Dharamshala: - The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, religious and political leader of Tibet and its people His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama on Monday, has said that Tibet issues are also Indian's issues, his deep-rooted relationship with India would not be affected by recent developments, including that of the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa controversy and also in the current political context of India's relationship with China.
Since the 8th century, Tibet flourished after the introduction of Buddhism whose origin is in India." Tibet's leader said that there are six million people in Tibet who are controlled by China but 99 per cent of the population looks towards India. His Holiness said the Tibetan population has put in a lot of trust in him.
Addressing the crowd on "Ethics for the new Millennium" at the D.D. Kosambi Festival of Ideas 2011 in India's commercial city Goa on Monday, His Holiness was answering a specific question whether he was concerned about the implications of the recent controversy and about the otherwise "growing feeling of inconvenience about his relationship which existed over decades" with India.
His Holiness said that the incident would in no way impede relations between India and Tibet, which he said were not just decades old, but went down thousands of years. "The relation between India and Tibet is that of 'Guru-Chela', India is Tibet's guru... We have developed a special relationship. This will not be affected in any way," the spiritual leader said, adding that "Tibet's issues are also India's issues".
"Our relationship is not just a matter of a few decades, but a few thousand years. I view this relationship like the 'Guru-Chela' relationship in the greatest Indian tradition - India our guru and we its Chelas." The Tibet's leader recalled a letter addressed to him by Morarji Desai in response to his congratulatory letter wherein he had described India and Tibet as two branches of one Buddhist tree and said, "the tree grew in India and spread its branch to Tibet. That is the basic sort of relationship with this country."
The Nobel Peace Prize winner said that compared to other nations India was stable because of democracy and independent judiciary. His Holiness also asked the media to play a responsible role. "People in media have a special role to play. They can stop the wrong doings," he said and added that media should have a long nose like an elephant and should be able to smell things which are beyond the superficial reality. Media should investigate thoroughly and inform truthfully in an unbiased manner, he advised.
Indian politicians should have the spirit of the freedom fighters, said His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Speaking about attaining happiness, Tibetan leader said that it is not mere money but sincerity, love and compassion that creates happiness and harmony, the 21st century should be known as the century of dialogue. "For thousands of years India has been a messenger of 'Ahimsa' [Peace] and religious harmony. This itself is a message to the world," said the spiritual leader.
His Holiness told the Indian journalists that 17th Gyalwang Karmapa's issue was the result of "the carelessness of some attendants" and called it "a mistake and nothing serious" to have any consequences on their long-standing relationship with India and the future of the Tibetan community in India.
Two officials from institute of the 17th Gyalwa Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorjee, last week moved a Himachal Pradesh court seeking anticipatory bail over the seizure of about Rs.7 crore in foreign and Indian currency at the Gyudto Tantric University located in Sidhpur near Dharamshala.
