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| Corruption in India pains me: Dalai Lama |
| Press Trust Of India / New Delhi Dec 04, 2011, 00:09 IST |
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Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Saturday said it caused him “great pain” to witness corruption in the country and expressed hope that graft cases would be dealt with deftly. “I see myself as a messenger of India. I am her son because when I was in need, it was she who helped me. So, when I read frequent reports about corruption, it pains me,” he said, addressing students at Delhi Public School here.
Yesterday, he had said he “fully” supported anti-graft activist Anna Hazare’s movement. However, he declined to go into the merits of his methods. “Although I am a Tibetan, I see myself as an Indian — physically, emotionally and sentimentally. I owe the country a great deal. I am healthy on Saturday because of the dal, chawal (rice) and chapati I’ve fed on here,” he said in jest.
When asked if there was any probability of a woman succeeding him, he said, “There is no hurdle to a woman succeeding me. In fact, I think a woman would make a better Dalai Lama as there are certain situations only they can handle. But, a decision is yet to be taken,” he said.
More at liberty
Having relinquished political role voluntarily, he said he now enjoyed “more freedom” in refusing to answer queries with political connotations, adding that activities and queries related to the Tibetan government-in-exile would now have to be handled by the elected government headed by Oxford-educated Lobsang Sangay.
“I am already retired. I voluntarily and happily retired and handed over political powers to the elected government. Some days back, someone asked me about Chinese objections to my activities, but I simply said it was a political issue. Now I have more freedom,” he said after delivering the 5th Penguin Annual Lecture in New Delhi on Saturday.
“If I want to, I answer the question. Otherwise, I say it is for the political leadership to say,” he said, pointing towards Sangay, who was seated in the front row.
The Nobel Laureate said he felt “helpless” and overcome by “anxiety and fear” when he was reminded of the 1959 Tibetan uprising in March, 2008, during the Chinese crackdown on protesters in Tibet.
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