Gere lauds Kumaraswamy for planning to stay overnight with HIV afflicted family

Hollywood star Richard Gere lauded Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s plan to spend a night at the house of a HIV afflicted family later this month.

The Pretty woman actor, who paid a visit to the Tibetan settlement at Bylakuppe in Mysore district near here, called on the Chief Minister at his residence in Bangalore. Gere told reporters that he dropped by when he heard about the Chief Minister’s initiative to spend a night at the home of HIV-infected patients.

“I was on my way to Bylakuppe and I saw this extraordinary article in a newspaper about the Chief Minister’s statements about dispelling myths on AIDS and spending the evening with a HIV afflicted family”, Gere told reporters.

“This is extraordinary and this doesn’t happen in most countries. That someone undertakes this responsibility. This symbolism will do so much to lower the stigma”, he said.

Gere even praised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his commitment to fight the scourge of AIDS. “And here we have a Chief Minister, who is committed from his heart and mind in a very skillful way. If you have leadership like that you can do anything. If there is no leadership, there will be no success in the fight”, Gere said.

Earlier, Gere and his wife Carey Lowell had paid a rather unexpected visit to the Tibetan settlement at Bylakuppe, catching the Buddhist monks by surprise. The Hollywood star mingled freely with the monks, shaking hands and posing for photographs with them.

Gere’s visit to Bylakuppe coincided with the arrival of Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama for the foundation stone laying ceremony for a new building.

Gere had reached the Panchen Lama monastery in Bylakuppe before the Dalai Lama’s arrival. When Dalai Lama’s convoy reached the venue, Gere positioned himself to take photographs of the Tibetan spiritual leader in his digital camera.

Later, he followed Dalai Lama inside the monastery and took a seat along with the other monks and participated in a prayer meeting. On his way out of the monastery, Dalai Lama waved at Gere acknowledging his presence.

Chatting with reporters, Gere described himself as an “old friend of Tibet”. He said Dalai Lama was “his friend and teacher”. Gere had started the Gere Foundation whose mission is to assist the cultural survival of Tibetan people through health, technological and educational projects.