Tibetans seek Panchen Lama’s release from Chinese custody on his 35th b’day

Dharamsala, April 25

Tibetans-in-exile gathered at the Dalai Lama’s temple at McLeodganj today and offered prayers for Panchen Lama on his 35th birthday. Sikyong president of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) Penpa Tsering in a statement issued here said, “We pray that the Panchen Rinpoche, Tenzin Gendun Yeshi Thinley Phuntsok, may soon be able to break the shackles of the Chinese government’s illegal captivity to freedom and assume his rightful throne of the Tashi Lhunpo monastery.”

Sikyong said that sadly, the Panchen Rinpoche’s whereabouts and that of his parents Kunchok Phuntsok and Dechen Choedon and Jadrel Jampa Trinley Rinpoche, who had been appointed chairman by the Chinese government’s search committee, remained unknown after they were forcibly abducted by the Chinese authorities on the night of May 17, 1995, three days after the Dalai Lama recognised him as the Panchen Rinpoche’s reincarnation, he added.

He said, “The Dalai Lama and the Panchen Rinpoche, considered the sun and the moon by the Tibetans, are the two foremost holders of the Gelug tradition of Tibetan Buddhism in history. Not only are they the highest-ranking masters of the Gelug tradition but they also have a long history of spiritual relationship in terms of recognising each other’s successive reincarnations, bestowing ordination on and transmitting teachings to each other. On May 14, 1995, the Dalai Lama, following the traditional Tibetan Buddhist rituals and tests, announced the unmistakable reincarnation of the tenth Panchen Rinpoche. However, three days later, the Chinese government abducted him along with his parents and since then 29 years had passed and their whereabouts remain unknown.”

Sikyong said that Chinese government had not responded clearly to questions about the whereabouts of the Panchen Rinpoche raised by the United Nations and the international community. “In 2015, a Chinese government’s spokesperson had claimed that the Panchen Rinpoche was receiving education like other children and that he did not want to be disturbed by anyone. The Chinese government on June 2, 2020, claimed that the Panchen Rinpoche received free compulsory education when he was a child, passed the college entrance examination and now has a job,” he added.

The Central Tibetan Administration has persistently called for the immediate release of the Panchen Rinpoche through resolutions passed in the Tibetan parliament-in-exile and in statements of the Kashag. “Our most pressing concern is whether the Panchen Rinpoche is still alive or not. If he is presumed to be alive, has he been brought up with his parents from the age of six up till now for the last 29 years. Or has he been kept in a remote environment to become someone who can’t speak even in Tibetan,” he added.