Dalai Lama issues ‘apology’ statement after mistreatment of child in India

A video that has gone viral on social media in recent days shows the Dalai Lama, the leader of Tibetan Buddhists, inappropriately approaching a minor in India.

The audiovisual recording shows how the child asks the priest to hug him, after which he asks him to come up to the platform and, pointing to his cheek, says: “First here.” He immediately points to her lips and declares: “I think, finally, here too.” Finally, he pulls the boy’s chin and kisses him on the lips. “And suck my tongue,” he mentions, sticking his tongue out at the minor’s obvious discomfort.

Statement of apology

Considering the big controversy that resulted from the video, today, Monday, the office Dalai Lama released a statement asking him to “apologize” to the boy and his family.

“A video has been circulated showing a recent meeting in which a boy asks His Holiness, Dalai Lama, if you can hug him. His Holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as to his many friends around the world, for the damage caused by his words,” the statement said.

It is also pointed out that the religious leader usually jokes “innocently and mischievously”.

“His Holiness often innocently and mischievously teases people he knows, even in public and on camera. He regrets this incident,” the text reads.

controversial comments

This is not the first time an Asian Buddhist leader has had to apologize for a scandalous act. In 2019, he had to apologize for saying in an interview that “if a female Dalai Lama comes, she should be more attractive.”

“When asked if his own reincarnation could be a woman, and suggesting that if he was, he would have to be attractive, His Holiness really did not mean to offend,” the text published on this occasion says.

“(The Dalai Lama) deeply regrets that people have been hurt by what he said and sincerely apologizes,” he added.

The Buddhist leader also stated that if his predecessor is unattractive, then “I would rather not see that face.”

“His Holiness, an octogenarian monk, is keenly aware of the contradictions between the materialistic, globalized world in which he travels and the complex, more esoteric ideas about reincarnation that underlie the tradition. Tibetan Buddhist”, continued the statement.

“But sometimes it happens that informal comments that may be funny in one cultural context lose their meaning when translated when they are in another (context). He regrets any offense he may have caused,” he added.