Dozens of activists of Gondwana Samaj here staged a demonstration on Saturday to protest the attempt of renaming a cave at Sirpur after Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna ahead of Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai lama’s visit to the area.
Opposing the preparation which was under way for the visit of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Samaj said the cave had been one of their places of worship and they could not tolerate interference by any other communities into it. The Samaj State president Chandrabhan Dhruw, Samaj leaders Chandrabhan Netam and Santaram Chedaiya and Pritam Chediya said the Sirpur area has cave in the Cherigudli hill where hundreds of people assemble during Navratri and perform religious rituals.
It is unfortunate that the Tibetan spiritual leader would visit that area on Jan 14-15. The spiritual guru is also scheduled to perform religious ritual and rename the cave after Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna, they said. They accused the administration for making preparation for the visit citing the reason that in 1700 AD Buddhist guru visited this cave. They said there was no evidence to prove that it was true. Even the archeological department also failed to establish any proof, they said.
Despite the protests by local Gondwana people, the Government has been attempting to make it a place of worship for Tibetans. “We will move the Governor against this attempt” they said.