Firmly believe Tibet will rise again: Murali Manohar Joshi

New Delhi, Nov 16 (PTI) Senior BJP leader and former minister Murali Manohar Joshi here hailed the spirit of the exiled Tibetan Buddhists, and said that Tibet will rise again through the teachings of non-violence of the 14th Dalai Lama.

Joshi, along with former MP Karan Singh and Tibet House director Geshe Dorji Damdul, was speaking on Saturday at the launch of journalist-author Arvind Yadav’s book “Anashwar” - the first authorised biography in Hindi of the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso.

“I bow to the Tibetan Buddhists and the Tibetan people for how much they have endured and accepted for their guru, his ideals, and for his instructions. Yet they never wavered from their principles.

“The Tibetan people who came and lived here went through immense hardship. So many situations arose before them that, had it been someone else or another community, they might have revolted or completely changed their values in order to survive,” the 91-year-old said.

He added that the Buddhist leader taught everyone the principles of non-violence and harmony.

“And I know that a day will come, perhaps it may not come in my lifetime, but I firmly believe that Tibet will rise again, that Tibet will reclaim its land. Very few people know that it was Tibet that introduced Buddhism into China. Buddhism went directly from India later, but first it was the Tibetans who brought Buddhism to China,” Joshi said.

He added he had “unwavering faith” that Tibet will rise again and reclaim its realm that was far larger than that of China.

“There was a time when China used to come under Tibet; China’s territory was under Tibet’s authority. It is possible that Tibet rises once more and governs China and tells them never to do such a thing again, never to repeat that mistake,” Joshi claimed.

The BJP leader also drew a parallel with the Jewish people of Israel, exiled during the second World War, and said they did not “learn from the experience” of being expelled from their own homeland.

“What it did afterward, we can see; what its mindset is now, we can see. What kind of society it has created after knowing that it was expelled and that atrocities were committed against it, but it did not accept, did not learn from the experience, that it should never do such things again, that it should avoid reacting in such a way,” Joshi said.

The book, published by Sarv Bhasha Trust, chronicles the pivotal moments of the Dalai Lama's remarkable life -- from his childhood in Amdo and recognition as the 14th Dalai Lama, to the Chinese occupation of Tibet, his exile, and his emergence as a global spiritual icon.

An English translation of the book is scheduled to be published by Westland in January next year. PTI MAH MAH MNK MNK