‘ Past is Past’: Dalai Lama apologises after remark on Nehru

Praises him for sheltering Tibetans in India

Within 48 hours of branding India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru as “self- centred,” Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama apologised, saying that “my statement has created a controversy, I apologise if I have said something wrong.”

Speaking at a function in the IT capital to commemorate 60 years of the Tibetan government in exile, the Dalai Lama who said he had known Nehru personally, attempted to walk back from the outcry in the Congress against his criticism of India’s first PM by lavishing praise on Nehru’s move to help find a home for the thousands of Tibetan refugees who flooded into India.

The 83- year- old monk said Pandit Nehru fully backed the creation of Tibetan settlements across the country. He told the audience at a

function organised by Central Tibetan Administration Bengaluru here on Friday that it was Nehru’s idea to set up a separate Tibetan school as part of the settlement to help preserve Tibetan arts and culture.

“Immediately, he set up a committee headed by the union education minister... at that time, we wrote to different states for the allocation of some land,” the Dalai said at an event called “Thank You Karnataka”.

“The best response came from the Mysore state,” he said. “One major factor was late Nijalingappa, who extraordinarily showed concern for the Tibetan cause. He promised me he will support the Tibetan cause,” the Dalai Lama added.

Responding to a question during an interaction on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama had said Nehru had a “self- centred attitude” to become first PM even though Mahatma Gandhi was in favour of Muhammad Ali Jinnah taking the top post at that time.”