The Dalai Lama is shown in a video being circulated on social media inviting a young kid to suck his tongue, drawing harsh criticism.
The child approaches the 14th Dalai Lama to pay his respects, and the undated video starts out with him requesting the boy to kiss him on his right cheek. The boy complies by giving him a hug and a cheek kiss. The Dalai Lama then kisses the boy on the lips. When the spiritual leader does this, audience members can be heard clapping and laughing. After that, he pulls the boy’s face and touches his forehead. He hears the Dalai Lama say, “Suck tongue,” after a brief delay. The youngster is drawn up to his face as he pushes his tongue out. His actions prompted loud laughter from the audience once more.
Social media users who saw the video voiced their amazement and anger at the 87-year-old Dalai Lama’s behaviour.
Saif Patel, a user on Twitter, said: “This is disgusting and appears to be a case of child molestation.” Others said that the behaviour was pedophilic in nature.
The Dalai Lama just declared an eight-year-old kid born in Mongolia to be the third most significant spiritual figure in Tibetan Buddhism. He was photographed with the young participant in the ceremony in Himachal Pradesh’s Dharamshala, identifying the young man as the tenth Khalkha Jetsun Dhampa Rinpoche.
Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, went into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese control. He resides there as an exile. Although the Dalai Lama claims he only wants true autonomy for Tibet, his isolated and mountainous homeland, China frequently labels him a dangerous separatist. He received the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2006 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.
Beijing asserts that the selection of the Dalai Lama’s successor must take into account religious traditions, traditional practices, and the support of the Communist Party in power.
