Tibetan leader defends Dalai Lama after he asked boy to “suck” his tongue

() — The head of the Tibetan government in exile defended the Dalai Lama after a video was released in which the spiritual leader kisses a child on the lips and then asks him to “suck” his tongue.

The Dalai Lama’s actions were “innocent” and misconstrued, Penpa Tsering told reporters at an event in the Indian capital New Delhi on Thursday, adding that the controversy over the video had “damaged” the leader’s supporters.

“His Holiness has always lived in holiness, (following the life of) a Buddhist monk, including celibacy. His years of spiritual practice have gone beyond sensory pleasures,” Tsering said. “His holiness of him is now being labeled with all kinds of names.”

In a statement Monday, the Nobel peace laureate Dalai Lama apologized after a video of his exchange with the boy went viral on social media and sparked a wave of international criticism, including allegations of child abuse.

Tsering claimed that internal investigations suggested that “pro-Chinese sources” were behind the spread of the video on social media, but provided no evidence for the claim.

“The political angle of this incident cannot be ignored,” he said.

The current Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, 87, is the world’s best-known living Buddhist figure.

The Dalai Lama, the chief spiritual leader of the “Yellow Hat” school of Tibetan Buddhism, is revered by millions as the reincarnation of his 13 predecessors.

It has been based in India since 1959, after a failed Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation. He later established a government-in-exile in Dharamshala, leading thousands of Tibetans who followed him there.

Some of the Dalai Lama’s followers say his actions in the video, which was filmed in February in the northern Indian hillside town of Dharamshala, have been misinterpreted from a Western perspective.

“The expression of emotions and manners today have merged and become vividly Westernized,” Namdol Lhagyari, a Tibetan activist in exile, wrote on Twitter on Monday. “Bringing the narrative of other cultures, customs and social influence on gender and sexuality to interpret the Tibetan way of expression is appalling.”

The February incident is not the first time the octogenarian has sparked controversy in recent years.

He apologized after a 2019 interview with the BBC, during which he said that if a female Dalai Lama should succeed him, she “should be more attractive.”

The year before, he had suggested that Europe should be reserved for Europeans, speaking about the increasing level of African refugees entering the continent.