Dalai Lama posts non-apology for viral video stirring ‘pedophilia’ allegations

Of all people, the current Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso is the last to come to my mind to actually be posting a Notes App non-apology in response to very serious allegations. 

After receiving heavy backlash, the 87-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader published a statement on Apr. 10 apologizing for a viral video of him asking a young boy to suck his tongue. 

“A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked His Holiness the Dalai Lama if he could give him a hug. His Holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused,” the statement on Twitter reads. “His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident.”

In the video reportedly taken on Feb. 28 during an M3M Foundation event at the Dharamshala suburb of McLeod Ganj in India, a young boy approaches the Tibetan monk to ask, “Can I hug you?” The Dalai Lama invites the boy onstage, points to his cheek, and says, “First here.” This prompts the boy to give him a hug and a kiss.

The Dalai Lama then points to his lips, saying, “Then I think finally here also.” He is seen pulling the boy’s chin and kisses him on the lips. The boy leans back, away from the monk, seemingly uncomfortable.

What comes next is the most disturbing part of the video. The monk reportedly tells the boy, “And suck my tongue.” He then sticks his tongue out and pulls the boy forward so their foreheads are touching. The boy quickly sticks his own tongue out and tries to move away. But the Dalai Lama laughs along with the audience and pulls him in for another hug, before advising him to create “peace and happiness.”

Netizens slammed the Dalai Lama for his “inappropriate, sexual, and abusive” behavior with a number of them also calling it “sexual assault” and “pedophilic.” While there were people who defended the Dalai Lama by mentioning that sticking one’s tongue out is a Tibetan greeting, others pointed out that sucking is a very different thing altogether.

“[The] Dalai Lama caught ON CAMERA committing Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) yet people are ‘confused,’” Indian journalist and activist Tehmina Bakhtyar Kaoosji writes. “In fact, THAT’s exactly what CSA often looks like—it’s commonplace, blasé, and trusted adults/authority [figures] are  guilty of it. Society attempts to normalize it, rather than protect kids.”

The controversy also brought up former allegations against the Dalai Lama, including a sexist quip about how a possible female successor to his role “must be very, very, attractive” and his endorsement with the NXIVM “sex cult” of imprisoned racketeer and sex offender Keith Raniere.

In 2018, the Dalai Lama acknowledged the sexual abuse cases against Tibetan Buddhist leaders by saying, “I already knew those things, nothing new.”

It isn’t lost to netizens that the Dalai Lama is far from the only religious and spiritual organization embroiled in sexual abuse allegations. The Catholic Church and, locally, convicted sex trafficker Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ are just two examples that come to mind.

It’s Cardi B who perfectly puts into words our sentiment on this incident, “This world is full of predators. They prey on the innocent—the ones who are most unknowing, our children. Predators could be our neighbors, our school teachers, even people with money, power and our churches. Constantly talk with your kids about boundaries and what they shouldn’t allow people to do to them.”

Besides being more vigilant, we also need to ask for justice and real accountability, which cannot be obtained through a Notes App post.

Photo from the Dalai Lama

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