Border of discontent

Beijing claims Arunachal Pradesh as "Chinese territory". India protests vehemently. But at picturesque Tawang in Arunachal along the Chinese border people are more interested in Madhuri Dixit and pirated versions of latest Bollywood flicks. Krishna Das reports from the line of control

City with dual faces Clean bowled The torch burns on Christ’s eastern sojourn? What’s in a name? Diamonds are forever Radio forever! Border of discontent West side story Sublime music Head-turners Dreaming in colour Weaving hopes Mall-crawling, village style The crow-eaters World Trade Center Remembered Blind faith Road to perdition A monsoon romance on wheels A different ball-game The reverse tide Mere tokens of prestige Arts to the aid Love in the time of conflict Awara in China Days of wine and roses Fashion with a human face

Malin Gambu studied international law at the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. But he left a cushy central government office in the prosperous Indian capital to open a primary school in remote Rumla, 22 km from Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. His school is literally on the McMahan line that defines the international boundary between India and China. Rumla is a small hamlet. It is the last inhabited village near Indo-China boundary.

Malin Gambu could have lived a comfortable life at New Delhi. But he chose to come back to his native place and give back to the community here whatever he learnt outside. His mother is now aged. But during the Chinese aggression, she was the food supplier of Indian army and had to live under occupation of the Chinese forces when they had reached Bomdilla.

For Malin Gambu his identity as an Indian is part of his spiritual and political existence. There are hundreds and thousands like Malin Gambu in Arunachal who never ever thought in their life that they are not Indian till China recently staked claim on Arunachal.

Standing at the gate of Twang monastery, fighting bitter cold, you cannot imagine that you are standing on a disputed zone.

Braving near sub zero temperatures, the young lamas of the monastery are playing and a few local Monpas are picking up the latest pirated copy of the movie "Don" for an all night revelry with the Shah Rukh Khan starrer.Couple of Jongas carrying army jawans are the only reminders that you are on a territory which has been claimed by Chinese.

The 10,000 odd people of Tawang have long forgotten the Chinese contention on Arunachal. Ask a question on that, the inhabitants of Tawang will give you back a blank stare. They simply do not know what is the implication of a Chinese claim. But ask them about Madhuri Dixit, every third person will volunteer to show you where the shooting of the film "Koyla" took place. They proudly show you where Madhuri Dixit had danced and where Shah Rukh Khan jumped into a helicopter in the Rakesh Roshan film of late 1990s.

"Koyla" did not do well in the box office, but it permanently placed Tawang on the tourism map of India and today it is the third most visited places of the Northeast after Meghalaya capital Shillong and Kaziranga forest in Assam.

Beijing claims that entire Arunachal Pradesh is "Chinese territory". India objected to it strongly saying that Arunachal is very much within India. But in Tawang, where news anyway reaches much late, these arguments have no value. Amid the heat generated by the latest Chinese claim of sovereignty over entire Arunachal Pradesh, prominent scholars from Chinese side have backed Beijing's claim over Tawang, a strategic Buddhist town nestled in the Himalayas.

"This is absurd. We are Indian by every drop of blood," says Dawa Norbu, a civil engineer by profession living in Tawang. He was in Rupa till he came to live in Tawang after a transfer. For most of the people in Tawang, the demand of China is quite amusing.

Geographically or religiously it is a fact that Tawang is closer to China than India. The great escape of Dalai Lama through Bumla-Tawang-Bomdilla-Tezpur route had always kept that area on the radar of China. India's big neighbour was never comfortable with Tawang because of the Dalai Lama episode.

"India entered into Tawang, the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, in 1951. For Tibetan Buddhism Tawang is important," says Professor Sun Shihai said, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China's claim is based on history, as Tawang ( which belonged to Tibet originally) is the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama. However, many in India say China's claim has no credibility. Tibet never claimed sovereignty over Tawang and enjoyed similar relations with many monasteries in the Himalayas.

The Tawang monastery is the oldest and largest monastery outside Tibet region and considered third holiest place after Potala and Panchen Lama's monastery.

However, what is relevant is that India and China have agreed that any settlement on Arunachal should not hurt the sentiments of those settled there and any settlement for the boundary dispute will have to be based on ground reality.

China has discounted that its claim is not restricted just for Tawang district but the entire region. The hard-line position has blocked progress in the boundary talks. Delhi has tried in vain to make Beijing show flexibility.

There are some new rays of hope also. After Nathu La in Sikkim, Kibithu, the tiny village of Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district, is fast emerging to be a new melting point of Indo-China friendship. Kibithu is located in the North Eastern most point of India.

Unlike Bumla in the Tawang sector, Kibithu offers relatively easy travel up to Chinese side and the Indian army was highly optimistic about the new development as already a Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) was held.