Today marks the 20th birthday of His Holiness the 11th Panchen Lama. As I have previously blogged, Gedun Choekyi Nyima was recognised by the Dalai Lama as the reincarnation of the the 10th Panchen Lama, and was immediately arrested alongside his family, and has not been seen since. He became the world´s youngest political prisoner.
There was a memorial service held at the main temple today. There were about 100 monks and 80 high school students from the Tibetan Children´s Village. I took these photos for Contact magazine during a two hour speech and prayer ceremony.
An official statement in both Tibetan and English was distributed and released from the Tashi Lhunpo monastery, the Holy seat of the Panchen Lama in Shigatze, Tibet urging all to put pressure on the Chinese government to immediately release the 11th Panchen Lama.
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