Mankotia asks: Why Yami, not Dalai Lama, ambassador

Dharamsala, October 31

A controversy has erupted over the government’s decision to make actress Yami Gautam as brand ambassador of the Investors Meet being held in Dharamsala.

Former Congress leader and chairman of ex-servicemen league of Himachal, Vijai Singh Mankotia said the Dalai Lama was the biggest brand in the state and it was unfortunate that the government was not associating him with the meet. Dharamsala was known internationally by the name of the Dalai Lama. The government would have been able to attract more investors in case the Dalai Lama was associated with the Meet in some way, he said.

Recently, Mankotia had written to the government to associate the Dalai Lama with the meet. He had also written to PM Narendra Modi demanding that International Gandhi Peace prize be conferred on the Dalai Lama. He claimed that he had received an acknowledgement from Home Minister Amit Shah to his letter demanding peace prize for the Dalai Lama.

During the stint of the previous BJP government, the state had mooted a proposal to make the Dalai Lama the brand ambassador of the state. However, the office of the Dalai Lama held the ground that he was a spiritual leader and cannot engage in promotional activities.

Minister for Industries, Bikram Thakur, said Yami Gautam was the daughter of the state and nobody should have any problem at her being made the brand ambassador.

When asked as to why the Dalai Lama was not being associated with the event, the minister said, “I think invite might have been sent to the Tibetan spiritual guru but I will check”. — TNS