Dalai Lama joins Tibetans in remembering 10th Panchen Lama
Peter Terpstra
Phayul[Wednesday, December 30, 2009 20:50]
By Phurbu Thinley
Dharamsala, December 30: The exiled Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama
today joined thousands of Tibetan exiles in a ceremonial function
commemorating the 20th death anniversary of the 10th Panchen Lama, Lhundrup
Choekyi Gyaltsen.
The Dalai Lama presided over a memorial ceremony here at the main Tibetan
temple that began with a minute of silence and special prayer offering to pay
homage to the late Panchen Lama.
While China lauds the second most influential spiritual figures of Tibet as an
enemy of 'separatism', Tibetans today remembered the 10th Panchen Lama as a
great martyr and champion of Tibetan people’s rights.
“In person, the 10th Panchen Lama is an extraordinarily fearless Tibetan who
showed unwavering courage to work for the general cause of Tibet and its
people,” the Dalai Lama said. “Panchen Lama was someone who held firm
conviction to fight for the truth," the Tibetan leader said.
“If the 10th Panchen Lama still been alive, he would have certainly made far
more contribution to the cause of Tibet,” the Dalai Lama noted, while
expressing regret for his untimely death.
The 10th Panchen Lama wrote the famous 70,000-character petition about the
Tibetan people’s plight under Chinese rule and was submitted to the Chinese
government in 1962. The petition, criticising Chinese government’s Tibet
policy, was met with violent and scornful reaction from Mao Zedong and the
Communist Party. The Panchen Lama was condemned without trial and spent the
following 14 years in prison or under virtual house arrest.
In December 1964, he was taken to Peking under the criminal title of ‘counter-
revolutionary’. He was accused of working against the Chinese government and
its people and, was said to be subjected to severe beatings and struggle
sessions.
In 1978, he was freed after which he traveled extensively throughout Tibet
working to preserve the Tibetan culture, and improve the lives of the Tibetan
people. During his last visit to Tibet in 1989, the Panchen Lama gave an
extraordinary public speech in Shigatse, the seat of the Tashi Lhundup
Monastery, where he publicly criticized China’s policies in Tibet and declared
his loyalty to His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama.
Shortly after the address, on January 28, 1989, the 10th Panchen Lama is said
to have breathed his last under mysterious circumstances. He was 51.
“The 10th Panchen Lama was undoubtedly a great being who had especially taken
birth at that critical period for the benefit of Buddha Dharma and the Tibetan
people,” said Kachen Lobzang Tseten, the abbot of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery,
which is the traditional seat of the successive Panchen Lamas.
“Even in ordinary parlance he was regarded as an extremely brave person who
would not even draw the line at sacrificing his own life,” he added.
Top leaders of the Tibetan Government-in-Exile, including the Prime Minister
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche and his cabinet ministers, and speaker Mr Penpa
Tsering and other members of the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile attended today’s
commemorative function organised by the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and the Central
Association His Holiness the Panchen Lama.
“The 10th Panchen Lama had shown incredible courage to act and speak on the
truth about Tibet even under most difficult and sensitive political
circumstances in Tibet,” the Tibetan Prime Minister said in his speech.
Owing to 10th Panchen Lama’s exemplary struggle for the welfare of Tibetan
people and Tibet’s cause, Rinpoche said that the Tibetan Government-in-Exile
was indebted to make all necessary efforts to free the young 11th Panchen
Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nima, from Chinese control.
In 1995, the Dalai Lama recognized a young boy Gendun Choekyi Nima as the 11th
Panchen Lama, but Beijing abducted him to an unknown location and installed
its own choice, Gyaltsen Norbu, who is spurned by most Tibetans.
The whereabouts of the Gendun Choekyi Nima and his parents are still unknown.
As part of the memorial ceremony, the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery and the Central
Association His Holiness the Panchen Lama, earlier in the morning, conducted
an elaborate long life prayer offering or tenshsug for the Dalai Lama.
The organisers also launched three books in Tibetan on the 10th Panchen Lama.
The books, the organizers, say, are part of their effort “to create awareness
about the struggle that the 10th encountered while working to promote the
welfare of the Tibetan people and revive the Tibetan cultural and religious
traditions under Chinese rule”.
The organisers will also hold a concert in memory of the 10th Panchen Lama
tomorrow at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts (TIPA) in Dharamsala.
The commemorative events are part of the organisers’ year-long campaign
activities dedicated to the 10th Panchen Lama starting January 2009.
http://temp.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=26318&t=1&c=1
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Amnesty International Report 2009 on China:
http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/china
Yu
When the 10th Panchen lama was discovered the Dalai Lama's people
refused to recognize him and did not allowed him to live in Tibet.
They found another fake Panchen Lama.
The 1951 17 point agreement clearly specify who should be the 10th
Panchen Lama and the 10th Panchen Lama was returned to Tibet by the
PLA.
When the Tibet local Government was formed the Dalai Lama was jelous
of the influence of the 10th Panchen Lama in running Tibet. This was
one of the reasons why in 1959 the Dalai Lama defected to the CIA.
Money was the other main factor. The CIA agreed to pay the Dalai Lama
USD180,000 per year for his service to the CIA.
After the defection of the Dalai Lama to the CIA, the 10th Panchen
Lama frequently traded insults with the Dalai Lama.
After the death of the 10th Panchen Lama in 1989, CIA rewrote the
history of Panchen Lama claiming to have mysteriously discovered new
evidence that Panchen Lama was in fact a supporter of Dalai Lama.
They will do the same with Ngabo Ngawang Jigme.