Indian Jesuit college honours Dalai Lama

(February 01, 2011) A Jesuit-run college in southern India’s Karnataka State honoured the Dalai Lama inviting the Tibetan spiritual leader to its prestigious annual program.
“We invited him to show our solidarity with him and the Tibetan struggle,” Fr. Ambrose Pinto, principal of St. Joseph College, Bangalore, told ucanews. The Tibetan spiritual leader was the guest speaker at the Josephite Summit, a meeting of past and present students, their parents and well wishers. Some 3,000 people attended this year’s event on Sunday. Fr. Pinto described the Dalai Lama as the Mahatma or Great Soul of the world. “By inviting him we wanted to affirm the diversity of the world we live in, and send a message that Buddhism is a great religion and we have great respect for it,” Fr. Pinto added.
The Dalai Lama praised Christian contributions to India’s education sector. The 76-year old Buddhist monk said the Tibetan struggle is not for separation from China but to preserve our way of life and culture. According to the Dalai Lama, conversion through monetary and other inducements is harmful and against religious principles. The Nobel Peace laureate also disapproved of Hindu extremists attacking churches on the pretext of checking alleged conversions. The Tibetan spiritual leader termed India as a model of non-violence and religious harmony. Some 100 Tibetan students study in the college, which was founded 128 years ago.