GUWAHATI – The Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader reiterated on Saturday, April 1, his strong disapproval of terms like “Muslim terrorists”, saying he feels immensely “uncomfortable” at such wrong usage.
“The use of such terms (like Muslim terrorists) is wrong and I feel uncomfortable. There are genuine followers of Islam who follow the Koran seriously and sincerely,” said the Dalai Lama, at the function which also marked the golden jubilee of ‘The Dainik Asom,’ The Economic Times reported.
The Nobel laureate expressed his aversion to the negative, community-specific terminologies, while speaking at a platinum jubilee anniversary function of ‘The Assam Tribune’ group of newspapers here.
He also criticized Buddhists in Burma who were harming Muslims, calling them exist “mischievous elements.”
The comments also come as Islamaphobia has reached unprecedented level since 9/11, which many Muslim groups blame on Muslim ban introduced by President Trump.
Last month, a man broke into a Tucson mosque in Arizona, ripping up over 130 copies of the holy Qur’an in the mosque, as police officials said there was no indication that the attack was a “hate crime.”
Though the attack is the first to target Tucson Islamic Center, it is not the first for mosques across North America.
In January, a 27-year-old Trump supporter opened fire in a Quebec City mosque, killing six people and wounding 19 others.
Also in January, a mosque in Victoria, Texas, was set on fire, and authorities are now investigating the incident as arson. Only five days prior, a California mosque was vandalized with strips of bacon.
The year 2015 was also named the worst year for mosque attacks on record.