Member of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile reiterates Dalai Lama's apology to boy, family after video goes viral
Apr 10, 2023
Dharamshala (Himachal Pradesh) [India], April 10 : Member of Tibetan Parliament-in-exile, Dawa Tsering, while reiterating the Dalai Lama's apology on his purported viral video, has said that his Holiness wishes to apologise to the boy and his family and regrets the incident.
Earlier, the Dalai Lama apologised after a purported video of him kissing a boy and asking him to "suck his tongue" triggered a social media uproar. The viral video shows the Dalai Lama kissing the boy on his lips as the latter leaned in to pay his respects. After a few moments, the Tibetan spiritual leader can be seen pointing to his mouth and sticking his tongue out. In the purported clip, Dalai Lama says, "Can you suck my tongue?"
MP in-exile, Dawa Tsering while talking to ANI said, "I just heard about the incident from the people who were present that day at the Dalai Lama's temple. Meeting with the people at the end of the programme during the question-answer session one of the children from the group has asked his Holiness 'can I hug you?' and the Dalai Lama said yes you can do that. Then the child asked for a kiss and he did a kiss and then jokingly his Holiness said you can suck my tongue also so it's just part of that thing."
Reading a message from the private office of The Dalai Lama, Tsering said, "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 apologise to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused."
"His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident," he added.
Dawa Tsering further said, "So that was a part of a joke or play with a kid so we should not go more than that."
An official statement was released by the office of the Dalai Lama on Monday, which stated that the Tibetan spiritual leader "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 Buddhist spiritual leader's remarks follow after a video clip started circulating on social media that showed him meeting a young boy.
The video has caught the attention of netizens on social media.
Social media users have expressed their disappointment and outrage over the incident.
