Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's comments that Bihar poll results had "proved" that a majority of Hindus still believed in communal harmony was seized upon by the JD(U) today to say that it was an attack on "extremist elements".
The BJP, which suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of JD(U)-led Grand Secular Alliance in the Assembly polls, on its part played down the statement by the Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate, saying Bihar for long has seen communal harmony.
"India has a long tradition of peace and amity. The people of Bihar in the recent Assembly polls have proved that a large section of the Hindu community still believes in peace and amity," the 14th Dalai Lama had said in Jalandhar yesterday without naming any political party or leader.
Terming the remarks of the Dalai Lama as an attack on "extremist elements", JD(U) leader K C Tyagi said the Tibetan spiritual leader has been in India for long and is aware of the Indian culture. "The statement made by him has given a strong and befitting reply to the extremist groups in India. The results of the Bihar polls show that forces of tolerance are not only active but are in majority," he told PTI.
He pointed out that President Pranab Mukherjee too has flagged the issue of intolerance and the Bihar verdict has proved that "intolerance has been defeated."
"We have ensured that communal harmony in the state is maintained at all costs. We have worked to ensure that any attempt to disrupt the harmony is defeated...We fought the Bihar assembly polls on the agenda of development.
"We won four states but lost in two. This is part of democracy...The grand alliance had the arithmetics in its favour. But the chemistry favoured us," BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters here.
Asked whether the Dalai Lama's remarks on intolerance should be a matter of concern for BJP, Hussain said his statement "should not be misinterpreted."
Attacking the grand alliance constituents Congress, JD(U) and RJD over the 1989 Bhagalpur riots, the BJP leader said, "The blame for the riots is on Congress. Lalu Prasad buried the file and Nitish Kumar did not go ahead with the probe. Let us not forget that.
