“If Buddha was there, he would protect Muslims under attack”: Dalai Lama

Tuesday, 8 July 2014 01:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Spiritual Leader of Tibet calls on Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Myanmar to cease violence against Muslim minorities

Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama has made a renewed call for Buddhists in Sri Lanka and Myanmar to cease violence towards the countries’ Muslim minorities, in an address delivered on his 79th birthday. Speaking before tens of thousands of Buddhists, including Hollywood actor Richard Gere, the exiled Buddhist leader implored the faithful in the majority-Buddhist countries to refrain from such attacks. “I urge the Buddhists in these countries to imagine an image of Buddha before they commit such a crime,” he said in the Indian town of Leh. “Buddha preaches love and compassion. If the Buddha is there, he will protect the Muslims whom the Buddhists are attacking.” Rising Buddhist nationalism in both countries, spearheaded by movements led by extremist monks, has led to communal violence targeting Muslims in recent years. In Myanmar, religious violence has left more than 200 dead and close to 150,000 homeless – predominantly members of the Rohingya Muslim minority, since unrest broke out in the western state of Rakhine in June 2012. In Sri Lanka last month, four people were killed in nights of religious violence in which Buddhist mobs attacked Muslim neighbourhoods around the town of Aluthgama. The rioting began after a rally organised by the far-right Bodu Bala Sena (Buddhist Power Force) group, at which the group’s leader, a monk, gave an inflammatory speech against Muslims. The Dalai Lama, who has lived in exile since 1959, has previously spoken out about the violence perpetrated by Buddhist nationalists. The Dalai Lama was speaking before the audience in Leh to confer Kalachakra, a process intended to empower tens of thousands of his Buddhist followers to reach enlightenment, his office said. (CNN)