Tibetan Government Urges China To Disclose 11th Panchen Lama’s Whereabouts

Tibetan parliament-in-exile on Sunday called for Beijing to disclose the wellbeing and whereabouts of Panchen Lama, the second-highest figure in Tibetan Buddhism's largest school, 25 years after his disappearance.

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was recognized as the reincarnation of Panchen Lama by Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995. The 11th Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism was allegedly taken away at the age of six along with his family by the Chinese authorities three days after the proclamation and their whereabouts have not been known since.

A Panchen Lama is traditionally known to serve as a teacher and aide to Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism.

Marking the 25th anniversary of his disappearance, the Tibetans are calling for the release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, now 31. However, there has been no independent news on his fate for 25 years.

The Tibetans said in a statement, "If China's claim that Tibetans in Tibet enjoy religious freedom is to be considered true, then China must provide verifiable information on the well-being and whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama," Channel News Asia reported.

In the same statement, the Tibetan government added the disappearance of the Panchen Lama is an injustice to six million Tibetans and their right to religious freedom.

The Tibetan government is currently based in Dharamsala, India, where the Dalai Lama is residing after he fled from Tibet in 1959.

Beijing, which claims Tibet as its territory since it annexed the then-independent country in 1951, proclaimed another boy named Gyaltsen Norbu as their own Panchen Lama, who is believed to live under close government surveillance in China. The boy is said to be rarely seen in public, Taipei News reported.

The United States on Thursday renewed calls on China to free the Tibetan, whom rights activists have called the youngest political prisoner. Despite several appeals from the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and other foreign governments and organizations, China has never provided any solid information on the condition nor the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama and his family since their disappearance.

"The Government of China has responded several times, but the information provided was considered insufficient to clarify the case and it remains outstanding," BBC News was told by UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

Per BBC News, China told the UN Working Group immediately after the boy's disappearance that "there has never been a case of disappearance and kidnapping of the family of the reincarnated child." It said the allegations were made up by the "Dalai Lama group".

However, a year after the boy’s disappearance, the Chinese government said there were people who tried to smuggle the boy abroad, so his parents asked the government for protection, BBC News reported. Additionally, the report also mentioned Beijing, over the years, said the boy is living a normal life and does not want to be bothered

According to Free Tibet, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation aiming at Tibetan liberation, the Chinese government is imposing its control through threat and violence, and the use of arbitrary detentions and punishments. The Tibetan flag and national anthem are banned and Tibetan Buddhism is seen as a threat. Free Tibet also mentioned possessing images or teachings of Dalai Lama is considered subversive and can result in imprisonment and torture.