31 years on, exiled Tibetans call for release of 11th Panchen Lama

Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, considered by Tibetans to be second only to the Dalai Lama, was abducted by China in 1995 when he was only six-years-old. He was born in Chinese occupied Tibet on April 25, 1989. On May 14, 1995, the 14th Dalai Lama had publicly announced the young boy as the 11th Panchen Lama and officially bestowed him the name Jetsun Tenzin Gedhun Yeshi Trinley Phuntsok Pal Sangpo. Three days later, on May 17, the young Panchen Lama ‘disappeared’ along with his parents and Chadrel Rinpoche, the abbot of the Panchen Lama’s seat at Tashi…