It was an emotional moment for Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai lama on Sunday, when he met one of the Indian soldiers who had escorted him to Indian soil after his escape from lhasa in March 1959.
As the Dalai lama walked up the stage at the ITA centre for performing arts in Guwahati on Sunday to be felicitated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and other dignitaries, the Assam Rifles authorities led Naren Chandra Das (76), a retired AR trooper who escorted him to Indian territory at Bumla.
“I am very happy to see this old man. I am very, very happy. It all happened 58 years back. By looking at you, I too now realise that I have grown old,” said the spiritual leader while hugging Das.
Das, who was a trooper with the 5th Assam Rifles Battalion at Bumla in 1959, was sent to receive and escort the Dalai lama along with four other troopers.
“I went to receive Dalai lama from Bumla while he was entering India. I was around 21-years-old at that time. It was a very difficult journey in those days,” said Das.
“Guards of Assam Rifles Platoon no. 9 had brought the Dalai lama from Zuthangbo and handed him over to five of us at Shakti. We brought him to lungla from where he was escorted on his onward journey to Tawang by another group of guards,” the retired jawan said.
Das said that they were not allowed to talk or interact with him. “Our duty was only to guard and escort him during a part of his journey.”
The emotional Dalai lama hugged Das for some time and garlanded him with a Khata, the piece of white scarf made of silk, a Tibetan way to honour people.
The Dalai lama expressed his emotional attachment with the people of Assam and the North-East and added that he often feels emotional by coming closer to river Brahmaputra.
later, at the ‘Namami Brahmaputra’ River festival organised by the Assam Government the Tibetan spiritual leader batted for religious freedom.
“Whether one accepts one religion or not, is for him to decide. There should be complete freedom in choosing a religion. But if he wants to change his religion voluntarily, there should be complete freedom,” he said.
The Dalai lama said that studying other traditions, their values
and traditions was a great way to ensure religious harmony, mutual understanding and respect for others.
“When I was in Tibet, I thought Buddhism was the best but when I came to India and met Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and people of other faiths, I realised that each tradition has values that need to be understood for promoting world peace,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that Dalai lama’s visit to Assam and other part of the north-eastern region including a visit to Tawang is being strongly opposed by China. The neighbouring country had recently said that the Indian Government’s move to allow the Dalai lama to visit Tawang will impact the bilateral ties between the two countries.