America
Obama invokes India's example to condemn religious intolerance
Washington, Feb 5
US President Barack Obama
Thursday invoked India's example to make a plea for religious freedom
and how faith leads people to do good and what's right but that faith
also can be twisted to be used as a weapon.
In a 25-minute
address to the National Prayer Breakfast, Obama who last month visited
India with First Lady Michelle called it "an incredible, beautiful
country, full of magnificent diversity".
But it was also "a place
where, in past years, religious faiths of all types have, on occasion,
been targeted by other peoples of faith, simply due to their heritage
and their beliefs", he said.
These, Obama said, were "acts of
intolerance that would have shocked Gandhiji, the person who helped to
liberate that nation," he said.
"So this is not unique to one
group or one religion. There is a tendency in us, a sinful tendency that
can pervert and distort our faith," he told the meeting, attended by
several international leaders including the Dalai Lama.
"We see
faith driving us to do right. But we also see faith being twisted and
distorted, used as a wedge - or, worse, sometimes used as a weapon,"
Obama said.
"From a school in Pakistan to the streets of Paris,
we have seen violence and terror perpetrated by those who profess to
stand up for faith, their faith, professed to stand up for Islam, but,
in fact, are betraying it," he said.
Earlier this week, a senior
aide of Obama had said that Obama's last speech in New Delhi referring
to the need for religious tolerance in India had been misconstrued by
some commentators as a kind of a parting shot.
"I think that's
been somewhat misconstrued, if you look at the context of the entire
speech, it's really about inclusivity. It's about the power of
diversity," Phil Reiner, White House's senior director for South Asian
Affairs, told foreign media.
As he began speaking, Obama called
the Dalai Lama a "good friend" and "a powerful example of what it means
to practice compassion and who inspires us to speak up for the freedom
and dignity of all human beings".
Earlier as he arrived, Obama
nodded and smiled at the Dalai Lama, waving after clasping his hands
together in a bow-like gesture toward Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.
The
two did not meet directly, but senior Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett was
seated with the Dalai Lama at a table in the front row across from the
president.
Despite Beijing's objections, Obama has met the Dalai Lama previously three times, most recently in February 2014.
As
he arrived at the Washington Hilton Hotel for the meeting, two groups
of supporters of the Dalai Lama chanted to drum beats and waved banners
and Tibetan flags on the street outside the hotel.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])