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Spiritual Leader Dalai Lama Blames Jawaharlal Nehru For India, Pakistan Partition
Dalai Lama says Pandit Nehru was adamant on the post of Prime Minister for himself
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama has made a shocking revelation about the main reason that led to the partition of India and Pakistan back in 1947.
Speaking at an event organized by Goa Institute of Management in Sankhalim on Wednesday, the Dalai Lama said India and Pakistan would have remained united as one nation today if Jawaharlal Nehru had not been self-centered. He said while Mahatma Gandhi was ready to make Muhammad Ali Jinnah as the first Prime Minister of India, it was Pandit Nehru who became adamant on the post of Prime Minister for himself during the time of Independence.
“When you look back in India, I think Mahatma Gandhi was very much willing to give the prime ministership to (Mohammad Ali) Jinnah,” the Dalai Lama said. “But Pandit Nehru refused. He was self-centered. He said, ‘I wanted to be Prime Minister’. India and Pakistan would have been united (had Jinnah been made Prime Minister at the time). Pandit Nehru is very experienced. But mistakes do happen.”
The Tibetan spiritual leader gave Nehru’s example, in response to a question from a student who wanted to know about how one can be confident about one’s decisions and how to avoid taking wrong decisions, keeping emotions out of the decision-making process.
Dalai Lama said despite the fact that Nehru was a very experienced person, his one mistake led to a very big blunder. So, he advised students to analyze more and more before taking any decision as the decision’s responsibility will ultimately lie on their shoulders.
“I knew Nehru very well personally and he was a very well-experienced person otherwise. But sometimes mistakes also happen. So, ultimately the responsibility is on your shoulders. Analyse, analyse. Then Take decision,” the Dalai Lama told students.
While the Tibetan leader acknowledged the fact that the British sowed the seeds of the modern style of education, he also remarked that India is probably the only country which can find the right balance between its traditional knowledge and modern education.
