Partition would not have happened had Jinnah become India PM: Dalai Lama

Exiled Tibetan leader says Jawaharlal Nehru coveted top post

Exiled Tibetan leader Dalai Lama said on Wednesday that Partition  would have been averted had Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah become the first prime minister of India, according to Hindustan Times.



The Dalai Lama made the comments while speaking at a Goa educational institute. He made the remarks while responding to a student's query on taking right decisions.

“Now look at India. I think Mahatma Gandhi was very much willing to give the prime ministership to Jinnah. But Pandit Nehru refused,” he said.

BJP minister refers to Quaid-e-Azam as 'mahapurush'

The exiled Tibetan leader went on to add how he thought it was a bit self-centered on part of Jawaharlal Nehru to covet the top post.

“I think it was a little bit self-centred attitude of Pandit Nehru that he should be the prime minister. India and Pakistan would have remained united had Mahatma Gandhi's thinking materialised," he said. "Pandit Nehru, I know very well, (was a) very experienced person, very wise but sometimes mistakes also happen.”



Earlier in May, Uttar Pradesh Minister Swami Prasad Maurya eulogised Jinnah as a "mahapurush" or great man. The minister made the remarks while admonishing a Bharatiya Janata Party MP for criticising Aligarh Muslim University for displaying a photo of Jinnah at the varsity. "It is shameful for anyone to point a finger on great leaders who contributed towards the country's formation," he had then said.



This story originally appeared in Hindustan Times.