Dalai Lama speaks out after bizarre video showed him asking to kiss boy’s tongue
By Yaron Steinbuch
April 10, 2023 6:18am Updated

The Dalai Lama has apologized after a video emerged of the Tibetan spiritual leader kissing an Indian boy on the lips — and asking him to "suck my tongue."

He was taking questions in February from an audience in Dharamsala, the Indian town where he lives in exile, when the child asked the Nobel Prize winner, “Can I hug you?"

The Dalai Lama invited him onto the stage and pointed to his cheek, prompting the boy to give him a hug and a kiss, CNN reported.

The 87-year-old then pointed to his lips, and said: "Then I think finally here also."

He then pulled the unidentified boy’s chin and kissed him on the mouth, adding: "And suck my tongue."

As they pressed their foreheads together, the boy poked his tongue out before moving away — but the Dalai Lama pulled him in for another hug.

"Now, you should look [to] those good human beings who create peace [and] happiness," the Dalai Lama said. "[You] should not follow those human beings who [are] always killing other people."

The audience reacted to the awkward scene at his temple in McLeod Ganj with laughter and applause as the Dali Lama appeared to also tickle the child.


The spiritual leader's office released a statement on Monday after footage of the sick incident.
Dalai Lama

"This video is scandalous," Colombian journalist Vicky Dávila said on Twitter. "The Dalai Lama kisses a boy who approaches him on the mouth. The attendees applaud and laugh instead of condemning this aberration.”

The leader's Twitter account, which has 19 million followers, said Monday: "A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked his Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug.

"His Holiness 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,” the statement said.


The Dalai Lama proceeds to kiss the boy on the lips.
News.com.au

"His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras," it added.

The exiled leader was at an event with the M3M Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Indian real estate company M3M Group, which is based in Dharamshala, CNN reported.

The network has reached out to the foundation for comment.

The Delhi-based child rights group Haq: Centre for Child Rights told CNN that it condemns "all form of child abuse," adding that “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."

The octogenarian, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, is regarded by Beijing as a dangerous separatist.

He has worked for decades to draw global support for linguistic and cultural autonomy in his homeland while living in Dharamshala.

The Dalai Lama has sparked controversy before, including during a 2019 interview with the BBC in which he said that if a female Dalai Lama should succeed him, she "should be more attractive."

He later apologized for the comment.

The year before, he suggested that Europe should be reserved for Europeans while discussing the rising level of African refugees entering the continent.

"The whole Europe (will) eventually become Muslim country? Impossible. Or African country? Also impossible," he said, CNN reported, adding that it’s better to "keep Europe for Europeans."

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