- A top Tibetan leader has defended the Dalai Lama over his "suck my tongue" comment to a boy.
- "His years of spiritual practice have gone beyond sensorial pleasures," the leader said, CNN reported.
A Top Tibetan leader says the Dalai Lama asking a child to suck his tongue in a controversial and now-viral video was "innocent" and that the actions of the Buddhist high priest were misinterpreted, a report said.
Penpa Tsering, the head of the Tibetan government-in-exile, defended the spiritual leader to reporters on Thursday during an event in the Indian capital of New Delhi, according to CNN.
"His holiness has always lived in sanctity, (following the life of) a Buddhist monk, including celibacy. His years of spiritual practice have gone beyond sensorial pleasures," Tsering said of the Dalai Lama, CNN reported. "His holiness is now being labeled all kinds of names."
Tsering added that the widespread global outrage sparked by the video had "hurt" the followers of the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibetan spiritual Buddhists.
It's unclear when the video in question was recorded, but the clip started circulating on social media in recent weeks. It showed the 87-year-old spiritual leader kissing a boy on the lips before caressing the child's chin and pressing their foreheads together at an event.
—The Herald Post (@TheHeraldPostUS) April 9, 2023
Moments later, the Dalai Lama pats the boy on the arm and says, "Suck my tongue," while sticking out his tongue and leaning in, the clip shows.
The Dalai Lama, a Nobel peace laureate, apologized in a statement posted to Twitter on 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 read.
It continued, "His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident."
Without providing any evidence, Tsering suggested that "pro-Chinese sources" were behind the video going viral on social media, according to CNN.
"The political angle of this incident cannot be ignored," said Tsering.