Dalai Lama tongue controversy: playful joke or ‘abusive’?

Video of the leader of Tibetan Buddhism asking a child to ‘suck my tongue’ has gone viral

Dalai Lama
The exiled Dalai Lama at a prayer ceremony last week in McLeod Ganj in Dharamshala, northern India
(Image credit: AFP via Getty Images)

Viral footage showing the Dalai Lama kissing a boy on the lips and asking him to “suck my tongue” has triggered a war of words between outraged critics and the Tibetan spiritual leader’s supporters.

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Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.