Youtube link : https://youtu.be/fHjjqnn7ZEI

For this episode of Tibet in Context, we focus on the life of the 10th Panchen Rinpoche in Tibet, who worked to protect the Tibetan language, culture and religion with the 6th Gungthang Rinpoche, whom many consider to be the right hand of the 10th Panchen Rinpoche – from the perspective of a Tibetan educationalist with personal experience of this very period and interaction with both Rinpoche’s. With Professor Gyal Lo being being close friends with the Gunthang Rinpoche.

After escaping from Tibet in 2020, Professor Gyal Lo presented His Holiness the Dalai Lama with his book about the remarkable life of Gungthang Rinpoche. In this episode, Professor Gyal Lo reflects on the entwined lives of these three great religious leaders, including:

• How 21 years in Chinese prisons during the Cultural Revolution saved Gungthang
  Rinpoche’s life.

• How learning Chinese and dialectical materialism in prison assisted Gungthang
  Rinpoche’s work upon release to rebuild monasteries and reinvigorate religious
  practice together with the Tenth Panchen Lama. And also how he learned music and to play instruments under such harsh circumstances which ushered in an era of Tibetan music that unites both those in occupied Tibet and the ones in the diaspora.

• How, before his death, he risked everything to support the Dalai Lama’s
  recognition of Gendun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th Panchen Rinpoche – and Jiang Zemin’s role in protecting him.

• How Gungthang Rinpoche and the 10th Panchen Rinpoche shared their scars after
  years in prison, and refused to give up nevertheless.

• The installation of a reincarnate 7th Gungthang Rinpoche at Labrang monastery, and the impacts of his grandfather’s self-immolation.

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WATCH IT HERE:  https://youtu.be/8AVIUJxt7So 

His Eminence Zeekgyab Rinpoche la was born in Kolhapur to Tibetan parents who were involved in Sweater selling business. At the age of 2, he was recognized by His Holiness the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the former Zeekgyab Rinpoche. Rinpoche was received at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, South India, on September 14, 1986 with a formal ceremony led by many Tehor Lamas and monks.  After his Enthronement Ceremony at Tashi Lhunpo – which is the monastic seat of the Panchen Lama, Rinpoche started learning Tibetan reading and writing and the memorization of prayers. On February 11, 2019, Rinpoche had the official enthronement ceremony as Abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery. Rinpoche has been spear heading the movement for the release of the Panchen Lama, giving testimonies at various governments and sharing the truth with the world.

The session with Zeekgyab Rinpoche covered many vital themes including who is the Panchen Lama? What is its significance? including the unique relationship shared between the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, which is popularly referred to as the Sun and Moon respectively. Furthermore, he narrated how the late 10th Panchen Lama, played a pivotal role in preserving Tibetan culture, religion and heritage in Tibet under Chinese occupation. And how it is vital that the current Panchen Lama, namely Gedhun Choekyi Nyima should be receiving the proper teachings and transmissions that would enable him to carry forth the legacy of the 10th Panchen Lama and eventually pass it on to the next Panchen Lama thereby maintaining the lineage.

Rinpoche also engaged on the Chinese government appointed Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu and how there is nothing wrong with a Tibetan monk preserving Buddhism and Tibetan Culture. The only contention being here for Rinpoche that he is not the Panchen Lama, which is also backed by the monks of Tashi Lhunpo in Tibet. This reverence towards Gedhun Choekyi Nyima which directly implies support to His Holiness the Dalai Lama has seen them targeted by the Chinese authorities. 

The session concluded by Rinpoche stating that through the guidance of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, his monastery along with the Central Tibetan Administration and several NGO’s would continue to advocate for the immediate release of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who continues to remain in incognito since 17th May, 1996 along with his family. Giving him the unwanted tag of the world’s youngest political prisoner.

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Gyaltsen Norbu—selected by China in 1995 to serve as Tibet’s Panchen Lama—had gone to Sichuan’s Kardze (Ganzi) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture on July 12 to participate in a religious conference, according to a text message received by RFA from within the region.

“He was also seen making a visit to Ngaba Barkham, Dzoege, and Khungchu, where Tibetans were told to show up and greet him. But unlike other religious figures whom Tibetans revere and approach to receive blessings, no Tibetans showed up to welcome him,” RFA’s source said.

“The only people who came to see him were those whose attendance had been specifically arranged by the Chinese,” the source said.

Residents of the areas visited by the monk widely derided by Tibetans as “China’s Panchen” had also been restricted in their movements by authorities and told to keep the streets free of cars, the source added.

Speaking to RFA, Shel Gedhun Tsering—a former Tibetan political prisoner now living in Australia—confirmed the Panchen’s tour of the region, citing sources in the visited areas.

“My contacts back home told me that abbots and religious figures in monasteries in the region had been coerced into receiving and greeting the Panchen Lama, also being ordered to pose for pictures with him,” Tsering said.

The Chinese government now often uses Tibetan religious figures for political propaganda and publicity purposes, said Tsering Tsomo, director of the Dharamsala, India-based Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

“These visits are choreographed under the direct supervision of the Chinese government, and whatever Norbu says or does is aimed only at advancing the agenda of China’s ruling Communist Party. He acts only as a spokesperson,” Tsomo said.

Vanished into Chinese custody

Gyaltsen (in Chinese, Gyaincain) Norbu was named as Panchen Lama by China in May 1995 to replace a candidate who was selected as a young boy by Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, and who vanished into Chinese custody together with his family and has not been heard from since.

Tibetan tradition holds that senior Buddhist monks and other respected religious leaders are reincarnated in the body of a child after they die.

Chinese authorities have had difficulty persuading Tibetans to accept their Panchen Lama as the official face of Tibetan Buddhism in China, though, and ordinary Tibetans and monks in monasteries traditionally loyal to the Dalai Lama have been reluctant to acknowledge or receive him.

Beijing has sought in recent years to control the identification of other Tibetan religious leaders, and says that the selection of the next Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in India following a failed 1959 Tibetan revolt against Chinese rule, must “comply with Chinese law.”

The Dalai Lama himself says however that if he returns, his successor will be born in a country outside of Chinese control.

Reported by Sangyal Kunchok for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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In India’s northwestern territory of Ladakh, celebrations were held on Sunday at Tiktse monastery in the regional capital Leh—the first observance to be held in the territory, the scene of recent border clashes between Indian and Chinese troops.

Event organizer Lobsang Tsultrim noted that although the Panchen Lama’s birthday is regularly celebrated by Tibetans around the world, this was the first celebration to be held in Ladakh.

“It is a sad fact that he has not been with us all these years,” Tsultrim said. “His disappearance has been an unfortunate reality not just for Tibetans, but for other Buddhist and Himalayan communities as well.”

“Now, we are celebrating the Panchen Lama’s birthday today so that we can explain the situation [of his continued disappearance] to our esteemed guests and try to do something about it,” Tsultrim said.

The Buddhist community of Ladakh had overlooked the Panchen Lama’s birthday until this year, agreed Thupten Tsewang, president of the Ladakh Buddhist Association. “But now we must continue to celebrate this significant day,” he said.

“The Panchen Rinpoche was abducted when he was only six years old,” said Tenzin Choephel, a representative of the Ladakh Student Body, using an honorific Tibetan term for a revered spiritual teacher.

“But we and the Indian government then overlooked this situation for such a long time. From now on we, the youth of Ladakh, will do everything in our power to raise awareness of this issue,” Choephel said.

Celebrations were also held on Monday at Tashi Lhunpo monastery in Bylakuppe, in southern India’s Karnataka state, the exile branch of the Panchen Lama’s traditional monastic seat in Shigatse, Tibet, with Tashi Lhunpo’s abbot Zikyab Rinpoche calling on China to free their detained spiritual leader.

In a statement, Zikyab Rinpoche noted that NGOs and sympathetic governments of countries around the world, including the United States, have “collectively intensified their demands” that the Panchen Lama be freed.

“We will not rest until the issue is resolved,” Zikyab Rinpoche said.

Forcibly disappeared

Tibet’s Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age of six as the 11th Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989.

The recognition by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place.

Tibetans remain bitter about Chinese intervention in the selection of the current 11th Panchen Lama, whose predecessor died in 1989, and the Panchen Lama installed by Beijing remains unpopular with Tibetans both in exile and at home.

Concerns over the advancing age of the Dalai Lama, now 85, have meanwhile renewed uncertainties in recent years over his possible successor after he dies, with Beijing claiming the right to name his successor and the Dalai Lama himself saying that any future Dalai Lama will be born outside of China.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported by Trinley Choedon and Pema Ngodup for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Translated by Tenzin Dickyi. Written in English by Richard Finney.

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Tibet’s Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, was recognized on May 14, 1995 at the age of six as the 11th Panchen Lama, the reincarnation of his predecessor, the 10th Panchen Lama, who died in 1989.

The recognition by exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama angered Chinese authorities, who three days later took the boy and his family into custody and then installed another boy, Gyaincain Norbu, as their own candidate in his place.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price told a news briefing that on his 32nd birthday on Sunday, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima would be “forced to spend another year disappeared, separated from his community, and denied his rightful place as a prominent Tibetan Buddhist leader.”

“We call on the PRC Government to immediately make public the Tibetan-venerated Panchen Lama’s whereabouts and to give us this opportunity to meet with the Panchen Lama in person,” said the spokesman, who underscored U.S. support for Tibetans’ religious freedom and cultural identity.

“We respect Tibetans’ right to select, educate, and venerate their own leaders, like the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama, according to their own beliefs, and without government interference,” added Price.

U.S. officials have made similar appeals to Beijing in the past, but Lobsang Sangay, the Sikyong, or leader, of Tibetan Central Tibetan Administration said this year remarks were “one of the strongest so far.”

“I particularly want to thank the State Department for urging the PRC to make the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama known to the public, and to create an opportunity for the U.S. government to meet with the Panchen Lama,” he told RFA’s Tibetan Service.

‘Absurdity and ruthlessness’

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) reiterated its call for the Chinese government to release Gedhun Choekyi Nyima.

“It has been nearly 26 years since the Chinese Communist Party’s enforced disappearance of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, who was only six years old at the time of his abduction. As Gedhun turns 32 on April 25 this year, his whereabouts and wellbeing remain unknown. This lack of information is unacceptable,” said noted USCIRF Commissioner Nadine Maenza.

“USCIRF renews its call for the Chinese government to allow an independent expert to visit and confirm the wellbeing of the 11th Panchen Lama, and to release him immediately and unconditionally,” she added.

“It is despicable that the Chinese Communist Party continues to interfere in the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama,” added USCIRF Commissioner Nury Turkel.

“The combination of the level of absurdity and ruthlessness in the CCP’s persecution of the Tibetan community should alarm the international community, which should stand united in calling for the release of the Panchen Lama.”

Bhuchung Tsering, interim president of the International Campaign for Tibet, told RFA that “the strong statement from the U.S. government will be helpful in garnering more attention around the world.”

The Tibet Policy and Support Act of 2020, passed in the U.S. Congress in December and signed into law by  then President Donald Trump, establishes as U.S. policy that the selection of Tibetan religious leaders, including future successors to exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, is a decision to be made only by Tibetans, free from Chinese government interference.

Concerns over the advancing age of the Dalai Lama, now 85, have renewed uncertainties in recent years over his possible successor after he dies, with Beijing claiming the right to name his successor and the Dalai Lama himself saying that any future Dalai Lama will be born outside of China.

Tibetans remain bitter about Chinese intervention in the selection of the current 11th Panchen Lama, whose predecessor died in 1989, and the Panchen Lama installed by Beijing remains unpopular with Tibetans both in exile and at home.

Formerly an independent nation, Tibet was invaded and incorporated into China by force 70 years ago, and the Dalai Lama and thousands of his followers later fled into exile in India and other countries around the world following a failed 1959 national uprising against China’s rule.

Chinese authorities maintain a tight grip on the region, restricting Tibetans’ political activities and peaceful expression of cultural and religious identity, and subjecting Tibetans to persecution, torture, imprisonment, and extrajudicial killings.

Reported and translated by Kalden Lodoe for RFA’s Tibetan Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert.

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