The Panchen Lama

Posted Fri, 03/13/2009 - 09:52 by ITSN Executive ...

Related to:

Political Prisoners

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was recognised at age six by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as one of Tibet's most important religious leaders; the 11th Panchen Lama.

Determined to control religion in Tibet, the Chinese authorities kidnapped this young boy and his family on 17 May 1995 just days after he was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama.

Over the years, high-level political figures have made repeated appeals to China to be allowed access to Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, but so far no international agency or human rights organisation has been granted contact with him or his family. To date, their well-being and whereabouts remain unconfirmed. Now a young man (who turned 18 in April 2007), he was the world's youngest political prisoner when he was first abducted and has been missing for over 13 years.

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was born on 25 April 1989 in Lhari (Tibet Autonomous Region)

Panchen Lama is a religious title that Tibetans give to the second greatest leader of Tibet. Panchen means "Great Scholar" and Lama is a word Tibetans use for a religious teacher. The 10th Panchen Lama died in 1989 and a number of years passed before Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was recognised as the reincarnated 11th Panchen Lama.

Shortly after Gedhun Choekyi Nyima's abduction, China selected another boy, Gyaltsen Norbu - also born in Lhari - as the 11th Panchen Lama. Gyaltsen Norbu spends most of his time in Beijing rather than at the traditional seat of former Panchen Lamas, Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse.

Besides the human rights concerns about the welfare of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family, the selection of the 11th Panchen Lama is of extreme political importance; Panchen Lamas traditionally recognise reincarnations of Dalai Lamas (as well as vice versa) and China hopes - by controlling the Panchen Lama - to also control the future selection of Dalai Lamas.

To demand the unconditional release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family, please write to:

President of the People’s Republic of China Hu Jintao Guojia Zhuxi The State Council General Office 2 Fuyoujie, Xichengqu Beijingshi 100017 People’s Republic of China [Salutation: Your Excellency]	Premier of the People's Republic of China Wen Jiabao The State Council General Office 9 Xihuangcheng Genbeijie Beijingshi 100032 People’s Republic of China Email: gazette@mail.gov.cn [Salutation: Dear Premier]
People’s Republic of China Meng Jiangzhu Buzhang Gong’anbu 14 Dongchang’anjie Dongchengqu, Beijingshi 100741 People’s Republic of China Fax: 011 86 10 63099216 [Salutation: Your Excellency]

In this section

Find a Tibet Group

Want to get involved? Find a Tibet organisation near you, using our worldwide interactive map.

Find a Group

Facts about Tibet

Tibet lies at the centre of Asia, with an area of 2.5 million square kilometres (approximately 1 million square miles).

Despite over 50 years of Chinese occupation of Tibet, the Tibetan people refuse to be conquered and subjugated by China.

The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and biggest plateau in the world, so Tibet is referred to as “the roof of the world”.

For Tibetans, the term Tibet means the 3 provinces of U'Tsang, Kham and Amdo, the area traditionally known as Tibet before China's invasion.

The English word Tibet is derived from the Arabic word Tubbat. This word is in turn derived via Persian from the Turkic word Tobad, meaning ‘the heights’.

Tibet was occupied by China in 1949, and the Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959.

Hundreds of thousands of Tibetans have died as a direct result of Chinese occupation since 1949.

There are six million Tibetans in Tibet and roughly 150,000 Tibetans in exile in India and other countries.

Tibetans consider the Dalai Lama to be the temporal as well as spiritual leader of Tibet.

Thousands of Tibetans cross the mighty Himalaya on foot every year into exile, risking death, injuries and arrest.

Most Tibetans are Buddhist, but there are Muslims, Christians and practitioners of Bon, the indigenous religion of Tibet.

In 1948 Tibetan government representatives traveled to the US, UK and France on Tibetan government issued passports.

The exiled Tibetan people elected their first Prime Minister in 2000

In 2008, Tibetans took part in more than 130 separate peaceful protests against the Chinese government across the Tibetan Plateau.

Displaying a photograph of the Dalai Lama in Tibet can result in arrest.

In 1995 the Chinese government abducted the 6 year old Panchen Lama, one of Tibet's most important spiritual leaders. He is still missing.

The longest epic poem in the world is the story of a legendary Tibetan king, Gesar of Ling.

The Tibetan Plateau is the Earth's "Third Pole," providing life-sustaining waters for and regulating weather across south and east Asia.

March 10 is Tibetan National Uprising day. It marks the massive uprising in Tibet in 1959 that led to the escape of the Dalai Lama into exile.

Yak is a Tibetan term for the male of the species. Its female counterpart is called Dri.

Tibetans are denied many of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to self- determination, freedom of speech and religion.

Untll 1949 Tibet had its own government that managed its own domestic and foreign affairs; Tibet had its own national flag and its own currency.

According to Amnesty International more than 1,000 Tibetans were unaccounted for after the protests of 2008.

In the Tibetan Lunar Calendar, the year 2009 corresponds to the year 2136, the Year of the Earth Ox.

Prior to the uprisings of 2008, the last major protests by Tibetans against China's occupation of Tibet took place in 1989, when martial law was declared.