‘Buddha would have helped fleeing Muslims’

new Delhi: The Dalai Lama has spoken out for the first time about the Rohingya refugee crisis, saying Buddha would have helped Muslims fleeing violence in Buddhistmajority Myanmar.

The top Buddhist leader is the latest Nobel peace laureate to speak out against the violence, which the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar says may have killed more than 1,000 people, most of them Rohingya.

“Those people who are sort of harassing some Muslims, they should remember Buddha,” the Dalai Lama told journalists who asked him about the crisis on Friday evening.

“He would definitely give help to those poor Muslims. ”

Myanmar’s population is overwhelmingly Buddhist.

The country’s de facto civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been condemned for her refusal to intervene in support of the Rohingya, including by fellow Nobel laureates.

Archbishop Tutu, who became the moral voice of South Africa after helping dismantle apartheid there, last week urged her to speak out.— AFP