JAKARTA - Tibet's spiritual leader Dalai Lama (87) apologized on Monday, after a video recording showed him asking a boy to "hat my tongue" at a public event.
"A video clip has circulated showing a recent meeting when a boy asked His Majesty Dalai Lama if he could hug him," said a statement on the leader's Twitter account in exile, which has 19 million followers.
"His Majesty wants to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as many of his friends around the world, for the hurt his words may have caused," the statement continued.
The statement said the Dalai Lama leader "often teased people he met in a innocent and fun way, even in public and in front of the camera. He regretted the incident".
The video, which has been viewed 1 million times on Twitter, also shows the Nobel Peace Prize laureate looking to give the boy a kiss on his lips in front of the audience who sounded applauding and laughing, while a man recorded the moment with his cell phone.
Citing CNN, the boy's identity is unknown. He was at an event with the M3M Foundation, the philanthropic body of India's real estate company, the M3M Group, based in
In response to the incident, the leading child rights group based in Delhi, Haq: Center for Child Rights, told CNN in a statement that they condemned "all forms of abuse against children."
He added: "Some news refers to Tibetan culture about showing a tongue, but this video is certainly not about any cultural expression and even if it is true, such cultural expressions are unacceptable."
Dalai Lama saat ini, Badminton Gyatso, adalah tokoh Buddha yang paling terkenal di dunia.
The main spiritual leader of the "Ying Topi" sect in Tibetan Buddhistism, the Dalai Lama, was hailed by millions of people as the reincarnation of its 13 predecessors.
The incident that occurred in February above is not the first time the figure has sparked controversy in recent years.
He apologized after an interview with the BBC in 2019, in which he said that if a female Dalai Lama should replace her, she "must be more attractive."
The previous year, he suggested Europe should be maintained for Europeans, when it spoke of the increasing number of African refugees entering the continent.
The Dalai Lama, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet, is considered by Beijing to be a dangerous separatist.
He has been working for decades to attract global support, for the autonomy of languages and culture in his remote and mountainous homeland.
The Dalai Lama currently lives in a complex next to a temple surrounded by green hills and snow-covered mountains in the northern Indian city oftenshala.
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