[1/2] Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, Patron of Children in Crossfire, speaks during a press conference in Londonderry, Northern Ireland September 11, 2017.
REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File PhotoNEW DELHI, April 13 (Reuters) - The head of Tibet's government-in-exile on Thursday defended the Dalai Lama over footage of him asking a boy to suck his tongue, saying the incident had demonstrated the country's spiritual leader's innocent and affectionate side.
Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong (political leader) of the exiled Central Tibetan Administration, said the Dalai Lama had been "unfairly labelled with all kinds of names that really hurt the sentiment of all his followers".
The video clip, filmed in February and circulated this month, has been viewed over one million times on Twitter.
The Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in Tibet.