Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's 90th birthday celebrated with devotion & joy in Gangtok
Organised by the Tibetan Settlement Office and the Tibetan community of Gangtok, the event was attended by Speaker of the Sikkim Legislative Assembly Mingma Norbu Sherpa as Chief Guest. MP Indra Hang Subba, DGP Akshay Sachdeva, and Syari MLA Tenzing Lamtha were also present.
The Kashag, the governing council of the Central Tibetan Administration, declared 2025 as the Year of
Compassion, calling on people worldwide to honour the Dalai Lama's teachings of kindness, unity, and environmental responsibility.
The event also reflected on the resilience of the Tibetan exile community, rooted in the Dalai Lama's teachings of compassion shastra, and urged all to work towards a more peaceful and unified world.
Marking the 90th birthday of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Sikkim's Lok Sabha MP Indra Hang Subba described the Tibetan spiritual leader's presence in India as a 'great luck' for the country and a beacon of hope in an increasingly troubled world.
Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang today extended his greetings to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on the revered spiritual leader's 90th birth anniversary.
In a deeply reverent message, the Chief Minister spoke on behalf of the people of Sikkim, honouring the Dalai Lama as a beacon of peace, compassion, and spiritual wisdom.
Former Chief Minister of Sikkim and President of the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF), Pawan Chamling, paid rich tribute to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on the occasion of his 90th birthday, calling him 'a guiding light for humanity' and a source of spiritual inspiration whose message transcends borders and generations.
UNI XC SS
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Why Tibet & Dalai Lama make China nervous?
Even as the Dalai Lama has called for a 'middle way' approach, the Communist Party of China (CPC) cannot come to terms with the idea of co-existing with Tibetans as its totalitarian ethno-nationalist state has no room for a non-Han group or leader — and certainly not for someone like the Dalai Lama whom his followers revere like a god. read more Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama speaks in a video broadcast at the start of the 15th Tibetan Religious Conference, a meeting of religious leaders in McLeod Ganj, near Dharamsala on July 2, 2025. (Photo: Sanjay Baid/AFP) Even as the Dalai Lama has given up the demand of Tibet's independence and has called for a 'middle way' approach, China has rejected it and has continued to call the 90-year-old leader as a 'separatist'. China has made it clear that there will not be any compromise. Under the middle way approach, the Dalai Lama has sought genuine autonomy for Tibet within the Chinese state wherein Tibetans would have rights for the management of religious, cultural, educational, linguistic, health, and environmental affairs and China would be in charge of foreign relations and defence. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD China has rejected the approach and said it calls for 'splitting China' and has accused the Dalai Lama of seeking a 'semi-independent political regime' or a 'state within a state' within China under the guise of autonomy. The real reason, however, is that an autonomous Tibet, is incompatible with Communist China's ethos. The subjugation of Tibet has been a must for the Communist Party (CPC) and any cordial co-existence has been off the table since the very beginning, according to Prof. Tej Pratap Singh, a scholar of China at the Department of Political Science at Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Indeed, one of the first things that the CPC leader Mao Zedong did after establishing the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 was to order the invasion of Tibet. The fact that Chinese began the invasion of Tibet even as Tibetan negotiators were holding talks with the Chinese envoy, General Yuan Zhongxian, in Delhi shows that talks were a ruse and the invasion was decided from the beginning. 'The People's Republic of China is an ethno-nationalist state of the Han people and the Communist Party has no tolerance for any other ethnic group having a province of their own and that too an autonomous province like Tibet. Moreover, China wanted to control Tibet to lay claims to Indian territories. So, the subjugation of Tibet and the erasure of Tibetan identity have been enshrined in the foundations of Communist China,' says Singh. Indeed, China's claims on India's Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh are rooted in its claim on Tibet. China has said that Ladakh and Arunachal are parts of Tibet, and as it claims to be a part of China, it also claims these Indian regions to be a part of China. Totalitarian China has no room for non-Han people Even though China claims to be a multi-ethnic, atheist state, it is a totalitarian ethno-nationalist state of the Han people. It's not just that the vast majority of Chinese people —91 per cent— are Han, all Chinese leaders from Mao to Xi Jinping have been Han. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD By definition, an ethno-nationalist state is one in which national identity is defined by shared ethnicity. Formally, China considers 56 ethnic groups as part of China, but that is a farce as China's policies lay bare that it is a Han ethno-nationalist state and everyone has to comply to the Han way of life. For example, China has made it clear that all religious groups and institutions in the country, whether Buddhists in Tibet or Muslims in Xinjiang, have to incorporate 'Chinese characteristics' in the practice of their religious. For Muslims, China has even gone to the length of demolishing traditional mosques and getting them rebuilt as per the architecture of the Han people. Similarly, China has set up internment camps and put hundreds of thousands of Muslims in those camps to be taught the Han way of life — China calls them 'reeducation camps'. For Tibetan Buddhists, China has denied them the right to recognise their leader, the Dalai Lama, and has said it will appoint the next Dalai Lama. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The 'Chinese' national identity is essentially Han identity and every ethnic group, whether Tibetan Buddhists or Uyghur Muslims, have to mould themselves as per the Han way of life, says Singh, the China scholar at BHU. Scholars have described the imposition of Han way of life on other groups inside China in the name of Sinicization as 'internal colonialism' where regions of non-Han people like Tibet and Xinjiang have been converted into Han colonies. No room for Tibet & Dalai Lama in China As China is an ethno-nationalist state of Han people, a Chinese leader can never tolerate someone like the Dalai Lama — even if he offers concessions like ceding the demand for independence for autonomy within the People's Republic. 'The Dalai Lama is a symbol of Tibetan Buddhists and a reminder that Tibet had remained out of China's active control for centuries. China can never allow the Dalai Lama to return to Tibet and can never allow an autonomous Tibet to coexist with China as that would give prominence to a non-Han people and their leader. That's why China is committed to not just subjugating Tibet but keeping the Dalai Lama out of Tibet and erasing the Tibetan identity with the destruction of monasteries, replacement of Tibetan language with Mandarin, and the break-up of the Tibet province,' says Singh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Historically, Tibet comprised three provinces of U-Tsang in central Tibet that included Lhasa and was the spiritual centre, eastern province of Kham, and northeastern region of Amdo that had many monasteries. China broke large parts of Kham and merged them into Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and parts of Amdo were incorporated into Qinghai and Gansu. Currently, the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) is less than half of the size of the pre-1950 Tibet. Singh says that China wants to name the next Dalai Lama as the one it would support would toe its line and lead its Sinicisation efforts. 'On the other hand, a successor recognised by Tibetans in exile, as the Dalai Lama announced last week, is bound to be anti-China and is bound to deny legitimacy to the Chinese rule in Tibet and any territorial claims on Indian land that arise from Chinese rule. That would be unacceptable to China,' says Singh. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
BJP launches three-day training camp in Chhattisgarh's Manpat; senior national leaders to participate; tribal outreach, governance in focus
BJP has initiated a three-day leadership training camp in Manpat, Chhattisgarh RAIPUR: In an initiative to bridge tribal outreach and bolster local governance, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) kicked off a three-day leadership training camp on Monday in Manpat, popularly referred to as 'Chhattisgarh's Shimla.' The high-profile event, led by BJP national president J P Nadda , is expected to conclude with a valedictory address by Union Home Minister Amit Shah . The camp has drawn several senior leaders from both state and national levels, including chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai, deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma, ten state ministers, 44 MLAs, and ten BJP MPs. CM Sai, deputy CM Sharma, MP Brijmohan Agrawal and MLA Sunil Soni arrived in Ambikapur by the Durg–Ambikapur Express on Sunday night and were escorted to Manpat by convoy on Monday morning. Nadda is scheduled to land at Darima's Maa Mahamaya Airport via a special aircraft and will travel to Manpat by helicopter. Organisers stated that the camp is exclusively intended for lawmakers and MPs and focuses on professional training related to governance, policy outreach, and public engagement. Speaking at the event, CM Sai said the training will include 12 thematic sessions delivered by national experts, including Union Ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and B L Santosh. He added that the initiative would open 'new dimensions of development' for Chhattisgarh. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 이렇게 생겼는데 말소리도 또렷이 들려주는 보청기, 무료로 체험 가능 히어닷컴 Undo Local Touch and Camp Activities The camp also embraces local culture and cuisine, serving regional dishes such as 'lakda flower chutney' and millet-based meals, in support of the 'vocal for local' campaign. The daily programme includes yoga sessions in the scenic surroundings, healthy breakfasts, interactive training modules, cultural evenings, and visits to local sites such as the Tibetan temple. Political Context and Reactions Manpat, located in the Sarguja district—a region historically affected by Maoist activity and predominantly inhabited by tribal communities—has been strategically chosen as the venue. State Finance Minister O P Chaudhary noted that such events highlight local identity and promote cultural recognition. However, Congress state communications chief Sushil Anand Shukla criticised the camp, calling it 'political tourism.' He alleged that the purpose of the event is to teach leaders 'how to use corrupt funds without getting caught.'
Deccan Herald
an hour ago
- Deccan Herald
China protests to India over PM Modi's greetings to Dalai Lama on his birthday
I join 1.4 billion Indians in extending our warmest wishes to His Holiness the Dalai Lama on his 90th birthday. He has been an enduring symbol of love, compassion, patience and moral discipline. His message has inspired respect and admiration across all faiths. We pray for his…
