Sunday, April 30, 2017

Calls Grow For Release of Tibet's Panchen Lama, Now 28

22 years ago,Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was detained along with his immediate family by Chinese authorities at the age of 6. Hailed as the 11th reincarnation of the the second-highest Buddhist monk, the Panchen Lama, by none other than the Dalai Lama himself, Nyima was poised to be a major religious and political figure at the time. After his capture by the Chinese Government, Nyima was held in isolation. Now age 28, there is still no update on his condition or whereabouts, and all attempts to gather further information have been swiftly halted or denied by Beijing.

This is part of an overarching trend of replacing high-ranking monks with pro-Beijing substitutes exhibited by the Chinese government. Nyima was quickly replaced by Gyaincain Norbu, a pro-China candidate upon his detention, and there are plans to install a similar replacement for the current Dalai Lama upon his eventual death.

In light of these "crimes against humanity", global support is mounting for Nyima's release.

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/tibet/calls-04262017160937.html

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