Birthplace of 6th Dalai Lama to be destroyed

[jessicajameson]

This week seems to be a week of Buddhist decline. AH! How depressing...

I just read on the news that plans to build 15 hydropower dams is threatening to destroy Buddhism in Tawang.

Tawang is the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama and is said to have been visited by the great saint Padmasambhava.

In one part of India, they preserve holy land (Bodhgaya) - and in another part, they have no qualms about destroying holy land. Is one land more holy than another? Is the birthplace of the 14th Dalai Lama more important than the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama?

If these dams are built, no one can enter to visit these sites for pilgrimage.

We want to find happiness, yet shoot our feet on our quest.

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Seat of Ancient Buddhism Threatened by Fifteen Proposed Dams
Tue, 01/15/2013 - 6:04am
By:
Ms. Urmi Bhattacharjee
The following is a guest blog written by Urmi Bhattacharjee, an environment and wildlife journalist from northeast India.

A protest rally by more than 1000 monks in Tawang took place on December 24
Tawang, the enchanting land of the ethnic Monpa tribe, with seven rivers that pass through it, is the hub of ancient Buddhist culture. However Tawang is experiencing a dramatic spike in social unrest and protests against 15 proposed hydropower dams, which has lead to violence by police against Buddhist Lamas (monks) who joined the protests.

Tawang is the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama and is said to have been visited by the great saint Padmasambhava. There are many holy sites associated with them in the basins of the Tawangchu and Nyamjangchhu rivers. Pilgrimages to the sacred sites of Hromang/Surbi village would not be possible if both the Tawang Chu (Stage 1 and 2) projects were built.


Monks sitting in protests on December 24 2012 demanding bail of the arrested monks
Seven men and three women activists of the Save Mon Region Federation (SMRF) were arrested on December 23rd 2012 for allegedly ransacking the office of the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC). NHPC was constructing a pavement to facilitate transport of equipment by their workers; the construction took place on private land in Kudung village and without consent from the villager. Monks who were recording the construction on video, at the request of the villagers, were also attacked. The Lamas say that even the women activists were severely beaten and subjected to third degree torture while in police custody. Locals from Tawang Monastery organized a huge rally on December 24 to demand their release;  in defiance of a ban against public gathering imposed by the District Administration. Police resorted to baton charges and tear gas to break up the rally. One monk was severely beaten and had to be hospitalized.


A monk beaten up by police during protests being attended by a medical officer on the Tawang streets while protesting against dams
Private and government developers are in the fray to develop 3500 megawatts (MW) of hydropower in the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. These 15 hydro-electric power projects are on rivers that are tributaries of the Manas River, which in turn is a tributary of the mighty Brahmaputra River. The Manas River flows through the Manas National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, which would be severely impacted by the construction of these projects.


Monks beaten up by batons for protesting against dams in Tawang
“Villagers are still not clear about how much land they would have to sacrifice and the compensation that they would get. NHPC has done nothing about employing local youths. Almost all benefits of the hydro-projects are being enjoyed by the politicians with little or no advantage to the people” said Lobsang Gyatso, General Secretary, SMRF. “Most of these projects are for the personal agenda of the builders, like the case of the M/s Bhilwara Energy Ltd. whose main idea is to supply power to Bhilwara textile factories in Rajasthan,” he said. Land for the people is a scarce resource. Of the total area of 2085 square kilometers (805 square miles) of Tawang district, more than a quarter of land has been given to the Indian army and paramilitary forces owing to its strategic importance – it lies close to Indo-China border. Another quarter is acquired by the civil administration for their uses. Having lost their land to the armed forces and the administration, people do not want to lose more land to large dams.


Site of the Bhilwara 780 MW Nymjangchu project located at Namtseling in the Lumla circle on the Nymjangchu river basin
While dam proponents together with the civil administration are cashing in on dam building, socio-political and socio-cultural concerns in Tawang are seeing an upsurge. Public grievance is mostly due to the state government’s apathetic approach while allowing these projects. The Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) are said to have been arbitrarily signed with upfront premiums paid to the state even before preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs), Environment Impact Assessment (EIAs) and public consultation. The Government of Arunachal Pradesh has signed more than 165 such MoUs. The hydropower projects have become a money-spinner for the state government. With money being received upfront, the state does its utmost to expedite all clearances for the projects at the cost of social, cultural and environmental needs.

There is a lot of resentment about the lack of transparency on part of the developers and the state. Locals were denied participation during a public hearing for the 780 MW Nyamjangchu project on 8 February 2011 on the grounds that only villages whose land is to be acquired can participate in the public hearing. One of the main concerns of the Monpa tribe is the influx of laborers for the dam construction that would irreversibly change the cultural dynamics of the area.


Kharteng village in Lumla circle, the site of the main power house of the Nyamjangchu project
Many of the proposed projects in Tawang (Tsa-Chu I, Tsa-Chu II, Tsa-Chu Lower, Thingbu Chu, Mago Chu, New Melling, Rho and Nyamjangchu) are close to the Indo-China border thus making the region strategically vulnerable in the event of aggression. This is also of concern to the people.

Cumulative impact studies to assess the ecological, socio-cultural and environment impacts have not been carried out for any of the projects. Tawang is also an Eastern Himalayan Biodiversity hotspot. It houses numerous locally threatened and endangered plants and animals including clouded leopard, snow leopard, red panda and macau mountain goat. Downstream impacts could also be felt in the Manas Tiger reserve of Assam that is contiguous with the Royal Manas National Park in Bhutan. Additionally, Tawang falls under seismic zone 5, which constitutes a very severe intensity earthquake zone. The projects are under various stages of clearance.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has already granted environmental clearance to the three biggest projects - the 600 MW Tawang 1, 800 MW Tawang 2 and the 780 MW Nyamjangchhu projects. The projects are now awaiting clearances for the impacts on forest lands.

While the state government is still pressurizing the central government to fast-track the projects, apprehension and opposition within the local communities continues to grow. “For a place like Tawang only 5 MW of electricity is enough. There is no reason why nature and culture should suffer, for ulterior selfish motives of certain people,” said Gyatso.

http://www.internationalrivers.org/blogs/259/seat-of-ancient-buddhism-threatened-by-fifteen-proposed-dams

[Q]

Sigh... another example of how greed destroys culture. I suppose money aka desire is the very thing many people take refuge to in these days.

This is not the only case that is in hot debate... There is another one in Afghanistan, where archaeologists discovered a 2600 year old Buddhist site but it is on the verge of being destroyed because the owner of the land wants to start mining the materials that is buried below the site. Such a waste! That is 2600 years worth of history about to be destroyed just because someone wants money in his pockets...

[Q]

Here's the link of which the 2600 year old Buddhist ancient site is going to be destroyed: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/22/opinion/afghanistan-buddha-site-mine/index.html

[Big Uncle]

Why is everyone surprised when the holy Buddhist places in India was destroyed a long time ago. If something could be done to save, somebody or some organisation or even an important Chinese official could have stopped it for cultural reasons.

However, it didn't happened and so it is meant to be. Buddhism died out in India but was sustained by Tibet and surrounding cultural spheres. However, physical Buddhism as in the temples, monks and monasteries are systematically being demolished and destroyed today but it is being sustained back in India and the world over. This is the law of the Buddha - impermanence. What matters is that these great temples and monasteries did their job in sustaining the Dharma until Maitreya's time.

[Tenzin Malgyur]

Oh! Another sad news of holy Buddhist site approved to be destroyed to make way for a dam. All in the name development. What is even more depressing is how the harmless people who are protesting are being beaten up by the authorities. I agree with Big Uncle that this is a lesson on impermanence. Even though the physical Buddhism are being destroyed, the Buddha still resides within us. This is the only comforting thought to keep us through our practice.

[hope rainbow]

Difficult battle to win...

Indeed, the more pressure can be put to save the birthplace of one of the Dalai Lama's birth, more likely it may be for the governement of China to actually annihilate the pilgrimage venue as the title Dalai Lama is not much in favor by the Chinese authorities...

Yet, to think of it as impermanence may be either a real sign of letting-go or may be also a way out so that "I-don't-need-to-do-nothing-about-it".

And indeed also, the biggest challenge is how to stop the "progress", or the process the world is in by which we need more energy, we need to spend more, we need to build more, we need to consume more or else the world economy collapses.

The Roman Empire collapsed because its strength depended upon a politic of expansions, with many drawbacks, but always regaining power through expansion. Once the "expansion process" has reached its limit, decadence started and the Empire was on its way down through fragmentation, fatigue and decline.

The Roman expansion was a matter of more land, more crops, more slaves, more soldiers.
Our contemporary expansion is a matter of consuming more, thus needing more energy, more stuff, more and more "new" things. Where will our limit be?

It took a great many years for the Roman Empire to feel the result of the decline, and when they were felt it was too late.
Rings a bell?

[dondrup]

Many governments would forgo and sacrifice the preservation of holy sites, endangered animal species and plants, tribal culture and so on in the name of development and economic gains.  Tawang is a classic example of this.  How to stop those who are out to satisfy their short-term interest at the expense of long-term social, cultural and environmental needs?  The Indian Federal government and international help are needed to put a stop to this unnecessary damage.  Local demonstrations are not enough.  More media coverage and public attention to this matter are needed.  They must be educated on the disadvantages of building the dams. 

[DSFriend]

Why is everyone surprised when the holy Buddhist places in India was destroyed a long time ago. If something could be done to save, somebody or some organisation or even an important Chinese official could have stopped it for cultural reasons.

However, it didn't happened and so it is meant to be. Buddhism died out in India but was sustained by Tibet and surrounding cultural spheres. However, physical Buddhism as in the temples, monks and monasteries are systematically being demolished and destroyed today but it is being sustained back in India and the world over. This is the law of the Buddha - impermanence. What matters is that these great temples and monasteries did their job in sustaining the Dharma until Maitreya's time.

I am inclined towards your view and to accept this fact of impermanence...It is sad to see the holy places having been destroyed and the ones still standing are not preserved well as it should. Sometime back, I had the honor of visiting a few holy places of significance to Buddha's life and saw for myself that the physical place has been made as a source of living for the unfortunate beggars. Hardly are there seen practitioners who wishes to follow the path of the Buddha meditating on the holy grounds.

[brian]

Big Uncle
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Re: Birthplace of 6th Dalai Lama to be destroyed
« Reply #3 on: January 18, 2013, 08:56:58 PM »
Quote
Why is everyone surprised when the holy Buddhist places in India was destroyed a long time ago. If something could be done to save, somebody or some organisation or even an important Chinese official could have stopped it for cultural reasons.

However, it didn't happened and so it is meant to be. Buddhism died out in India but was sustained by Tibet and surrounding cultural spheres. However, physical Buddhism as in the temples, monks and monasteries are systematically being demolished and destroyed today but it is being sustained back in India and the world over. This is the law of the Buddha - impermanence. What matters is that these great temples and monasteries did their job in sustaining the Dharma until Maitreya's time.
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At the end of the day, it is all about impermanence isn't it? More and more astound decisions are being made by local authorities to build dams or power plants all over the world in place of holy sites or places of cultural values. I will think this way, if the so called mega projects are going to be benefiting a lot of people around the area, I will give it a go instead of trying to preserve a place of a holy being being born there. I feel it will help a lot more people if modern infrastructures being built rather than preserving it for the benefit of pilgrims. Unless the holy place of a Buddha, I feel anything can give way for the benefit of more people