Ladakhi students eagerly await Buddhist spiritual leader’s arrival

Ladakhi students eagerly await Buddhist spiritual leader’s arrival Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 15
With the Dalai Lama all set to undertake his maiden visit to Jammu and Akhnoor tomorrow, various associations of Ladakhi students are planning to accord a rousing welcome to the Buddhist spiritual leader.

For this purpose, the representatives of four major associations - All Ladakh Students’ Association, Old Kargil Students’ Association, Leh Muslim Students’ Association and Kargil Muslim Students’ Association - have hired around 60 buses to ferry nearly 3,000 Ladakhi students to the recently discovered Buddhist site in Ambaran, near Akhnoor.

The Buddhist spiritual leader will inaugurate a photo exhibition in Ambaran and will then address the public.

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, president of the All Ladakh Students’ Association, said, “Nearly 3,000 students belonging to Ladakh will be ferried in 60 buses to Akhnoor from the Ladakh House, where we will queue up on both sides of the road to welcome the Dalai Lama. The buses will move around 6 am.”

“This is the first visit of His Holiness to Jammu and Akhnoor, so we are doing all that we can to make the visit a memorable one. Besides the Ladakhi students living here, 1,500 youngsters from Ladakh are also expected to reach here by midnight.”

Namgyal said, “As of now, the administration has not accepted our request to allow our few representatives to meet His Holiness. Let us see, whether they will allow us by tomorrow.”