The Dalai Lama on Monday apologised after a video — showing him kissing a boy on the lips and further asking the child to suck his tongue at a public event — went viral, triggering accusations of him indulging in paedophilia.
In a statement tweeted from the official Twitter handle of the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, it was said that he regrets the incident. His office further said: “His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras.”
According to the Dala Lama’s office, the young boy in question had asked the 87-year-old spiritual leader 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.”
The Dalai Lama has a big following in the Western world where he is also hailed as a figure of resistance to the hegemony of China — the latest bugbear of the West.
