Dalai Lama: graft is violence and ‘cancer of the modern world’

Here’s an item from the January 5 edition of The Hindu:

Describing corruption as the “cancer of the modern world,” Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said [in Bangalore] on Sunday that he had discussed the issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh too, “although not too seriously.”

In a lighter vein, he said Indians, who were religious and pray at their homes, “should pray that the corrupt be taken to heaven quickly so the country is clean.”

The Dalai Lama said he had personally seen, while travelling in India, how corruption hits the poor and rural people the hardest, with resources meant for them reaching them only partially or not at all. “Corruption is also a form of violence,” he said.