(TibetanReview.net, May17’22) – On the 27th anniversary of his kidnap by the Chinese government, five members of Chile’s national parliament on May 17 called for an immediate release of Tibet’s 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, said the Central Tibetan Administration on its Tibet.net website May 17.
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 open appeal, the five MPs, namely Vlado Mirosevic, Luis Malla, Sebastian Videla, Alejandro Bernales, and Ana Gazmurri, have referred to efforts made by various organs of the United Nations, governments of different countries, non-governmental organisations, and the general public to secure the disappeared religious leader’s release.
We remain attentive to the elucidation of this important issue and we trust that his release will not be further delayed, the five MPs were reported to have written in the Spanish original of their open appeal letter.
Also continuing to remain disappeared with the 11th Panchen Lama Gedhun Choekyi Nyima are his family members as well as Chadrel Rinpoche, the head of the search committee constituted by the Chinese government for the discovery of the reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama. China jailed Chadrel Rinpoche for reportedly conveying the details of his findings to the Dalai Lama. He disappeared just after he completed his jail sentence.