Tibetans say Dalai Lama’s ‘suck my tongue’ video highly misconstrued, 'hypersexualised'

Dharamshala, India

The Tibetan community across the globe is stunned to see how the Dalai Lama's viral video where he is asking a small boy to “suck” his tongue has been misinterpreted and hypersexualised to taint the image of their exiled spiritual leader.

Pushing back against reports in a section of media, the Tibetans are claiming that the video is being misused by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propagandists to discredit the Dalai Lama and legitimise China's control over Tibet.

In the viral video, the Dalai Lama is seen hugging the child and apparently asking him for a peck on his cheek. After that, he is seen kissing the boy on the lips. The leader then stuck his tongue out and asked the boy to “suck my tongue”.

In Tibetan culture, people have been following the tradition of sticking out their tongues, which goes back to the 9th century, to greet each other.

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The video of the spiritual leader suddenly went viral, with many calling the action inappropriate and even alleging it to be a case of child abuse.

But US-based Tibetan journalist Tsering Kyi, while speaking to VICE World News, said that the Dalai Lama has been the target of CCP for the past 70 years and the viral video is just another attempt to discredit him while misinterpreting Tibetan culture.

“I still remember when the great Christian spiritual leader, Desmond Tutu, visited the Dalai Lama in India, and they hugged and kissed like two pure kids. It was a beautiful display of love, but some people with dirty minds interpreted it as something else back then too,” the journalist said.

“English is his second language, so sometimes His Holiness uses words that make some people uncomfortable. “However, it doesn't necessarily mean that he intends to be negative,” Kyi added.

Meanwhile, another Tibetan, explaining their traditional way of greeting each other, said, "It's been our traditional way of greeting. I have also seen [the Dalai Lama] being playful with Tibetans. For us, it is sad that it has been misinterpreted by the international community. The event was held more than a month ago, why are we seeing this just now?”

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The Dalai Lama’s office issued an apology on Monday after the viral video drew criticism.

Reacting to the apology in a Facebook post, a Tibetan mother of three children said, “No apology was ever needed from His Holiness. No apology. No explanation. No statement. Because pure unadulterated acts of love, faith, and compassion DO NOT require any apology.”

Tenzin Pema explained how the Tibetan culture has been misconstrued and hypersexualised to set a false narrative against the Dalai Lama.

“Because an "oothuk" - foreheads touching to represent pure love, respect in our culture - does not require an apology. Because a kiss or a "po" on the lips given by elders to little children and by young children to elders is common in our culture and another sign of pure, unabashed love,” she said.

She also explained how “blow into the face" represents hope in Tibetan culture. “For the word "blow" or the act of "blow-ing" represents hope and faith and peace and contentment and fulfilment and compassion and kindness... in our culture and to our people,” Pema said.

She added that even the most highlighted part of the video “suck my tongue” was a wrong translation of the words "nge che le jip", which is a common playful refrain used by Tibetan elders.