(FILES) In this file photo taken on April 5, 2023, Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama (C) arrives to attend a prayer at the Main Tibetan Temple in McLeod Ganj. (Photo by AFP)
New Delhi, India 鈥斅燭he Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama apologized on Monday after a video which showed him asking a boy to suck his tongue triggered a backlash on social media.
The video, which has gone viral, shows the Dalai Lama, 87, planting a kiss on the boy鈥檚 lips as he leaned in to pay his respects.
The Buddhist monk is then seen sticking his tongue out as he asked the child to suck it. 鈥淐an you suck my tongue,鈥� he is heard asking the young boy in the video.
The video is from an event in McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamshala city in northern India, on February 28.
鈥淗is 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,鈥� said a statement posted on his verified Twitter account.
鈥淗is Holiness often teases the people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras,鈥� it added. 鈥淗e regrets the incident.鈥�
Twitter users slammed the video, calling it 鈥渄isgusting鈥� and 鈥渁bsolutely sick鈥� after it started trending on Sunday.
鈥淯tterly shocked to see this display by the #DalaiLama. In the past too, he鈥檚 had to apologize for his sexist comments. But saying 鈥� Now suck my tongue to a small boy is disgusting,鈥� wrote user Sangita.
Another poster, Rakhi Tripathi, said: 鈥淲hat did I just see? What that child must be feeling? Disgusting.鈥�
The Dalai Lama remains the universally recognized face of the movement for Tibetan autonomy.
But the global spotlight he enjoyed after winning the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize has dimmed and the deluge of invitations to hobnob with world leaders and Hollywood stars has slowed, partly because the ageing leader has cut back on his punishing travel schedule, but also due to China鈥檚 growing economic and political clout.
Beijing accuses him of wanting to split China, and has referred to him as a 鈥渨olf in a monk鈥檚 robe鈥�.
In 2019, the Dalai Lama apologized for saying that if his successor were to be a woman, she would have to be 鈥渁ttractive鈥�.
The comments, which were criticized around the world, were made in an interview with the BBC.