The Chinese say may you live in interesting times. However, for two nine-year
old Tibetan boys life has not been so interesting. One has been abducted for
being someone. And the other one has been forced to become someone he is not.
It's a curious, and terribly sad, story of Gendun Choekyi Nyima and Gyaltsen
Norbu. In the heated political climate of Tibet the two boys have become pawns
in a battle the Chinese want to win by hook-or-crook.


Gendun Choekyi Nyima's troubles started soon after he was selected by His
Holiness Dalai Lama as the 11th Panchen Lama. This was in 1995. The Panchen
Lama was last seen in July that year. No one has seen him since then despite
the Chinese claims that he is well.


And that very year, amidst chanting of prayers, beating of drums and
supervision of a Chinese official, Norbu was installed as the 11th Panchen
Lama, the second most important position in Tibetan Buddhism.
The controversy had started in July 1995 when the Chinese government rejected
the Dalai Lama's selection of Nyima as the new Panchen Lama. The Communist
party bosses flayed the Dalai Lama for "promoting Tibetan independence". The
Chinese repeated their old rhetoric, accusing the Dalai Lama of trying to split
the "motherland". The Chinese ordered senior monks to find another Panchen
Lama.


This was a major shift in the Chinese policy on Tibet. First time since the
ugly days of the Cultural Revolution the Communist officials had played active
role in the selection and enthronement of the Panchen Lama. The move signified
the fact that even the theological affairs of Tibet should be controlled from
Beijing.


The controversy has been going on since then. But the question is where is the
Panchen Lama? Isn't he the youngest political prisoner in the world? Isn't the
Chinese government using a young Tibetan boy for political purpose by forcing
him to masquerade as Panchen Lama.
The answer of this question is yes.


The Chinese generally keep mum about the location of the Panchen Lama. Or
sometimes they give wrong, misleading and conflicting information. Two
delegations from the Western nations were given absolutely different
information about the Panchen Lama's whereabouts recently.


An Austrian delegation, led by foreign minister Wolfgang Schuessel, visited
Tibet some time back. The delegation was informed by vice-governor of the Tibet
Autonomous Region, Yang Chuantang, that the eight-year old Choekyi Nyima was
living in his birth place - village Lhari, located some 250 km from Lhasa, in
Nagchu prefecture.


On the contrary, a group of three US clerics, who visited Tibet and China, were
told that the boy was in Beijing. Earlier reports had also said that the boy
was living in the Chinese capital.


That's not the end. In another report, the senior most Tibetan leader in the
Chinese hierarchy, Ngapo Ngawang Jigme, said that he believed the boy was in
Gansu province.


So where is he? Where is the 11th Panchen Lama? Is he in Lhari or in Beijing or
in Gansu? Who do we believe? Why can't the Chinese government give a clear-cut
answer. Maybe the Beijing mandarins do not have an answer. Maybe they do not
want to talk about the Panchen Lama. Because they have something to hide from
the world . Obviously, they can not say that an nine-year old boy is being held
as a political prisoner somewhere in China.


They only say nice things. The boy was last mentioned in the Chinese press in
September 1997, when Ragdi, the executive deputy secretary of the Tibet
Communist Party, was reported by a Hong Kong news agency on 16th September as
saying : "He goes to school as every other child does and is perfectly free
without restraint."


If he is free why is he invisible? Why foreign delegations which visit China
and Tibet are not allowed to see the Panchen Lama. The Chinese have no answer
to these questions. They want to force the Tibetan people to accept Norbu as
the 11th Panchen Lama. The abbot of Tashi Lhunpo monastery, Shigatse, was
expelled in July 1997 for refusing to endorse Norbu as the 11th Panchen Lama.
The secretary of Tashi Lhunpo Democratic Management Committee, Lama Gyatrul
Rinpoche, was also expelled for defying the Chinese dictates. He was arrested,
imprisoned and expelled.


Even the office of His Holiness Dalai Lams has no information about the Panchen
Lama.


The Chinese government has always tried to check the Dalai Lama's influence in
Tibet. The 10th Panchen Lama was encouraged to speak against the Dalai Lama.
Now, they have installed Panchen Lama of their choice so that he can be
manipulated to speak in favor of Beijing. The Chinese have issued orders to
Tibetan monks to keep away from Dalai Lama.


Interestingly, during the enthroning ceremony about three years ago, Norbu, the
fake Panchen Lama, expressed his gratitude to the Beijing rulers and said he
loved his motherland and Tibetan religion. No points for guessing who asked him
to utter those words.


So this is the Chinese game - keep the real Panchen Lama in captivity and use
the fake one for political purpose. And this is the story of two Tibetan boys
who are being manipulated by the Chinese. One is visible. The other is not.


Gendun Choeki Nyima, the eight-year old boy from Lhari, is the youngest
political prisoner in the world. His survival is important because on that
depends the future of Tibet. The seat of Panchen Lama plays major role in the
selection of Dalai Lama. The Chinese know that and that's why they have kept
Gyaltsen Norbu in their pocket. Whereas they keep silent about or mislead the
world about the real Panchen Lama - Gendun Choekyi Nyima.
And Panchen Lama is not the only young political prisoner in Tibet. Many young
boys are languishing as prisoners of conscience in Chinese prisons.


It's a serious matter for the future of Tibet, for the safety of a small boy,
for human rights in Tibet. Everybody who cares for Tibet and people should
demand immediate release of Gendun Choekyi Nyima. And he should be put on the
right place --the seat of the 11th Panchen Lama.