His Holiness Dalai Lama will convene a rare meeting of India's religious leaders to try to tackle rape, communal violence and other issues facing the world's biggest democracy, an aide said Tuesday.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has invited India's spiritual leaders for the two-day meeting this weekend to seek practical strategies to address "important issues ailing society today", a statement said.
The aide, Gelek Namgyal, said the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who has lived in India since 1959, was deeply concerned about levels of violence in the country, along with environmental degradation and poverty.
Namgyal said the Dalai Lama's initiative was not a criticism of India's Hindu nationalist right-wing government, which swept to power in May.
But the meeting in New Delhi, the first such gathering organised by the Dalai Lama, comes at a time of rising communal tensions in India, particularly between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has invited India's spiritual leaders for the two-day meeting this weekend to seek practical strategies to address "important issues ailing society today", a statement said.
The aide, Gelek Namgyal, said the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who has lived in India since 1959, was deeply concerned about levels of violence in the country, along with environmental degradation and poverty.
@DalaiLama calls for an all religion meeting in India pic.twitter.com/Q8OdneVFqz
— Press Release Watch (@PrReleaseWatch) September 16, 2014
Namgyal said the Dalai Lama's initiative was not a criticism of India's Hindu nationalist right-wing government, which swept to power in May.
But the meeting in New Delhi, the first such gathering organised by the Dalai Lama, comes at a time of rising communal tensions in India, particularly between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.
