Dalai Lama Apologises for Nehru-Jinnah Remark, Says “Past is Past”

Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Friday, 10 August, acknowledged that his comments on former Prime Minister Nehru had stirred a controversy and offered his apology. “If I said something wrong I apologise,” he said. He also tried to explain the sentiment behind his statement.

“When I heard that Gandhi ji was against the partition, I felt pity... There are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan.... but past is past.”

Addressing a question raised by a student in Goa, Dalai Lama on Wednesday, 8 August said Jawaharlal Nehru had a self-centred attitude to become India's first prime minister even though Mahatma Gandhi was in favour of Muhammad Ali Jinnah taking the top post at that time.

He also claimed India's partition would not have happened if Mahatma Gandhi's wish of Jinnah becoming the prime minister had materialised.

The 83-year-old spiritual leader was addressing an event at the Goa Institute of Management in Goa's Sankhalim town, located about 40 km from the capital, Panaji.

‘Sometimes Mistake Happens’

Responding to a student's question on taking right decisions, he said,

I feel democratic systems are very good than the feudal system, which gives power of making decisions in the hands of a few people, which is more dangerous. Now look at India, I think Mahatma Gandhiji was very much willing to give the prime ministership to Jinnah. But Pandit Nehru refused.

Dalai Lama

"I think it was a little bit self-centred attitude of Pandit Nehru that he should be the prime minister. If Mahatma Gandhi’s thinking had materialised, then India, Pakistan would have been united," he added.

Dalai Lama also referred Nehru as a wise man but while addressing student’s question said that mistakes also happen.

So Pandit Nehru, I know very well, (was) a very experienced person, very wise but sometimes mistake also happens.

Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama’s Biggest Fear

To a question on the biggest fear that he encountered in life, the spiritual leader recalled the day he had to escape from Tibet along with his supporters.

"On the night of 17 March, 1959, after 10th March crisis which was result of the problem that started in 1956, we had to escape," he said.

Recalling how the problem in Tibet with China had started becoming worse, he said the attitude of Chinese officers kept on being more and more aggressive.

So then on 17th night, in spite of all my efforts to cool down the situation, that very day, I decided that I cannot remain here and I escaped.

Dalai Lama

The monk said the route from where they escaped was quite near the Chinese military base. While passing along a river they could see the military personnel, he said narrating his journey from the neighbouring country into India.

He said next day at the dawn, they were passing through a mountain and there was every danger of Chinese soldiers coming from two different places to stop them.

“That was a fearful journey. At the age of 16, I lost my freedom. At the age of 24, I lost my country. For 17 years, there was lot of suffering and lot of destruction in the country, but we kept our determination,” the Dalai Lama said.

The monk said Tibetans never consider Chinese people as their enemy.

"We respect them. We always look at them as our human brothers and sisters," he added.