Dorjeshugden: 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. 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. 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.