The Dalai Lama has recently apologized after a video surfaced of him kissing a child on the lips and then asking him to “suck my tongue” at an event in northern India.
The incident occurred during an event in the hillside city of Dharamshala, and the video of the exchange quickly went viral. The Dalai Lama’s office released a statement on Monday saying he “wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused,” and that “His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras.”
The boy in the video is unknown, and he was attending an event with the M3M Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Indian real estate company M3M Group, based in Dharamshala, where the Dalai Lama lives in permanent exile.
The Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, is the best-known living Buddhist figure in the world and is the principal spiritual leader of the “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism. He is revered by millions as the reincarnation of his 13 predecessors and has been based in India since 1959, following an unsuccessful Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation forces.
The incident has sparked controversy, as it’s not the first time the octogenarian has been seen in a controversial light in recent years. He apologized after a 2019 interview with the BBC, during which he said if a female Dalai Lama should succeed him, she “should be more attractive.” The previous year, he suggested Europe should be kept for Europeans when speaking about the rising level of African refugees entering the continent.
In response to the incident, prominent Delhi-based child rights group, Haq: Center for Child Rights, told CNN in a statement it condemns “all form of child abuse.” It added: “Some news refers to Tibetan culture about showing tongue, but this video is certainly not about any cultural expression, and even if it is, such cultural expressions are not acceptable.”
Dalai Lama sexually assaults a child!
Why isn’t the media talking about this?
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) April 10, 2023
