- NET Web Desk
The Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) petitioned the Chinese government on Monday to release the 11th Panchen Lama and his family members, who have been held in Chinese custody for 27 years.
The CTA’s plea coincides with the 33rd birthday of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was recognized as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama by the Dalai Lama when he was just six-years-old.
According to a statement released by CTA, the organization hopes to convey a strong message to Beijing that despite China’s efforts to wipe Nyima from the history sheets, the world has not forgotten about him.
The CTA, also known as the Tibetan government-in-exile stated that “we call-on the Chinese government to rightfully allow the Panchen Lama and his family to live a free life as they are entitled to under the international laws and treaties to which China is obligated.”
Its worthy to note that His Holiness the Dalai Lama endorsed Nyima as the Panchen Lama’s 11th incarnation on May 14, 1995.
However, China, on the other hand, did not acknowledge his reincarnation, and on November 11, 1995, it named Gyaltsen Norbu – the son of a Communist Party member, as the Panchen Lama, the second-highest spiritual title in Tibetan Buddhism.
Following this, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances voiced worry over the Panchen Lama’s location and requested China to give information on the situation.
The UN Committee Against Torture, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and the Special Reporter on Freedom of Religion or Belief have all encouraged the Chinese government to make Panchen Lama’s location known to the world since then.
“China claims that the Panchen Lama is an ordinary citizen living a perfectly normal life and does not wish to be disturbed.” – the CTA statement further reads.
As a result, the Panchen Lama’s case remains one of the world’s longest examples of enforced disappearance, it added.
Therefore, the Tibetan government-in-exile has appealed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to compel China to provide information regarding the Panchen Lama’s current status and whereabouts.
