AMN / WEB DESK
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama today stirred a major controversy saying that India and Pakistan would have remained united had Jinnah become the Prime Minister instead of Jawaharlal Nehru.
He called Nehru “self-centered” and it was his ego to become PM that led to partition of India.
In an interaction at the Goa Institute of Management, the spiritual leader said, “Look at India, Mahatma Gandhi wanted Prime Ministership to go to Jinnah but Nehru refused to agree. I think Pandit Nehru was a little self-centered.”
He however said that Pandit Nehru was very experienced. “But mistakes do happen,” the spritual leader said in response to a question from a student during an interaction
The Dalai Lama gave the Nehru analogy, in response to a question from a student who sought to know from the Tibetan leader, about how one can be sure-footed about one’s decisions and how to avoid committing mistakes in life.
The Dalai Lama was a key note speaker on the subject “Today’s Relevance of India’s Ancient Knowledge” organised as part of the celebrations hosted by the Goa Institute of Management, which is completing 25 years of its existence.
Preceding the interaction, the Dalai Lama spoke extensively on India’s ability to merge its rich traditional knowledge with modern facets of education.
“India has a culture deeply rooted in tradition and knowledge. The land of ahimsa is a cauldron of traditional knowledge includes the art of meditation, compassion, secularism and more” the Dalai Lama said.