The Dalai Lama has apologized after he was filmed kissing a little boy on the mouth and then asking him to “suck his tongue”, CNN reports.

Dalai LamaPhoto: Sondeep Shankar / Alamy / Profimedia Images

The scene was filmed at an event held in late February at the Dalai Lama’s temple in Dharamsala, where around 100 young students graduated from the M3M India Foundation.

In a video that has gone viral, a boy can be seen approaching the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and then asking, “Can I give you a hug?” The 87-year-old spiritual leader then invited the boy on stage, showed him his cheek and said “first here”, prompting the boy to hug and kiss him. Then the Dalai Lama pointed to his lips and said to the boy, “I’m thinking here too.” Then he pulled the child by the chin and kissed her on the mouth. “And suck my tongue,” the Dalai Lama then said to the child, sticking out his tongue and bringing his head closer to the child.

A prominent Delhi-based child rights organization, the Haq Center for Child Rights, responded to CNN by condemning “all forms of child abuse.”

“Some news reports talk about the Tibetan culture of tongue sticking out, but this video is definitely not about any cultural expression, and even if it is, such cultural expressions are not acceptable.”

The Dalai Lama apologizes

In a statement on Monday, the office of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism said it wanted to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as to his “many friends around the world”:

  • “His Holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends around the world, for the pain his words may have caused.
  • His Holiness often teases the people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and in front of the cameras. He regrets the incident.”

This is not the first time that the Dalai Lama has caused controversy. He also apologized after a 2019 BBC interview in which he suggested that if the Dalai Lama were to return as a woman, “she should be more attractive”.

The previous year he suggested keeping Europe for Europeans when he spoke about the increasing number of African refugees arriving on the continent: “Will all of Europe (eventually) become a Muslim country? Impossible. Is it an African country? Also impossible. It is better to “save Europe for Europeans”.