Gendun Choekyi Nyima – the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibet who is being held in captivity in China – turned 29 on April 25 and Tibetans across the world celebrated his birthday and campaigned for his release.
The Panchen Lama is the second highest spiritual leader of Tibet. Gendun Choeky Nyima was abducted by the Chinese government at the age of six on May 17, 1995 shortly after being recognised by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. Since then, Tibetans in exile, international communities and human right groups have been voicing their concern and calling for his release and information about his life in China, all to no avail: until now the Chinese government has provided no information. He has been described as the youngest political prisoner in the world.
On Gendun Choeky Nyima’s birthday, His Holiness the Dalai Lama made a statement saying that he had information from a “reliable source” that the 11th Panchen Lama is still alive: “The Panchen Lama, whom I recognised, sometime back [there were] no news, but then according to reliable information, he is still alive and carrying on a normal education. So we will see”.
TWA Event in McLeod Ganj
Photo: TWA/Facebook
On April 25, the Central Tibetan Administration’s United Nations and Human Rights Desk released a short video with birthday wishes and a message in 29 different languages from supporters and friends across the world.
An open letter was published on the USCIRF website by Tenzin Dorjee, a USCIRF Commissioner and himself a Tibetan-American saying, “[..] all Commissioners on the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Tibetans, and friends around the world are thinking of you on this special day”. He continued, “Ever since you were abducted as a young child at the age of six, the Chinese government has refused to let international observers visit you and censored even basic information about you and your whereabouts. As much as the Chinese government wants us to forget you, please know that we remember you every day. As each year passes by, our resolve to find you and restore you to your rightful role becomes stronger.”
Photo: SFT
Students for a Free Tibet (SFT), India, in collaboration with Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe in south India lit 130,232 candles on a birthday cake for Gendun Choeky Nyima – a candle for every Tibetan living in exile and breaking the Guinness World Record for the “most lit candles on a cake” previously set at 72,585. Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Bylakuppe is a branch in exile of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet and the seat of Panchen Lama lineage.
Tenzin Tselha, National Director of SFT, India in an interview with Radio Free Asia’s Tibetan service said that the aim of their event was to promote international awareness of the case of the abduction of the Panchen Lama. She said that currently the Panchen Lama’s case is internationally viewed as a “prisoner of conscience” which is inappropriate for his stature as one of the most important religious heads of Tibetan Buddhism.Events were held around the world to mark the birthday.
Tibetan Youth Congress chapters across the world held vigils and demonstrations to observe the birthday and to call upon the Chinese government to release the Panchen Lama.
In Dharamshala, in the main square of Mcleod Ganj, the Tibetan Women’s Association celebrated the day with a public cake cutting event and released balloons with messages for the Panchen Lama.
Photo: SFTUK/Facebook
Other events in the exile community around the world included a vigil held outside the Chinese Embassy in London, United Kingdom, organised by SFT, the Tibet Society, Free Tibet and the Tibetan Community in the UK.
Following the abduction of the six year old Gendun Choeky Nyima, the Chinese government appointed a boy named Gyaltsen Norbu as the “official” 11th Panchen Lama. He is currently the Vice President of the Buddhist Association of China.
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