The US has asked China to immediately account for the whereabouts of the Tibetan spiritual leader, Panchen Lama, who disappeared from the remote Himalayan region 29 years ago. The Panchen Lama is one of the most important religious figures in Tibetan Buddhism, second only to the Dalai Lama himself.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, was born in Tibet on April 25, 1989. At age 6, he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the previous Panchen Lama. But just three days after this recognition, Chinese authorities said to have taken the child and his parents. The Panchen Lama has not been seen since.
“Today marks 29 years since the People’s Republic of China (PRC) abducted the 11th Panchen Lama, one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, as a six-year-old child. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima remains missing and has not appeared in public since that day,” a press statement from the US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Friday here.
Titled ‘Marking 29 Years Since the Panchen Lama’s Disappearance,’ the statement further said, “The PRC government is denying members of the Tibetan community access to this important religious figure and instead continues to promote a state-selected proxy.” According to a statement of the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government in exile in India, it was on May 14, 1995, that the Dalai Lama officially announced Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama. It was on May 17, 1995, that he was taken into Chinese custody along with his entire family, making him the youngest political prisoner in the world at the age of six, it said.
Stating that the US supports Tibetans’ human rights and their exercise of those rights in connection with their distinct religious, cultural, and linguistic identity, the State Department statement said, “Tibetans, like members of all religious communities, should have the ability 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.” “We urge PRC authorities to immediately account for Gedhun Choekyi Nyima’s whereabouts and well-being and to allow him to fully exercise his human rights in line with the PRC’s international commitments,” it added.