Gedhun Choekyi Nyima (born April 25, 1989) is the eleventh
Panchen LamaThe Panchen Lama is the second highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism . The successive Panchen lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha...
as interpreted by most Tibetan Buddhists. He was born in
Lhari CountyLhari County is a small county within the Nagchu Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous RegionThe 11th Dalai Lama was born in Lhari County .-References:...
,
TibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average...
. On May 14, 1995, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was named the 11th
Panchen LamaThe Panchen Lama is the second highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism . The successive Panchen lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha...
by the 14th
Dalai LamaThe Dalai Lama is a lineage of religious officials of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. "Lama" is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers...
, Tenzin Gyatso. After he was nominated Panchen Lama,
Chinese authoritiesThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
had Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family removed from Tibet. Gyancain Norbu was later named as
Panchen LamaThe Panchen Lama is the second highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism . The successive Panchen lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha...
by the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
.
Following the death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, the search for an individual to be recognised as his reincarnation, by Tibetan Buddhists, quickly became mired in bureaucracy and controversy.
Armed with Beijing's approval, the head of the Panchen Lama search committee, Chadrel Rinpoche, maintained private communication with the Dalai Lama in order to arrive at a mutually acceptable candidate for both the Dalai Lama and Beijing authorities concerning the Panchen Lama's reincarnation issue.
Gedhun Choekyi Nyima (born April 25, 1989) is the eleventh
Panchen LamaThe Panchen Lama is the second highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism . The successive Panchen lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha...
as interpreted by most Tibetan Buddhists. He was born in
Lhari CountyLhari County is a small county within the Nagchu Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous RegionThe 11th Dalai Lama was born in Lhari County .-References:...
,
TibetTibet is a plateau region in Asia, north of the Himalayas. It is home to the indigenous Tibetan people, and to some other ethnic groups such as Monpas and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese people. Tibet is the highest region on earth, with an average...
. On May 14, 1995, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was named the 11th
Panchen LamaThe Panchen Lama is the second highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism . The successive Panchen lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha...
by the 14th
Dalai LamaThe Dalai Lama is a lineage of religious officials of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. "Lama" is a general term referring to Tibetan Buddhist teachers...
, Tenzin Gyatso. After he was nominated Panchen Lama,
Chinese authoritiesThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
had Gedhun Choekyi Nyima and his family removed from Tibet. Gyancain Norbu was later named as
Panchen LamaThe Panchen Lama is the second highest ranking Lama after the Dalai Lama in the Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism . The successive Panchen lamas form a tulku reincarnation lineage which are said to be the incarnations of Amitabha Buddha...
by the
People's Republic of ChinaThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
.
Selection of the 11th Panchen Lama
Following the death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, the search for an individual to be recognised as his reincarnation, by Tibetan Buddhists, quickly became mired in bureaucracy and controversy.
Armed with Beijing's approval, the head of the Panchen Lama search committee, Chadrel Rinpoche, maintained private communication with the Dalai Lama in order to arrive at a mutually acceptable candidate for both the Dalai Lama and Beijing authorities concerning the Panchen Lama's reincarnation issue. After the Dalai Lama named Gedhun Choekyi Nyima as the 11th incarnation of the Panchen Lama, Chinese authorities had Chadrel Rinpoche arrested and charged with
treasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife...
. According to Tibet government in exile, he was replaced by Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen, so chosen because he was more likely to agree with the
party lineThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and the ruling political party of the People's Republic of China and the world's largest political party...
. Sengchen had been a political opponent of both the Dalai Lama and the 10th Panchen Lama.
The new search committee ignored the Dalai Lama's May 14 announcement and instead chose from a list of finalists; the list arbitrarily excluded Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. In selecting a name, lots were drawn from a
Golden UrnIn Tibet, on several occasions, children believed to be the reincarnations of the Dalai Lama or the Panchen Lama have been identified by a lottery method, in which names of competing candidates are written on folded slips of paper placed in a golden urn....
, a tradition introduced to Tibet by the Chinese emperor in 1793. Gyancain Norbu was announced as the search committee's choice on November 11, 1995.
Whereabouts
The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima are unknown.
Human RightsHuman rights refer to the "basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of expression, and equality before the...
organizations claim that he and his family continue to be
political prisonerA political prisoner is someone held in prison or otherwise detained, perhaps under house arrest, for his or her involvement in political activity.-"Political" prisoner:...
s, and has termed him the "youngest political prisoner in the world". According to
Chinese governmentThe People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the most populous in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately one-fifth of the world's population...
claims, he is attending school and leading a normal life somewhere in China. This cannot be verified by outside sources as no credible evidence has been provided to confirm or deny these claims. The reason this evidence has been withheld, according to statements by Chinese authorities, is that his whereabouts are kept undisclosed to protect him. Those who support Nyima as the 11th Panchen Lama call upon China's ruling party to prove that he is safe and happy. As the promises of a regime well-known for widespread use of
censorshipCensorship in the People's Republic of China is the limiting or suppressing of the publishing, dissemination, and viewing of certain information in the People's Republic of China . The majority of such censorship is implemented or mandated by the PRC's ruling party, the Communist Party of China...
and
propagandaPropaganda in the People's Republic of China refers to the PRC's use of messages designed to influence public opinion.-History:The history of communist propaganda in China predates the establishment of the PRC, and it has since manifested itself in various forms, such as songs, paintings, posters,...
are rejected by vocal organizations such as the
UNPOThe Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization , initiated in 1990 in Tartu, Estonia, and formed in February 11, 1991, in the Hague, is a democratic, international organization. Its members are indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and independent states or territories which lack...
and Tibetan government in Exile, his supporters fear that he has been imprisoned or
executedExtra-judicial killings are the illegal killing of leading political, trades union, dissidents, and social figures by either the state government, state authorities like the armed forces and police Extra-judicial killings are the illegal killing of leading political, trades union, dissidents, and...
.
The Committee of the Rights of the Child of the
United NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace...
reviewed the Gedhun case on May 28, 1996. During hearings on the matter, Chinese authorities claimed for the first time to have "taken the child for his security". The Committee requested a visit with Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, supported by a campaign of more than 400 celebrities and associations petitioning for the visit, including eleven
Nobel PrizeThe Nobel Prize is a Sweden-based international monetary prize. The award was established by the 1895 will and estate of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace in 1901...
winners. These Nobel laureates included
Günter Blobel-Biography:Blobel was born in Waltersdorf in the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia. In January 1945 his family fled from native Silesia from the advancing Red Army. On their way to the West they passed through the beautiful old city of Dresden, which left deep impressions in the young boy...
,
Claude Cohen-TannoudjiClaude Cohen-Tannoudji is a French physicist and Nobel Laureate. He shared the 1997 Nobel prize in physics for research in methods of cooling and trapping atoms using laser light...
,
Christian de DuveChristian René de Duve is an internationally acclaimed cytologist and biochemist. De Duve was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, Great Britain, as a son of Belgian immigrants. They returned to Belgium in 1920...
,
Pierre-Gilles de GennesPierre-Gilles de Gennes was a French physicist and the Nobel Prize laureate in Physics in 1991.-Biography:...
,
Roger GuilleminRoger Charles Louis Guillemin received the National Medal of Science in 1976, and Nobel prize for medicine in 1977 for his work on neurohormones....
, Dudley Robert Herschbach,
François JacobFrançois Jacob is a French biologist who, together with Jacques Monod, originated the idea that control of enzyme levels in all cells occurs through feedback on transcription. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Jacques Monod and André Lwoff.-Childhood and education:François Jacob is...
,
Eric R. KandelEric Richard Kandel is a psychiatrist, a neuroscientist and professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was a recipient of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the physiological basis of memory storage in...
,
Jean-Marie LehnJean-Marie Lehn is a French chemist. He received the Nobel Prize together with Donald Cram and Charles Pedersen in 1987 for his work in Chemistry, particularly his synthesis of the cryptands...
, Norman Foster Ramsey and
David TrimbleWilliam David Trimble, Baron Trimble, PC , is a politician from Northern Ireland who served as leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and was the first First Minister of Northern Ireland. He is currently a life peer for the Conservative Party.He shared the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize with John Hume of...
.
In May 2007,
Asma JahangirAsma Jilani Jahangir is a leading Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist.She has been the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief since 2004...
, Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the UN Human Rights Council, asked the Chinese authorities what measures they had taken to implement the recommendation of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, that the government should allow an independent expert to visit and confirm the well-being of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima while respecting his right to privacy, and that of his parents. In a response dated 17 July 2007, the Chinese authorities said: "Gedhun Choekyi Nyima is a perfectly ordinary Tibetan boy, in an excellent state of health, leading a normal, happy life and receiving a good education and cultural upbringing. He is currently in upper secondary school, he measures 165 cm in height and is easy-going by nature. He studies hard and his school results are very good. He likes Chinese traditional culture and has recently taken up calligraphy. His parents are both State employees, and his brothers and sisters are either already working or at university. The allegation that he disappeared together with his parents and that his whereabouts remain unknown is simply not true." This response did not answer the question about a visit or confirmation.
See also
- List of Tibetan political prisoners
External links