Tibetan government-in-exile reiterate call to release Panchen Lama
The Tibetan government-in-exile on Friday reiterated the call for the Chinese government to release the 11th Panchen Lama, who was abducted in 1995, as they marked the 36th birthday of the spiritual leader whose whereabouts and well-being still remain unknown.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, considered by Tibetans to be second only to the Dalai Lama, was abducted by China in 1995 when he was only six-years-old. He was born in Chinese occupied Tibet on April 25, 1989.
On 14 May 1995, the 14th Dalai Lama had publicly announced the young boy as the 11th Panchen Lama and officially bestowed him the name Jetsun Tenzin Gedhun Yeshi Trinley Phuntsok Pal Sangpo. Three days later, on May 17, the young Panchen Lama 'disappeared' along with his parents and Chadrel Rinpoche, the abbot of the Panchen Lama's seat at Tashi Lhunpo monastery.
Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said that there is no new information regarding the Panchen Lama. 'There is a lot of speculation about whether he is still alive or not, but we are not in a position to either confirm or deny this,' he said. 'We continue to urge the Chinese government to release him and all other political prisoners. He was only six years old when he was abducted. If he is alive, we believe he has not received the religious education necessary to fulfil his responsibilities.'
'We have consistently appealed to the international community, and there must be greater pressure on the Chinese government to disclose the Panchen Lama's well-being and whereabouts,' he added.
Tibetan government-in-exile, spokesperson, Tenzin Lekshay, said, 'At the tender age of six, he was forcibly abducted by the Chinese Communist regime. Since then, China has failed to disclose any information regarding his well being and whereabouts. This remains a matter of serious concern, for which the Chinese authorities must be held accountable.'
Meanwhile, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) group called on the governments and the international community to press China to account for the Panchen Lama's whereabouts and well-being. 'The continued disappearance of the Panchen Lama is emblematic of China's repressive control of Tibet, which has led to the executions, torture, imprisonment, the destruction of religious institutions, political indoctrination, the expulsion of monks and nuns for monasteries and nunneries, the banning of religious ceremonies, restrictions on the numbers of monks in monasteries and the extreme disruption of the religious practices of average Tibetans,' ICT said in a statement.
The ICT has also reiterated its demand that China release the Panchen Lama so that he can take his rightful place at the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the traditional home of the Panchen Lama.
Tenzin Tsundue, Tibetan writer and activist based in Dharamshala, said, 'China's calculative kidnapping and disappearing of the real Panchen Lama and installing a fake reincarnation to control the narrative of the next Dalai Lama has just been demolished by the Dalai Lama who has recently declared in his latest book 'Voice for the Voiceless' that the 15th Dalai Lama would be born in free world and not in China occupied Tibet.'
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