Dalai Lama faces protest as he opens UK Buddhist center

Dalai Lama faces protest as he opens UK Buddhist center


5 photos
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

LONDON (AP) — The Dalai Lama was met by supporters and protesters as he opened Britain's first Buddhist community center.

The 79-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader performed a blessing for the inauguration of the center in Aldershot, southwest of London. Aldershot is an army town with a substantial Buddhist population thanks to the Nepalese Gurkha regiment.

Several hundred members of the International Shugden Community chanted "Dalai Lama stop lying" as he arrived Monday. They accuse the Dalai Lama of preventing them from following their form of Buddhism, which he once practiced but renounced in the 1970s.

The Dalai Lama's supporters held a counter-demonstration nearby.

Opening the center, the spiritual leader seemed to refer to terrorist attacks in Tunisia and elsewhere, saying "killing in the name of religion is totally wrong" and calling for harmony.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photos

Most recent Features stories

The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast