Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama’s comment that Bihar poll results had “proved” that a majority of Hindus still believed in communal harmony was seized upon by the JD-U today to say that it was an attack on “extremist elements”.
The BJP, which suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the JD(U)-led grand secular alliance in the Assembly polls, on its part played down the statement by the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate, saying Bihar for long has seen communal harmony.
“India has a long tradition of peace and amity. The people of Bihar in the recent Assembly polls have proved that a large section of the Hindu community still believes in peace and amity,” the 14th Dalai Lama had said in Jalandhar yesterday without naming any political party or leader.
Terming the remark of the Dalai Lama an attack on “extremist elements”, JD-U leader KC Tyagi said the Tibetan spiritual leader has been in India for long and is aware of the Indian culture. “The statement made by him has given a strong and befitting reply to the extremist groups in India. The results of the Bihar polls show that forces of tolerance are not only active but are in majority,” he said.
He pointed out that President Pranab Mukherjee, too, has flagged the issue of intolerance and the Bihar verdict has proved that “intolerance has been defeated”. “We have ensured that communal harmony in the state is maintained at all costs. We have worked to ensure that any attempt to disrupt the harmony is defeated...we fought the Bihar assembly polls on the agenda of development. We won four states but lost in two. This is part of democracy...the grand alliance had the arithmetics in its favour. But the chemistry favoured us,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
The BJP, which suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the JD(U)-led grand secular alliance in the Assembly polls, on its part played down the statement by the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate, saying Bihar for long has seen communal harmony.
“India has a long tradition of peace and amity. The people of Bihar in the recent Assembly polls have proved that a large section of the Hindu community still believes in peace and amity,” the 14th Dalai Lama had said in Jalandhar yesterday without naming any political party or leader.
Terming the remark of the Dalai Lama an attack on “extremist elements”, JD-U leader KC Tyagi said the Tibetan spiritual leader has been in India for long and is aware of the Indian culture. “The statement made by him has given a strong and befitting reply to the extremist groups in India. The results of the Bihar polls show that forces of tolerance are not only active but are in majority,” he said.
He pointed out that President Pranab Mukherjee, too, has flagged the issue of intolerance and the Bihar verdict has proved that “intolerance has been defeated”. “We have ensured that communal harmony in the state is maintained at all costs. We have worked to ensure that any attempt to disrupt the harmony is defeated...we fought the Bihar assembly polls on the agenda of development. We won four states but lost in two. This is part of democracy...the grand alliance had the arithmetics in its favour. But the chemistry favoured us,” BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said.
