(TibetanReview.net, May18’22) – Lawmakers in the German parliament who constitute a Tibet support group have on May 17 called on China to release Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima whom it had abducted 27 years ago, said the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website May 18.
The Panchen Lama is Tibet’s second most prominent religious figure. The Chinese government kidnapped the six-year-old boy just three days after he was proclaimed by the Dalai Lama on May 14, 1995 as the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. He has not been seen ever since. Later in the year, China installed another boy, Gyaltsen Norbu, in his place, and designated him as the 11th Panchen Lama.
In their press statement for the occasion, the German MPs have sought to ascertain the well-being and whereabouts of the now 33-year-old 11th Panchen Lama.
Accusing China of having committed a heinous crime by abducting the then six-year-old boy, Michale Brand MdB, Chairman of the German Parliamentary Group for Tibet, has said the outside world does not even know the actual fate of the 11th Panchen Lama, including whether he was alive.
He has called for concerted actions from the international community on the issue, for “the world cannot afford to watch” this criminal situation being carried on by China “without reacting”.