Dharamsala, April 12 – His Holiness the Dalai Lama, in a letter to the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, offered his condolences to the people of Poland for the loss of President Kaczynski, who along with his wife Maria and 130 others died in a tragic air crash in Russia on Saturday.
The Tibetan leader recalled having been privileged to meet the President when he visited Poland and expressed his admiration for the late President’s dedication to the cause of freedom, democracy and human rights.
The Tibetan government-in-exile also expressed deep sorrow and grief over the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski, reported the Indo Asian news Service.
“We deeply express sorrow and grief over the demise of Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 130 others. We sympathise with the families of the victims and the people of Poland,” Thubten Samphel, a spokesperson for the Tibetan government-in-exile, told IANS.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama met Kaczynski a number of times. He visited Poland in 1993, 2000, 2008 and 2009.
“The Polish president was a great admirer of the Dalai Lama and made it a point to meet him whenever he visited Poland,” IANS quoted Samphel as saying.
The Dalai Lama, who is now touring Europe, was in July 2009 made an honorary citizen of the Polish capital Warsaw.
In Poland, the Nobel laureate is already an honorary citizen of Wroclaw and has an honorary doctorate from the Jagiellonian University.
