NEW DELHI — The Tibetan religious chief the Dalai Lama apologized on Monday after a video which confirmed him asking a boy to suck his tongue triggered a backlash on social media.
The video, which has gone viral, reveals the Dalai Lama, 87, planting a kiss on the boy’s lips as he leaned in to pay his respects.
The Buddhist monk is then seen sticking his tongue out as he requested the kid to suck it. “Can you suck my tongue,” he’s heard asking the younger boy within the video.
The video is from an occasion in McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamshala metropolis in northern India, on February 28.
“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,” stated an announcement posted on his verified Twitter account.
“His Holiness often teases the people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras,” it added. “He regrets the incident.”
Twitter customers slammed the video, calling it “disgusting” and “absolutely sick” after it began trending on Sunday.
“Utterly shocked to see this display by the #DalaiLama. In the past too, he’s had to apologize for his sexist comments. But saying ‘Now suck my tongue’ to a small boy is disgusting,” wrote consumer Sangita.
Another poster, Rakhi Tripathi, stated: “What did I just see? What that child must be feeling? Disgusting.”
The Dalai Lama stays the universally acknowledged face of the motion for Tibetan autonomy.
But the worldwide highlight he loved after successful the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize has dimmed and the deluge of invites to hobnob with world leaders and Hollywood stars has slowed, partly as a result of the ageing chief has in the reduction of on his punishing journey schedule, but additionally resulting from China’s rising financial and political clout.
Beijing accuses him of wanting to separate China, and has referred to him as a “wolf in a monk’s robe.”
In 2019, the Dalai Lama apologized for saying that if his successor have been to be a lady, she must be “attractive.”
The feedback, which have been criticized world wide, have been made in an interview with the BBC. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
