Addressing the Goa Institute of Management, His Holiness the Dalai Lama criticized India’s legendary Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for being self-centered and the primary cause for the partition of India and Pakistan. At the same talk he called for peace between Muslim sects while ignoring the fact his own Tibetan community remains heavily divided due to religious differences.

The opinion piece below was sent to dorjeshugden.com for publication. We accept submissions from the public, please send in your articles to ds@dorjeshugden.com.

By: Ashok Rao

In 1959, India generously and graciously opened their arms to the Dalai Lama and his Tibetan refugees as they fled China-occupied Tibet, now commonly known as the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. In India, the Dalai Lama was given the highest honor, respect and privilege as befitting the Indian customs of venerating high spiritual personages. The Indian leader at the time was Prime Minister Jawarhalal Nehru and it was his extremely kind leadership that allowed the displaced Tibetans in-exile a country to settle in.

Recently however, the Dalai Lama has begun forays into Indian politics by making outlandish comments regarding the very same Prime Minister Nehru that gave him and his people safe refuge. Not only that, his comments broached a highly sensitive subject, that of the Partition of British India into the two nation states of India and Pakistan that we know today. Awakening painful and bloody memories, his comments have angered the sentiments of Indians around the world, as the repercussions of Partition remain unresolved up until the present day and strained relations between India and Pakistan endure.

(L-R) Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Jawaharlal Nehru and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. During the talk, the Dalai Lama said that Nehru opposed Gandhi’s wish to give the prime ministership to Jinnah.

The Dalai Lama surprisingly blamed Prime Minister Nehru for the split between the two countries during which untold millions suffered so much loss in terms of life, identity and property. It is something that has deeply damaged the psyche of the two nation states who have yet to mend their relations. It is shocking that the Dalai Lama would broach the subject almost insensitively. He basically claims that if not for Jawarhalal Nehru, who became Prime Minster against Mahatma Gandhi’s will, Pakistan would have remained a part of India. The Dalai Lama claims that Mahatma Gandhi wanted Muhammad Ali Jinnah to become Prime Minister instead. But if Jinnah, being a staunch Muslim, had become Prime Minister instead of Nehru, he most probably would not have entertained the Dalai Lama and the Tibetans at that time. The Dalai Lama should consider himself lucky that Nehru became Prime Minister.

Video: Dalai Lama criticizes Prime Minister Nehru

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKy84l68eNk

 
But what he forgets to mention is that moved by the plight of the Tibetans, the compassionate Prime Minister Nehru generously gave the Tibetans in-exile 24 large tracts of land throughout India as thousands of Tibetans began pouring into the country, overjoyed that India had granted them refuge. These Tibetans were given assistance, protection, aid, support and political asylum, something that has continued to this day. It was due to the kindness of Prime Minister Nehru that Tibetans were even permitted to set up their own government in-exile in the hills of Dharamsala, northern India, now called the Central Tibetan Administration.

The Dalai Lama seems to have forgotten all that Prime Minister Nehru did for the Tibetans. Instead, he has labelled the Indian leader as ‘self-centred’ and the cause that India and Pakistan separated in the first place. His claim was completely uncalled for and has sparked fury among Indians, clearly evident on social media platforms. The Dalai Lama has definitely created a public relations nightmare, another mark against his already declining reputation all over the world.

However, Prime Minister Nehru was not the only subject that the Dalai Lama sought to interfere in. In his speech, he spoke of how Sunni and Shia Muslims are the same – they worship the same God, follow the same Quran and pray five times a day, yet they kill each other due to sectarian differences. The irony is the Dalai Lama’s own backyard is not as trimmed he would have you believe. The Tibetan community themselves are heavily divided along religious lines, especially with the segregation and ostricization hurled against Dorje Shugden practitioners.

If the Dalai Lama is happy to give practitioners of another religion advice, he should follow his own advice and free Dorje Shugden followers from the oppressive shackles that he and his very own Central Tibetan Administration have imposed. After all, if Muslims all believe in the same God; both Dorje Shugden followers and non-Dorje Shugden followers all believe in the Buddha, accept the spiritual theory of karma and have the conviction that everyone can become enlightened. The only difference between the two groups is that Shugden followers incorporate Dorje Shugden into their practice.

Contrary to the Dalai Lama’s own advice of religious harmony, Dorje Shugden followers remain segregated, their religious practice banned, they are not granted the same medical privileges as their counter-parts, cannot attend the same schools and they cannot hold official positions with their society. Even monks are kicked out from monasteries that they have called home for so long. Strange how on one hand the Dalai Lama advocates harmony but on the other is the cause for discrimination within his own community. Dorje Shugden followers are not even allowed to join the Dalai Lama’s talks, whether secular or spiritual, despite the fact the Dalai Lama is supposedly the leader of the Tibetan people. He has condemned them to be pariahs within Tibetan communities all over the world.

Video: Dalai Lama undemocratically condemns Dorje Shugden practice, intolerantly expels thousands of monks

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The Dalai Lama’s comments against Prime Minister Nehru has raised the ire of many Indians. He is not only seen as interfering in Indian politics but criticizing the very leader that began shaping India to what it has become. Since in his speech in the video he can easily propose that mistakes are a common occurrence, it means that anyone can make mistakes no matter who they are. But by the same token, this would mean the Dalai Lama himself can make mistakes too. In this case, he has done so on two major counts. The first, by calling Prime Minister Nehru “self-centered” and the other by creating disunity among his own Tibetan community by unethically banning the practice of Dorje Shugden. The Dalai Lama who claims to be a democratic leader, should act democratically and not ban any religious faith within his community. Banning the Tibetan Dorje Shugden devotees and segregating them from mainstream Tibetans was his instruction and it clearly shows you that he is not democratic. Dorje Shugden is a spiritual path whether he accepts it or not. As a leader, the Dalai Lama should be tolerant towards all spiritual paths as that is the democratic way. Only then can he be called a truly democratic leader.

So, when the Dalai Lama wants to suggest that people should be harmonious and espouses religious tolerance, he should very well walk the talk and start with his own people rather than interfering in the affairs of the very country that granted him so much. He should stop commenting on Indian politics and creating more disharmony, but concentrate on his own community and heal the huge rift that he himself created with Dorje Shugden followers.

The Dalai Lama (left) has forgotten about Prime Minister Nehru’s (right) kindness towards the Tibetan people and now maligns him calling him “self-centered”.

As a so-called spiritual leader and a monk who has vows based on renunciation, it is not befitting of the Dalai Lama to keep talking about politics. So why is the Dalai Lama poking his nose into other people’s political affairs and criticizing their leaders? He should deal with the inequality within his own community first and remember the kindness of those he now maligns.

The Dalai Lama has shocked his generous host country of India with his latest political interference into the internal affairs of the country. Indians have expressed tremendous shock that the Dalai Lama would have such audacity to criticize one of the Prime Ministers of India. At least the Prime Minister of India was able to hold on to and secure his country’s independence from Great Britain, unlike the Dalai Lama who lost his own country, Tibet, through bad leadership. It is ironic that a refugee leader who lost his country and has not regained it for the last 57 years criticizes the leader of a sovereign nation. What Nehru did or did not do is for Indians to decide and not a refugee Tibetan whose remarks have hurt the sentiment of his host country.

ZEENEWS
India, Pakistan would have remained united if Muhammad Ali Jinnah was made PM: Dalai Lama

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: http://zeenews.india.com/india/india-pakistan-would-have-remained-united-if-prime-ministership-was-given-to-jinnah-dalai-lama-2131525.html

NDTV
Partition Wouldn’t Happen If Nehru Had Not Been Self-Centered: Dalai Lama

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/dalai-lama-partition-wouldnt-happen-if-jawaharlal-nehru-had-not-been-self-centered-1897367

NORTH EAST LIVE
Dalai Lama stirs controversy

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://northeastlivetv.org/2018/08/09/dalai-lama-stirs-controversy/

NEWSBRED
Spare us your history lessons, Dalai Lama

Click to enlarge and read the whole article. Source: https://www.newsbred.com/spare-us-your-history-lessons-dalai-lama

TV NEWS COVERAGE

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kWRxi-m6Bg

The Dalai Lama’s criticism of Prime Minister Pandit Nehru has gone viral on the Indian media circuit. Indians across the world and across the board have taken great offense to what the Dalai Lama said about Prime Minister Nehru. The Dalai Lama has gone too far in interfering in Indian politics when he was not even invited to do so. Since so many have been offended by his comments, his actions will have many negative public relations implications in the future.

Addendum: Partition of British India

A map of the Partition of British India. Click to enlarge.

Partition, the division of British India into the two separate states of India and Pakistan on August 14 and 15, 1947 – was a “last-minute” mechanism implemented as Great Britain decided to accelerate the transfer of power into Indian hands. Although Pakistan celebrated its independence on August 14, and India on August 15, 1947, the border between the two new states was not announced until August 17. Based on the Radcliffe Line, the border was drawn up by Cyril Radcliffe, who had little knowledge of the situation in India at the time, using out-of-date maps and census materials.

The north-western flank of the country with its Muslim majority became Pakistan. The rest of the country, predominantly Hindu, became what we know as India today. This decision was made largely to limit violence and bloodshed between Hindus and Muslims. Around six million Muslims relocated from India to Pakistan, and more than four million Hindus and Sikhs moved from Pakistan to India, motivated by the their hope for safety at a time of religious partisanship.

The partition triggered a colossal wave of migration, bloody riots, as well as mass casualties. It is estimated that over 14 million people were displaced along ‘religious’ lines, burdening the newly formed countries with overwhelming refugee crises. The violent nature of the partition created an atmosphere of hostility and suspicion between India and Pakistan that plagues their relationship to the present day.

Angry comments against the Dalai Lama on social media

The Dalai Lama’s comment labeling Prime Minister Nehru as self-centered has angered Indians who have taken to social media to express their indignation and horror at his remarks

Users on social media are questioning why the Dalai Lama made such statements when it was Prime Minister Nehru who gave Tibetans safe refuge in India