Dharma Shastra more powerful than armed forces: Kiren Rijiju

Kolkata, Jun 22: Invoking the teachings of Lord Buddha, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today said the influence of religion is more powerful on humans than the use of armed forces.

"Dharm Shastra is more powerful than our police force, security and army. The teachings of religion, the knowledge, is the most powerful. If it reaches everywhere then we won't have to use power to stop violence," Rijiju said at 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Buddhist leader Kripasaran Mahasthavir at Bengal Buddhist Association here.

The Union Minister of State for Home Affairs said if everybody understood the teachings of Lord Buddha there will be peace on this planet.

"Why we need weapons, why we need forces?," Rijiju said adding that in this world of conflicts we have to understand the teachings of Buddhism very closely.

In the Home ministry, Rijiju said, he gets reports from various intelligence agencies about conflicts and violence.

Talking on how religious teachings can predominate over use of force, Rijiju elaborated, "To control the violence we also require to use force and it is not a very happy situation. Now in the home ministry what we do... we try to force peace if somebody is destroying it. We use our uniformed force, we use our police force, we use our armed forces... "

"But if the religious teachings go deep into the mind of every individual in the society why would we need force?" he said adding, "that is why I feel Lord Buddha's teachings are more relevant in today's world than they were ever before."

He further reminded that the Dalai Lama has asked people to look at religion not only from a religious point of view but also from a scientific perspective.

"The message of religion has science (which) applies to all, not just to monks," the minister said.

PTI