receive their Spiritual Guru. Every resident is busy cleaning roads. The traditional gates found at every bend, are being repainted. All prayer flags are getting a makeover. It's a pretty picture of festivity. "We are very happy, and in the hills prayers have been going on to ensure that he can make it here smoothly," says the head priest of the Tawang Monastery. Behind the pretty picture though, there is a sense outside Tawang that China is almost certainly going to react to India allowing The Dalai Lama to visit the border town, which is the unlikely eye of confrontation between the two countries. And though there's nothing on the ground to convey that concern, the Head Priest of the Tawang Monastery Ven, Guru Tulku Rinpoche was clear about there stand on China's recent provocative statements. "The past is past. Yes, the Tibetan govt was here and this place paid tax to Tibet. But after MacMohan line, it became part of India. China should realize that for world peace and peace in Asia, they shouldn't make such illegal claims. The people here are Indians and they are happy to be in India, so why should they force us? This is a peaceful place, no insurgency etc so both countries should work towards more peace". On roadside banners, Indo-Tibet friendship is the only visible sign and there's sympathy for the Tibetan cause. People are quite open about their support for Tibet. Guru Rinpoche himself was vocal about it when I asked him whether there is any sympathy for the Tibetan cause. "Yes ofcourse, it's the same people, same religion and they have been hurting Buddhists, destroying our faith...before 1959, people from here would go to Lhasa. When the situation worsens, it hurts us. In March 2008, there was unrest there and we held prayers here and candle light marches for the people there. So yes, we are concerned. And our Guru is from Tibet and when his country hurts, we are also hurt" This visit is as important to the Indian government as it is to Tawang. The Dalai Lama will inaugurate a hospital and address a gathering on religious discourse. But underlining the visit is also India's affirmation that Tawang and Arunachal Pradesh are an integral part of India, despite China's continuous claim over it. In pics: Tawang set to welcome Dalai Lama |
Kishalay Bhattacharjee is a broadcast journalist obsessed with the audio visual medium. Very opinionated that journalism is far removed from activism and he hates long bios. An Edward Murrow Fellow, Kishalay received the Ramnath Goenka Award for Journalism 2006-2007.
