Pressure China to free Panchen Lama abducted in 1995: Tibetan govt-in-exile

DHARAMSHALA: The Tibetan government-in-exile on Thursday urged all democratic countries to press China to release the Panchen Lama, who was abducted in 1995, and demanded that Beijing should allow an independent fact-finding commission to have access to the spiritual leader.
Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or political leader of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) based in the Himachal Pradesh town, reiterated a long-standing call for the release of the Panchen Lama at a large gathering organised to mark the 35th birthday of the spiritual leader, considered by Tibetans to be second only to the Dalai Lama.
In keeping with age-old traditions of anointing spiritual leaders through the process of reincarnation, the current Dalai Lama recognised six-year-old Tenzin Gendun Yeshi Thinley Phuntsok as the 11th Panchen Lama on May 14, 1995. “However, three days later, the Chinese government abducted him along with his parents and since then, 29 years passed and their whereabouts remain unknown,” Tsering said.
On behalf of the Tibetan government-in-exile, Tsering called on all free democratic governments to take steps for the immediate release of the Panchen Lama. In line with international law and the “aspirations of millions of followers of Tibetan Buddhism”, Chinese authorities should “immediately allow an independent fact-finding commission” to access the spiritual leader.
Tsering also urged Gyaltsen Norbu, a Tibetan appointed by Chinese authorities as the “Panchen Lama”, to “not become a political tool of the Chinese government’s sinister motives”.
The reception included musical performances and speeches by several Tibetan and Buddhist leaders, who called for the release of the Panchen Lama, as many in the gathering held up the only existing photograph of the spiritual leader as a six-year-old. A parliamentary delegation from Estonia joined Tsering in cutting a symbolic birthday cake.
While ceremonies are organised every year to mark the Panchen Lama’s birthday, larger events are held every five years. Tibetan officials said the event held on Saturday was the largest so far.
China contends that Gyaltsen Norbu was the “real” Panchen Lama, but Tibetans across the world don’t accept him. Tsering pointed out that the Chinese government hasn’t clearly responded to questions raised by the UN and the world community about the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama.
In 2015, a Chinese government spokesperson claimed the Panchen Lama was receiving education like other children. A team of UN human rights experts said in a report that they had been told by Chinese officials in June 2020 that the spiritual leader had passed a college entrance examination and had a job.
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“Our most pressing concern is whether the Panchen Rinpoche is still alive… If he is presumed to be alive, had he been brought up with his parents from the age of six up till now for the last 29 years?” Tsering said. “Has he been confined within the high walls of a Chinese prison with no communication with the outside world?”
The Indian side has kept a cautious eye on China’s efforts, especially in South and Southeast Asia with sizeable Buddhist populations, to project itself as a proponent of the Buddhist faith. Chinese authorities have also contended that India and the Tibetan government-in-exile can have no say in the selection of the reincarnation of the current Dalai Lama.
Tibetan leaders dismiss such assertions by China and insist that there are long-standing Tibetan Buddhist rituals and tests that will used for the process of selecting the reincarnation.
Rigzin Dorjey, the head of the Ladakh Buddhist Association, urged the Indian government to take up the issue of the Dalai Lama with Chinese authorities. “The UN must intervene in this matter. As members of the Buddhist community, even in the case of the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, we will go by his statements on this matter,” he said.
Jukku-Kalle Raid, a member of the foreign affairs committee of the Parliament of Estonia, sought to compare Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the repression of Tibetans by Chinese authorities and called for concerted action by member states of the European Union to deter such actions. Roy Strider, coordinator of the Estonia Tibet Support Group, said: “No government can control matters such as reincarnation…Nobody recognises the fake Panchen Lama.”