New Delhi

Tibetan Spiritual leader Dalai Lama who is visiting Leh, Ladakh, for his yearly sojourn told a gathering of Buddhists and Muslims that “it’s not helpful to talk critically about my religion or their religion.”

Dalai Lama was speaking at a reception hosted by the Muslim community for him at the Imam Bargah, a mosque in nearby Chuchot Yokma, where people of all communities had gathered to listen to his him.

A young Muslims woman moderated the session after Dalai Lama was received by representatives of both Shia and Sunni communities, who escorted him to his seat.

As Dalai Lama’s foreword for the yet to be published translation of the Holy Quran into Tibetan was read out at the meeting, the spiritual leader appreciated the effort.

Dalai Lama's visit to the mosque was noticed by activists from Gilgit Baltistan who are living outsie Pakistan. Senge  H Sering who lives in the USA and campaigns for reunification of Ladakh with Guilgit-batlistan pointed out the icons of cultural unity among Buddhists and Muslims and wrote on X:

This is the interior of a Shia Imambargah in Leh, Ladakh.
On the podium, you can see the Swastika (Yungdrung) and endless knot.
Our cultures and identities remain same and that what scare the Pakistanis and their fear make them torture us #GilgitBaltistan #Ladakh #India #Tibet pic.twitter.com/rAfNFct7fA

— #SengeSering ས།ཚ། (@SengeHSering) August 12, 2023

Dalai Lama said, “I commend the Muslim Community of Ladakh for translating the Holy Quran into Tibetan. As I often say, all the major religions of the world convey the same message of love, compassion and altruistic service to other living beings. For thousands of years our various religions have brought immense benefit to countless human beings. I have no doubt it would be helpful if their sacred scriptures were translated into the different languages of the world.”

Sheikh Nazir Ahmed Sharifi, Vice President of the Anjuman-e-Imamia chanted a moving prayer to formally open proceedings. Shia Representative, Ashraf Ali Barch, President Anjuman Imamia, addressed the gathering in Ladakhi. He expressed great admiration and affection for His Holiness as a man of peace, as someone who consistently declares that we are all the same as human beings, and as someone who makes great effort to promote inter-religious harmony.

His Holiness spoke to the congregation of men and women in Tibetan and his words were translated into Ladakhi.

Sunni Representative, Dr Abdul Quayoum, President of the Anjuman Moin-ul-Islam (AMI), addressing the gathering at Imam Bargah, Chuchot Yokma, in Leh, Ladakh

“Whoever I meet,” he said, “I consider we are all the same as human beings. All eight billion people alive today were sheltered by their mother’s love and affection as soon as they were born. This is how things begin. Therefore, later, when we’re grown up and in the middle of our lives, we should do what we can to take care of others. If we do that, when we come to die, we’ll do so in an atmosphere of affection.

“The sad thing is that although we start out basking in our mother’s love and affection, we later come to focus on differences of religion, race or nationality that lead us to view other people in terms of ‘us’ and ‘them’.

He observed that if we were all to cultivate a stronger sense of the oneness of humanity, we would be better able to work together out of love and compassion. People around the world, he said, are fed up with fighting and trying to solve problems through the use of force is out of date.

Dalai Lama enjoying the taste of the local apricot

“Every human being on this earth is the same in wanting to be happy and not to suffer pain. I pray that the people of the world may not harm each other but live in peace and harmony.

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“In Tibet nearly all of us follow the same Buddhist tradition and yet there are differences among the Sakya, Kagyu, Nyingma, Geluk and Jonang traditions. Sometimes we refer to these differences in terms of the colour of our hats, comparing ‘yellow hats’ with ‘red hats’ and so on.”