Monks at Tergar monastery in Bodhgaya offer prayer on Monday morning. Picture by Suman

New Delhi, July 8: Not just the Bodhgaya temple but the Dalai Lama too has been under threat from extremist groups in Bangladesh, Pakistan and Malaysia, sources in the security establishment said.

Coincidentally, the attack on the Mahabodhi temple came the morning after the Dalai Lama’s birthday, July 6.

PTI quoted the Dharamsala-based Tibetan spiritual leader as saying that the temple attack was “unfortunate” and that a “few individuals” could be behind it.

Over the past three days, the Union home ministry has written to the chief secretaries of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh to beef up security for the Dalai Lama as he prepares to tour these states from July 10, sources told The Telegraph.

The frequency of the alerts about the monk’s security has increased substantially since last year’s violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Tenzin Takhla, one of the Dalai Lama’s secretaries, denied that the Tibetan government-in-exile in Dharamsala had received reports of any immediate threat from extremists to either the spiritual leader or Tibetan settlements.

Union home secretary Anil Goswami too wouldn’t comment on the Dalai Lama’s threat perception.

Extremist groups in Bangladesh’s border areas with Myanmar have been getting active and coordinating efforts to attack Buddhist symbols in India, intelligence sources have said.

The Centre has also alerted Jammu and Kashmir and Maharashtra on some Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar seeking shelter in these states. “After the riots, Rohingya activists have also gone to Malaysia and tied up with some outfits,” said a source.

Tibetans are settled in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and elsewhere in India, wherever there are seats of learning or refugee colonies.

Last morning’s attack is perhaps the biggest on any Buddhist shrine since the Taliban demolished the Bamiyan Buddhas. The Prime Minister of the Tibetan government-in-exile expressed sadness.

“I am deeply saddened to learn about the series of bomb blasts at the Mahabodhi temple. My prayers for the injured and their family members,” Lobsang Sangay said.

The Rohingya-Buddhist clashes in Myanmar have displaced hundreds of thousands of people and killed scores from both communities since June last year. The riots have sparked widespread condemnation across the world and criticism of the Myanmar government’s handling of the situation.

Lashkar-e-Toiba founder Hafiz Saeed had tweeted on June 14: “Indian government is working in cahoots with Burmese government to wipe out Muslim population of Burma.”

He said it was an obligation for the whole “Muslim ummah (community) to defend the “rights and honour” of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Some Indian minority groups have criticised the Centre for failing to treat the Rohingyas on a par with Hindus who flee Pakistan and receive asylum in India.