The Dalai Lama addresses the inter-faith conclave at Rabindra Bhavan in Guwahati on Saturday. Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Feb. 1: Many waved at him from a distance, some managed to touch his feet while others were turned away by the tight security cordon.

The varied moods marked the arrival of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama here to address an inter-faith conclave this afternoon.

This was the Dalai Lama’s first public appearance in the Northeast since his Arunachal visit in 2009.

A crowd had gathered outside Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport to catch a glimpse of the spiritual leader where the Dalai Lama landed around 10.25 this morning. From the airport, he went to hotel Brahmaputra Ashok — his place of stay during the visit, where a troupe of Xattriya dancers welcomed him.

Later in the day, he addressed an inter-religious conclave at Rabindra Bhawan here and showered praise on the secular ethics of India. “For thousands of years, India has followed secular ethics. Apart from being a multi-religious country, India has assimilated different religions and faiths from outside. Some conflict or communal clashes take place in pockets but that has not been able to destroy the country’s strong secular character. So wherever I go, I identify myself as an ambassador of India,” he said. Members of the Lawyers’ Book Stall Foundation, which organised the inter-religious gathering, felicitated him.

“His Holiness talked about secularism and the secular ethics of the Indian society. He said secularism in Indian context was showing respect to all religions, which is necessary for humanity,” Riddhish Chakraborty, one of the persons who looked after media relations at the conclave, said. The event concluded around 4pm.

Spiritual leaders and scholars of other religions were also present on the dais with the Dalai Lama, while nearly 700 devotees and invitees attended the conclave. Representatives like Swami Sumanasananda Maharaj (Ramakrishna Mission, Cherrapunjee), Bimalankur Mahathera (Jorhat Buddha Vihar), Narayan Chandra Goswami, xatradhikar of Natun Kamalabari Xatra, Fr Thomas Menamparampil, former archbishop of Guwahati diocese, Toufiqur Rahman Barbaruah, former principal of Assam Medical College and Hospital and Kapurchand Jain, a scholar, Gyani Swaran Singh, a Sikh scholar, among others, attended the event.

Police and central paramilitary forces were deployed to guard the venue as part of the elaborate security arrangements for the spiritual leader’s visit.

The Dalai Lama will deliver a lecture on A Human Approach to Peace and the Individual tomorrow at Nehru Stadium here. Nearly 20,000 invitees are expected to attend the event organised by the LBS Foundation that was set up recently to promote Assam’s art and culture.

The spiritual leader will also inaugurate the Festival of Tibetan Art and Culture at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra here tomorrow.

He will visit Shillong on Monday for a series of programmes.