Tibetans and human rights campaigners call for the release of Tibet’s second highest spiritual leader after the 11th Panchen Lama was abducted by the Chinese authorities in May 1995.
Tibetans worldwide are staging peaceful demonstrations on 17th May to mark the 28th anniversary of the forced “disappearance” of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, Tibet’s second highest spiritual leader. Read the article by Tsering Passang – China Must Return the Stolen Tibetan Child – The 11th Panchen Lama
Born 25th April 1989, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was recognised as the true reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama as per the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, on 14th May 1995.
Within days of his public recognition by the Dalai Lama, on 17th May 1995, the six-year old Gedhun Choekyi Nyima disappeared with his parents and Jadrel Rinpoche, Head of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse (Tibet), who was in secretly in touch with the Dalai Lama in India regarding the 11th Panchen Lama’s search. Jadrel Rinpoche was appointed as the Head of the Panchen Lama Search Committee, entrusted by the Chinese Government.
In London, the Tibetan Community UK, Free Tibet and Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities are staging a peaceful vigil outside the Chinese Embassy on 17th May from 6pm to 8pm.
Last month, on the 34th birth anniversary of the 11th Panchen Lama, the Office of India-based Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and the Central Association for the Panchen Lama released a three-page official Statement. They said: “As devotees of the Panchen Lama Lineage and in general Tibetan Buddhism, it is our birth right to practice our faith and since the Panchen Lama is our Root Teacher, and since he is vital to the preservation and promotion of Tibetan Buddhism, we shall continue to fight for his release from the clutches of the Chinese Communist designs.”
Press Event and Demonstration in Geneva, Switzerland
As part of the global campaign to secure the release of the Tibet’s spiritual leader who has been missing since 1995, a Press Event is being planned at the Geneva Press Club on 16th May from 11am to 12pm.
Organised by the Tibetan Community of Geneva, the Press Event will be addressed by Thinlay Chukki, Geneva-based Representative of His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Tibet Bureau, His Eminence Zeegkyab Rinpoche, Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in South India, and Adrien Zoller, President of Geneva for Human Rights.
The Tibetan Community of Geneva will also stage a public demonstration at the Place des Nations, UN, Geneva on 17th May from 11am to 3pm, where over a thousand Tibetans are expected to take part.
Protest in Paris, France
Useful links:
Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama
Global Alliance for Tibet & Persecuted Minorities 