Top Indian University Hosts Tibet Fest [Monday, 11 April 2011, 2:19 p.m.]
DHARAMSHALA:
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi on last Friday
hosted a day-long Tibet Fest highlighting the vibrant Tibetan cultural
heritage and the significance of Tibet on Sino-Indian relations and
Asia as a whole. The event was organised by Tibet Forum, a group of
students supportive of the Tibetan issue at JNU. Prof. S. K. Sopory, Vice Chancellor of JNU, inaugurated the event with lighting of butter lamp. The
event showcased Tibet’s cultural heritage through photo and art
exhibits and cultural performances by the Tibetan students at JNU and
those residing at the Tibetan Youth Hostel at Rohini. Yak dance by
Tibetan students was one of the highlights of the event. The
Tibet Fest also brought together a group of noted resources persons,
including scholars on Tibetan, Indian and Chinese studies, for a panel
discussion on “Tibet in Sino-Indian Relations.” Mr Thubten
Samphel, Secretary for Information at the Department of Information and
International Relations, as one of the panelists, spoke on how Tibet
maintained cultural relationship and acted as buffer between China and
India. Mr Samphel’s talk focused on three main themes, viz,
how Tibet after acquiring Buddhism from India became a cultural bridge
between China and India, Tibet as an effective buffer and Tibet as a
crucial environmental factor for the whole Asia which survives on water
originating from the Tibetan plateau. “I have conveyed and
reiterated the important message that the problem of Tibet is not only
of the people of Tibet alone but it is very much concerned with Asia as
a whole,” Mr Samphel told TibetNet.The three other panelists
were Prof Srikanth Kondapalli of Centre for East Asian Studies, JNU,
Prof Bharat Karnad of Centre for Policy Research and Prof Anand Kumar
of Centre for the Study of Social Systems, JNU.
