The headline in the daily Kathmandu Post said it all: “Nepal shoots down Panchen Lama’s visit.”
As one read through the piece written by Anil Giri, the paper’s reporter covering diplomacy and international relations, an interesting point was made: the concern in political circles in Kathmandu that China could try and smuggle the Panchen Lama into the country for an event in Lumbini (Buddha’s birthplace) beginning on Friday.
Giri writes “Security sources told The Post that the Panchen Lama was likely to visit Lumbini in disguise by hiding among 227 Chinese monks and officials. If this happened, they feared, it could create a diplomatic and geopolitical crisis.”
Some context here: Nepal officially follows a policy of neutrality in religious matters, which means no permission for the Dalai Lama to visit the country, and the same for the Panchen Lama.
This Panchen Lama incidentally, is China’s appointee, anointed to the position by the officially atheist Communist Party of China by dethroning the boy decreed by the Dalai Lama to be the Panchen Lama.
His name is Gedhun Choekyi Nima and his whereabouts are unknown although believed held somewhere in China. The Panchen Lama China was apparently trying to “smuggle in”, is Gyaincain Norbu, who carries no credibility because he bears China’s stamp.
So how did this information get around? Three officials from three different ministries got information that the Panchen Lama would be on an Air China flight flying direct from Chengdu to Lumbini for the Nanhai Buddhism Roundtable on Friday.
“He has been trying to visit Nepal for the past ten years,” the article quoted Lyarkal Lama, vice chairman of the Lumbini Development Trust. “He is such a powerful person, he can only come here with the permission of our prime minister.”
But Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who was in China at that time, had no idea about the visit. “One hundred per cent false,” said his chief political adviser Bishnu Rimal.
Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba told The Post over the phone in the middle of her Europe tour, that “He is not coming. When we sought clarification from the Chinese embassy, it also denied he was coming.”
But she also acknowledged, “…the Home Minister and other senior officials were trying to fix the issue but could not verify the particular person was coming.”
Was he coming or not? The article attributing Tourism Ministry officials, says “A pre-approved flight on the route (Chengdu-Lumbini) was cancelled on the same day (Wednesday Dec 11).”
The million-dollar question, would China seek to smuggle in the Panchen Lama into Nepal, for a high-profile Buddhist conclave being attended by monks from 20 countries?
The cynics here would say, given China’s behaviour the world over, why rule out a move or plan to bring the Panchen Lama to Nepal and showcase him to an international audience?
The Chinese may have calculated that the diplomatic fallout with Nepal could be managed and the benefits of introducing their Panchen Lama to the world, would be considerable. If this was the thinking, did it reflect current realities? Is that why China backtracked?
Was the Chengdu-Lumbini flight actually intended to carry the Panchen Lama, perhaps under a false name? We’ll probably never know.
