By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, January 13: Tibetan Prime Minister Dr Lobsang Sangay on Monday received a standing ovation following his talk on “Religion in Storm or Storm in Religion”, at the 5th National Conclave of Indian student parliament, in the Indian city of Pune.
Sangay said when a community is formed around a religion, it gives religion a societal dimension. “At this point, separation starts between communities in identity, in interest and in mindset leading to formation of nations such as the Hindu nation, Muslim nation, Christian nation etc. This portends to formation of civilizations in terms of religion. Therefore, we have to distinguish between religion, religiosity and religionism,” the Tibetan PM said, speaking to over 10,000 students gathered for the conclave.
The Harvard educated lawyer who rose to the Tibetan PM’s post in 2011 in a historic election, said, “Religion is all good. It is all about love, compassion and peace but when religion moves to religiosity, when religion moves to community, it creates the separation.”
He described religion into four I’s – Spiritual ideas that talks about love, compassion and peace; Institutions, i.e. mosque, mandir, monasteries and church; Individuals, i.e. mullah, pandit, priest and monks, and Interpretation. He said that Spiritual idea, Institution and Individual are all good and that it is the Interpretation where the complexities begin.
He added, “When religion turns into religiosity, it becomes complex, and when religion turns to religionism; it becomes very very complicated and conflict.”
Sangay said that religion is all inclusive but that the people make it exclusive and it becomes “expensive, exploitative and even explosive at times.”
Commending secularism in India, Sangay said, “India is the abode of 9 spiritual traditions of which 4 originated in India itself. In the true sense of the word, India is the epitome of unity in diversity. This unity in diversity is the beauty of India; it’s the pride of India and the strength of India.”
He said that the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama is the living example of India’s rich ancient knowledge that has been preserved and enriched by the Tibetans who call themselves the ‘Chelas’ and India their ‘Guru’.
He further called for the 21st century to be a century of peace. “Violence against violence is not the solution, because violence begets violence. Peace against the violence is the solution. Unity in diversity is the solution,” Sangay told an awestruck audience that gave him a standing ovation.
Defense Minister Manohar Parikar, Minister of Urban Development M. Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal, Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar, Speaker of the Parliament Sumitra Mahajan, Chief Minister of Telangana K. Chandrashekhar Rao, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of India TV Rajat Sharma, Former Editor-in-Chief of IBN Network 18 Rajdeep Sardesai and Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal were among other speakers at the Conclave.
The conclave, organised by Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad Foundation, aims to encourage youth to strengthen the foundations of democracy. The event is supported by UNESCO Chair for Human Rights, Democracy Peace & Tolerance World Peace Centre, Pune, India and the Indian government.
