DHARAMSHALA, August 23: Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has written a letter to Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, expressing his concerns over the outbreak of communal violence in Burma.

In the letter, the Dalai Lama said that he was “deeply saddened” and remains “very concerned” with the violence inflicted on the Rohingya Muslims.

The two Nobel laureates had recently met in London, England on July 19, for the first time.

The Tibetan spiritual leader also directed his representative in the Indian capital, Tempa Tsering, to meet the Ambassador of Myanmar. The Embassy, however, is yet to schedule the meeting.

Details of the letter were made public by Kalon Tripa Dr Lobsang Sangay during his meeting with Syed Yahya Bukhari, President, Jama Masjid United Forum on Wednesday at the latter’s residence on the auspicious occasion of Eid.

Two mainstream Urdu print media, the Daily Sahafat and The Inquilab, were also present at the hour-long discussions during which Dr Sangay expressed his heartfelt Eid greetings to Bukhari and the Muslim community.

The elected Tibetan leader also sought to clear misunderstandings within certain sections of the Muslim community on Tibetans by presenting a copy of the 2010 Kyegudo earthquake photo which has been “mistakenly or deliberately” used by some websites to create negative perceptions.

The picture was actually of Tibetan monks performing a mass funeral for the earthquake victims in Tibet.

According to a report carried by the Central Tibetan Administration, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi conveyed a message of peace and urged the “hundreds and thousands of Muslims gathered not to be swayed by photographs of dubious sources and urged them to remain calm.”

“Mr Bukhari shared that His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited the Jama Masjid in 2010 and that the Imam personally received Him and that he had a lot of respect for His Holiness,” CTA said.

Last week, the Kashag directed Tibetan Settlement Officers to meet prominent Muslim leaders including religious leaders and members of state assembly to apprise them with the real information.

Speaking to reporters recently, the Dalai Lama condemned the ethnic violence in Assam and urged everyone to practice religious harmony and non-violence.

“It is very sad. Almost my whole life has been dedicated to promotion of harmony. India, overall, thousand years, you have culture of ‘Ahimsa’ (non-violence) and also, culture of harmony among different religious believers,” the Tibetan spiritual leader was quoted as saying by ANI. “So, every Indian, irrespective of what religious follower and even non- believers, I think we should realise the thousand year old India’s traditional Ahimsa and traditional religious harmony, this must be retained.”