‘India’s Interests Need To Align With Tibet’s To Move Forward’, says Exiled Leader Sikyong Penpa Tsering

Sikyong Penpa Tsering, President of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile (officially known as the Central Tibetan Administration), has said that the world needs to treat Tibetans as “partners” rather than “victims” of Chinese communism.

In his exclusive interview with ABP Live‘s Nayanima Basu, Sikyong Penpa Tsering said that China is increasingly becoming “paranoid” about security issues and it is only when New Delhi will align its interest with Tibet, will both sides be able to “move forward.

The democratically elected Tibetan leader attended the ‘Panchen Lama Awareness Initiative‘ event in New Delhi. He said that the Panchen Lama remains one of the most important figures in Tibetan Buddhism, second only to His Holiness the Dalai Lama himself. Hence, Tibetans matter with great significance which has been made a political issue by Chinese leaders in Beijing. Sikyong Penpa Tsering sees the need to make the new generation aware of the Panchen Lama saga of 1995 whilst urging the Indian Parliament to take a serious note of this important issue.

On 14th May 1995, His Holiness the Dalai Lama announced Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, a six-year old boy, born in Tibet, as the reincarnation of the previous 10th Panchen Lama. A few days later, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima disappeared along with his parents and Venerable Jadrel Rinpoche, Head of the Panchen Lama Search Committee. These last 34 years Tibetans and their supporters worldwide have been urging the Chinese Government to release their spiritual leader, or at least to provide some information of his whereabouts.

Communist leaders in Beijing have remained tight-lipped on the issue to this day. On the contrary, Beijing appointed a young boy named Gyaincain Norbu as the true reincarnation in November 1995, six months after the Dalai Lama’s announcement. A Buddhist leader appointed by atheist China’s communist leaders for political purposes is certainly an act of direct interference in Tibetan Buddhist tradition. This is a testimony of how China’s communist regime control Tibetan people’s freedom of religion after illegally occupying their country since 1950.