Rising on a Tawang peak overlooking Tibet: 80-feet statue of the female Buddha

At the centre of a boundary dispute between India and China, Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh is now gearing for the installation of a 80-feet high statue of Tara — the female Buddha, typically associated with Buddhist tantra practice as preserved in Tibetan Buddhism, is also the “mother of liberation” — a top a strategically located peak which is 11,000 feet high and overlooks Tibet and Bhutan.

With infrastructure upgrade in Tawang already high on the government’s agenda several projects, including an airstrip on a hilltop, are being expedited this move to install a statue is being viewed as another assertion of Indian control over the area. The Centre has already released seed-money for the project, estimated to cost US $2.33 million.

Officially christened as the White Tara Project (WTP), the project envisages developing the Lumla peak into a Buddhist tourist destination, complete with prayer halls, meditation centres, museum and a library. The giant statue of Tara Devi is intended to give the spot a distinct tourist identity in addition to attracting Tibetan Buddhists among whom the deity enjoys a special place.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.indianexpress.com

Will carry it, not for china but with a prayer forTibet, blogs Aamir Khan

After Indian soccer star Baichung Bhutia, it is the turn of film actor Aamir Khan to express his solidarity with the Tibetan cause - but in a completely contrasting fashion.

While Bhutia declined an invitation to participate in the Olympic torch relay when it comes to India on April 17, saying it was his way of standing by the people of Tibet, Aamir Khan today spurned calls for a similar boycott and said he will run "...not in support of China... but with a prayer in my heart for the people of Tibet..."

Stressing that he had "the highest regard and respect for the struggle that the people of Tibet are going through," Aamir Khan said he would still run because the Olympic Games did not belong to China but to the entire human race".

In fact, if we were to try and find on this planet a place to hold the Olympic Games where the government of that place has not been responsible for human rights violations (in one way or the other), then I suspect that we would be left with very few options, if any at all," he wrote in his blog today.

To read the full article, click here
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.indianexpress.com

Beijing calls NSA over Tibet, says he has promised not to allow anti-China activity

Keen to ensure that the violence in Tibet did not cause a strain on its bilateral ties with New Delhi, China today reached out to India to apprise it of the situation in Lhasa and seek continuing support from India on the issue.

Chinese State Councillor Dan Bingguo spoke to National Security Advisor M K Narayanan over phone today and explained Beijing's stand on the situation in Tibet, China's state news agency Xinhua reported. It said Bingguo expressed the hope that India would "continue to show understanding and support" to the Chinese position.

On his part, Narayanan is said to have reaffirmed India's position that Tibet is part of Chinese territory and New Delhi would not allow Tibetans to carry out anti China political activities from Indian soil.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.indianexpress.com