Europe1 .fr with AFP 14:53 p.m., April 11, 2023

The Dalai Lama apologized Monday in a tweet after asking a little boy to "suck his tongue." An episode that took place on February 28, and whose video has become viral in recent days on social networks. An incident that said he "regretted" the Tibetan spiritual leader.

The Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, apologized Monday to a little boy for asking him to "suck his tongue" a few weeks ago during a hearing whose video emerged on social media in turmoil. "His Holiness wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends around the world, for the pain his words may have caused," said a statement posted on his official Twitter account.

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"His Holiness often teases the people she meets in innocent and playful ways, even in public and in front of the cameras. He regrets this incident."

pic.twitter.com/vlmUbI4vqz

— Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama) April 10, 2023

A video that has gone viral

In a video of the incident, which went viral, the 87-year-old Dalai Lama stuck out his tongue at the obviously bewildered child, just after asking, "Can you suck my tongue?" triggering hilarity in the assembly. The video was shot on February 28 during a Dalai Lama hearing in McLeod Ganj, a suburb of Dharamsala in northern India, where he has lived in exile since the failure of the 1951 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.

Netizens called his attitude "disgusting" and "absolutely unhealthy." "What did I just see? How must this child feel? Disgusting," said Rakhi Tripathi, a Twitter follower.

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"I'm totally shocked to see the #DalaiLama come up like this. In the past, too, he had to apologize for sexist comments. But to say, 'Now suck my tongue,' to a little boy is disgusting," wrote Sangita, who also followed Twitter.

Controversy in 2019 after sexist remarks

In 2019, the Dalai Lama apologized for saying that if a woman were to succeed him, she would have to be "attractive". These remarks, made in an interview with the BBC, had caused controversy.

The Dalai Lama universally embodies the Tibetan autonomy movement, but the international aura he enjoyed when he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 has faded and the deluge of invitations from leaders, personalities and stars around the world has greatly diminished.

This decline in interest is partly explained by the age of the monk who had to limit his travels, but also by the growing economic and political influence of China. Beijing accuses him of wanting to divide China and regularly calls him a "wolf in monk's robes".