The 10th Panchen Lama, the second most important figure in Buddhism, died in 1989 at the age of 50. Many Tibetans believe that he was poisoned by the Chinese, due to his speech against the Chinese presence in their country.
When he died, his spiritual brother, the Dalai Lama, recognized in a Tibetan child the reincarnation of the Panchen Lama, the eleventh of the saga. it was already 1995. Se llamaba Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. Three days after being recognized, that child and his entire family disappeared.. Until today.
Taking advantage of his birthday, the inter-parliamentary group for Tibet in the Senate, recently created by some thirty senators, “calls on the Chinese government to immediately provide proof of life and a justification for the whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and your well being”.
The Chinese Army kidnapped them in May 1995 and nothing has been heard from them, despite the fact that every year various organizations insist that they be shown to be still alive.. The Panchen Lama thus became “the youngest political prisoner in the world”, as denounced by the Casa del Tíbet in Barcelona. Meanwhile, the disappearance of the little lama was registered in the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.
Shortly after the abduction, China presented another boy as “the real Panchen Lama”, although for most Tibetans he is actually the “false Panchen Lama”.. The Senate group also adds that it “condemns in the strongest possible terms the Chinese government's interference in the selection and recognition of reincarnation” made in his day by the Dalai Lama.
This Tuesday the exiled Tibetans celebrate the birthday of that kidnapped child, who turns (or would turn, because it is not known if he lives or not) 34 years old.
The senators explain that “Tibet continues to be the third least free country in the world, tied with Syria and South Sudan. Tibet has been under China's tight control for more than six decades.. The type of repressive regime is best exemplified by the case of the Panchen Lama.”
Therefore, they continue, “we call on the Chinese authorities to allow him to exercise his fundamental freedoms in full, as set out in the Chinese Communist Party’s international commitments. And we call for the prompt release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his parents, immediately and unconditionally, along with all Tibetan political prisoners.”
The Senate inter-parliamentary group for Tibet was created last February at the initiative of Senator Robert Masih (ERC) and this is one of its first activities. All parliamentary groups participate in it except PP and PSOE. Last week, the group appointed its coordinating board and elected Laura Castelfort (ERC) as its president.