“Political boundaries are all man made. But rivers do not recognise  any such boundaries or barriers of caste or religion. Man-made divisions have created more problems for the man-kind,” said Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the Chief Minister of Jammu & Kashmir.Speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration of the Brahmaputra Darshan Festival at Pasighat in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, Dr. Abdullah made it clear that “Islam does not teach hatred, but we are creating hatred among ourselves on the basis of caste or religion.”

The festival began with the performance of all-religion river puja at Komlighat, where the water from the Sindhu river was mingled with the water of Siang river by Dr. Abdullah, symbolising   the unification of these river waters with the national integration.Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Mukut Mithi, who was also present on the occasion, termed the Brahmaputra river as the lifeline of the entire North-East region and he appealed the people to maintain unity and integrity of the country.To attract tourists to Arunachal Pradesh, the State Tourism Department organised the festival which for the first time made provision for adventure tourism like water rafting, hand-gliding and paragliding apart from cultural and social functions and some of the are listed ahead.Cultural display: The valley of the Siang is populated by a number of tribes.   
   
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