Dharamshala, 27th April: The US State Department released a press release on Monday, April 25th, on the 33rd birth anniversary of Gendun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet, demanding China reveal the whereabouts and well-being of the missing Panchen Lama and his family, who was last seen as a six-year-old on May 17, 1995.

The State Department’s Spokesperson, Ned Price, said in a statement “Today marks the 33rd birthday of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, who remains missing since PRC authorities abducted him as a six-year-old child on May 17, 1995.  The PRC continues to deny members of the Tibetan community access to the Dalai Lama-designated Panchen Lama, the second most revered figure in Tibetan Buddhism, and instead continues to promote a state-selected proxy”

“The United States supports Tibetans’ religious freedom and their unique religious, cultural, and linguistic identity, including Tibetans’ right to select, educate, and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs and without government interference”

While holding China responsible for Panchen Lama’s enforced disappearance, the State Department Spokesperson demanded that China grant Gendun Choekyi Nyima full access to his human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with the PRC’s international obligations.

The current Panchen Lama who is present by the Chinese government is selected by the Chinese government by ignoring His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s recommendation. The Chinese government named Gyaltsen Norbu, the son of a Communist Party member, the 11th Panchen Lama on November 11, 1995. He was enthroned at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in December 1995, under heavy security and over 500 military personnel positioned across the monastery compound.

To this day, China has turned a deaf ear to these pleas and continues to deceive the world by alleging that “the Panchen Lama is an ordinary citizen, living a perfectly normal life and does not wish to be disturbed”. Therefore, the Panchen Lama’s case continues to remain one of the longest cases of enforced disappearance in the world.

China’s influence in the Panchen Lama’s selection and disappearance was motivated by a desire to assert control over Tibet and to create the groundwork for its manipulative goal in the future selection of His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Given the Panchen Lama’s important cultural and religious position in Tibet, it’s imperative that he has a spiritual upbringing free of political intrusion.

Picture Credit: tibet.net

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