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REPORTS INDICATE THE CHINESE PANCHEN LAMA MIGHT HAVE BEEN ENTHRONED TODAY

Secrecy surrounding enthronement to prevent angry Tibetan backlash

DHARAMSALA, 6 Dec. - Unconfirmed reports from Tibet say that the Chinese authorities have officially enthroned Gyaltsen Norbu, the rival Panchen Lama, at Tashi Lhunpo Monastery today, the traditional seat of the Panchen Lamas of Tibet, situated in Shigatse, Tibet's second largest town. The Chinese might have installed their Panchen Lama to coincide with today's Pelay Ridro, the festival of the goddess of Palden Lhamo, one of the important guardian deities of Tibet, the reports says.

The same reports say that the secrecy surrounding China's enthronement of its Panchen Lama may be due to Chinese fears of an angry Tibetan backlash at its imposition of a Panchen Lama against the wishes of the Tibetan people and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

On 29 November, in a disingenuous show of respect for Tibetan traditions, China recognized the pretender Panchen Lama in front of the statue of the Buddha in Jokhang, Tibet's holiest Buddhist shrine in Lhasa. On 30 November the boy was secretly spirited away to Shigatse, and was quartered at Dechen Phodrang, the residence of the late Panchen Lama, and isolated from the public for fear of any outburst of popular anger.

Contrary to Chines media reports of crowds of ecstatic greeting the pretender Panchen Lama on his arrival in Shigatse, the authorities made every effort to isolate the boy, and in fact imposed curfew in Tibet's three major cities of Lhasa, Shigatse and Chamdo, and even extended it to Dram (Chin:Zhangmu), the main entry point to Tibet from Nepal.

The report says that several days back the monks of the two great monasteries of Lhasa, Sera and Drepung, were called for a great prayer ceremony. The monks thought that this was a normal prayer ceremony, but when they saw Sengchen Lobsang Gyaltsen, a man known for his pro-Chinese sympathies, distributing offering to the assembled monks, followed by a battery of video cameras, they suspected that their participation in the ceremony would be used be the official Chinese media to portray that they, the monks of Sera and Drepung, had accepted the Chinese choice of the Panchen Lama. The majority of the monks of both monasteries walked out of the ceremony. Except for just six monks, all the other 300 monks staged the walkout.

The Tibet report has an update on the background of the parents of Gyaltsen Norbu, the rival Panchen Lama. Gyaltsen Norbu's father is Sonam Phuntsok, alias Sonam Dakpa. People variously say that Sonam Phuntsok works either as one of the secretaries at the disciplinary inspection committee of the Chinese Communist Party in Lhari (Chin: Jiali) district of Nagchu region, north of Lhasa, or as an official of the translation bureau of Lhari district.

Gyaltsen Norbu's mother's name is not available but the report says that she is the director of the women's co-operative society of a sub-district of Lhari.

According to fresh reports coming from elsewhere in Tibet on the Panchen lama issue, in June this year the Chinese authorities in Kyigodo (Chin: Yushu), a major Tibetan town in Amdo, in north-eastern Tibet, called for a meeting of the region's branch of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee. At the meeting the authorities informed those assembled that should any Tibetan accept the Panchen Lama recognized by the Dalai Lama, there would be serious consequences for that individual.

Four Tibetan lamas and monks spoke of their acceptance of what the Chinese authorities said.

At this point Sangye Tenzin, a lama from Nangchen in the neighbourhood of Kyigodo, stood up at the meeting and said that what the four monks and lamas said went against the basic tenet of Buddhism's three refugees, which are taking refuge in the teaching, in the lama, and in the community of monks. Sangye Tenzin said that he had been imprisoned for more than 20 years. Though he might be arrested again, he said that he had nothing good to say about the Chinese. He said that never in the history of Tibet had there been the Chinese recognizing an incarnate being from Tibet. He finally said that if the Chinese recognized a Panchen lama he would never accept this.

According to the report, with this statement of Sangye Tenzin, the monks, lamas and laymen at the meeting all roared their approval, and walked out of the meeting.

Later Sangye Tenzin was stripped of his membership of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee.

Another report from the far-flung Tibetan area of Labrang Tashi Kyil, now incorporated into the Chinese province of Gansu, say that days before their "Panchen Lama" announcement, the Chinese authorities of this sprawling Buddhist complex, the largest monastery in north-eastern Tibet, convened a meeting of all the monks of Labrang Tashi Kyi. The authorities announced the possibility of the imminent recognition of their Panchen Lama and said that all the monks should show proper respect to the boy. The authorities then asked each individual monk to express his opinion and views.

No one monk spoke. All kept silent. At this the Chinese officials became livid with anger. One of them stood up and said, "We have granted you the freedom of religion. Is this the way you show your gratitude?"

One monk then stood up and said, "I have not much to add on this issue. However, what I know is all the Tibetans want to have only one Panchen Lama."

China invaded Tibet in 1949/50. Since then as a direct result of the Chinese occupation of Tibet, more than 1.2 million Tibetans died, and more than 6,000 monasteries and temples were destroyed.