PATNA: Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama on Friday said China was passing through a difficult time due to widespread Covid infection and expressed his sympathy for that country. The Dalai Lama was in Bodh Gaya a day after a Chinese woman was detained by the police for interrogation after intelligence inputs suggested that she was spying on Dalai Lama. Her visa was subsequently cancelled.
Police sources said she would be deported to China after completing legal formalities. Sounding an alert on Thursday, the police had put out sketches of the suspected Chinese ‘spy’ on social media requesting residents to provide information about her. The woman was later identified as Song Xiaolan.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gaya, Harpreet Kaur, said the foreign national was picked up from a guest house at Maharani Road in Gaya and she turned out to be an ardent follower of Dalai Lama.Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday called on the Dalai Lama and sought his blessings.
Nitish told the Dalai Lama that elaborate security arrangements have been made for the safety of devotees and other visitors. Speaking at a teaching session being organised at Bodh Gaya, the most revered shrine of Buddhists in Bihar’s Gaya district, Dalai Lama said the Covid-19 pandemic was spreading fast and appealed to Buddhist monks to pray for its eradication.
The Buddhist leader said that Bodh Gaya was a pious land and advised devotees to practise Nagarjun’s Bodhicitta. He appealed to people across the globe to ‘collectively’ take a stand against weapons of mass destruction.
Recalling the massive destruction wrought by atom bombs during the Second World War in Japan, the Dalai Lama said that he had the opportunity to visit Hiroshima and see for himself the level of massive devastation there. “After coming to India, I have been able to concentrate more on meditation,” he added.
Nitish promises full security for devotees
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday called on the Dalai Lama and sought his blessings. Nitish told the Dalai Lama that elaborate security arrangements have been made for the safety of devotees and other visitors.