MUSLIMS MUCH SAFER IN INDIA THAN IN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES: DALAI LAMA

Muslims  are much safer in India than some of their brethren in Islamic countries, the Dalai Lama today said.

Interacting with the media and discussing about the Indian democracy’s strength and weaknesses, the Dalai Lama said that despite some of the problems in the country, India remains a strong democracy providing equal opportunity and protection for all religion, caste, community and race.

Emphasising on the robustness of the Indian democracy, the Dalai Lama said: “ Muslims  are much safer in India than in Islamic countries.”

To further accentuate his observation, he touched upon the Shia-Sunni conflict and prosecution of Shias in Pakistan and similar sectarian violence in Muslim nations. When point out about the Gujarat riots, he said that these problems have occurred in “certain pockets” of the country, but overall India has been peaceful.

 

“There was this incident in Odisha where a missionary was burnt, these sorts of incident occurs in certain pockets of the country, but overall India has maintained religious harmony,” the Nobel laureate said.

The Tibetan spiritual leader further said that the “present economic structure in India is not sustainable” with the gap between the rich and poor widening and urged the policy-makers to shift their focus on developing the rural sectors of the country.

“The gap between the rich and the poor must reduce and for that to happen the focus must shift from developing the big cities to the villages,” he said.

The Dalai Lama added that authorities must try to have roads, hospitals, schools, colleges built in the villages to stop rural migrations and control the population overburden in the urban centres. He added that India mustn't have billionaires only from the cities, but have such people with wealth from the village levels too.

“I have suggested to the authorities at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) to have their branches established in the rural areas of the country,” he said adding, only then India can claim its rightful place amongst the super powers of the world.

Reiterating that corruption is the cancer afflicting not just India, but all over the world, the Dalai Lama  said that “ahimsa” or non-violence must be practised in all walks of life, be it in the economic sector, political or overall governance.

 “The concept of ahimsa must be taught right from the kindergarten level so that it touches all aspects of our lives,” the Dalai Lama said.