Exiled Tibetan Buddhist leader, Dalai Lama has apologised for his recent remark that stated that India and Pakistan would have been one country had Pakistan’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah been made prime minister instead of Jawahar Lal Nehru.
“My statement has created controversy, I apologise if I said something wrong,” he said. “When I heard that Gandhi ji was against the partition, I felt pity… There are more Muslims in India than in Pakistan. But past is past.”
Earlier, during a question-answer session at a student interaction at Goa Institute of Management on Wednesday, he made the remark.
“Mahatma Gandhi wanted to give the prime ministership to Jinnah. But Nehru refused. He was self-centred. He said, ‘I wanted to be prime minister’. India Pakistan would have been united (if Jinnah was made prime minister). Pandit Nehru is very experienced. But mistakes do happen,” Dalai Lama was quoted as having said by The Indian Express.
A student asked him how can one be sure of the decisions one makes, and if they can avoid making mistakes. Dalai Lama chose Nehru’s “decision” to explain that “mistakes do happen”.
