Dharamsala, May 17 – To mark the 10th year of the disappearance of the Panchen Lama, Godun Chokyi Nyima, activists of the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress here today observed a day-long hunger strike. About 100 students of the Tibetan Transit School participated in it. A candle light procession was also taken out in the evening in McLeodganj to mark the occasion.
The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy blamed the Chinese Government for failing to provide information about the 16-year-old Panchen Lama.
To commemorate the day of his disappearance, the Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy invited five students each from Tibetan schools, monasteries and nunneries to take part in an essay and letter-writing competition. The students signed their appeal on signature postcards and left hand impressions on a white cloth as part of the centre’s signature campaign.
In a joint statement, the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress and the Gu-Chu-Sum Movement of Tibet alleged that the Panchen Lama was taken into custody by the Chinese authorities and it was feared that he might not be alive as no one had heard of him since then.
Both the organisations said they would send letters to the Chinese President demanding immediate proof regarding the well-being of the Panchen Lama and that representatives of the human rights organisations should be allowed to meet him.
