Tokyo:  The Liaison Office of H.H. the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia organised a Tibet workshop for the Japanese parliamentarians at the Japan Lower House International Conference Hall in Tokyo on 7 May 2024. Tibet supporters and media people also participated in the workshop. The theme of the workshop was “Human rights violations and religious atrocities in Tibet”.

Ishibashi Rintaro, a Liberal Democratic Party Member, moderated the event and in his opening remarks, he briefed the lawmakers on the Panchen Lama issue and how even after nearly three decades his whereabouts are still not known.

Representative Dr. Tsewang Gyalpo Arya of the Liaison Office of H.H. the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia thanked the lawmakers, Tibet supporters, and media members for attending the workshop. He introduced Zeekgyab Rinpoche and spoke on how the situation in Tibet has worsened and how the CCP is trying to destroy Tibetan identity and religious culture through colonial boarding schools and continued interference in Tibetan religious matters, including selections of high reincarnate Lamas.

Zeekgyab Rinpoche, Chief Abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery in South India, spoke on the disappearance of the real Panchen Lama and the continued Chinese interference in Tibetan religious matters.

“I make this heartfelt appeal in the context of the dire situation in Tibet. The severe oppression and inhumane restrictions imposed on the Tibetan people, their movement, and their freedoms continued to worsen. The people of Tibet suffer in silence. Today, my primary appeal is for your help in the immediate release of the 11th Panchen Lama and addressing the long-standing plight of the Tibetan people in Tibet- their native land.” He said.

Speaking on the CCP’s repressive and colonial policy toward Tibet he appealed to the lawmakers and the supporters on three points:

1) Japanese parliament members exert every possible effort and pressure on the Chinese government to immediately release and announce the whereabouts of the 11th Panchen Lama.

2) To adopt a resolution condemning China’s human rights violations and interference in the Tibetan religious matters, including the selection of the reincarnation of H.H. the Dalai Lama.

3) To support the vision of H.H. the Dalai Lama in making Tibet a zone of peace and resolution of the Tibet issue through dialogue and the Middle Way Approach. Writer scholar Miura Junko translated for Rinpoche.

 Lawmaker Furuya Keiji, Chairman of the Japanese parliamentarian monitoring China’s human rights violations, thanked Rinpoche for his statement and promised full support for religious freedom in Tibet. He called on the lawmakers to study the three points and expressed the possibility of issuing a statement urging China not to interfere in the selection of H.H. the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation.

Shimomura Hakubun, Chairman of the Japan Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet, spoke on the contribution of Buddhism in bringing peace and harmony at societal and national levels. He spoke on the resolution the Japanese Parliament passed in 2022 condemning China for human rights violations in Tibet and other occupied territories. He talked of the visits of the two Sikyongs of the Central Tibetan Administration to Japan and their interaction with the parliamentarians.

Lawmakers in the audience asked questions about the current situation in Tibet and information and how news is sabotaged. Zeekgyab Rinpoche and Dr. Arya attended to the lawmaker’s question and informed the audience on the colonial boarding schools, Larungar and Yachen gar situation, the destruction of the Buddha statue and prayer wheels in Drago, self-immolation of 157 Tibetans, and the recent forced relocation of Tibetans for dam buildings.

Lawmaker Ishikawa Akimasa, Vice Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Digital Ministry and General Secretary of the Japan Parliamentary Support Group for Tibet, spoke on the Tashi Lhunpo monastery which he read from Japanese sources and how the monastery and the Panchen Lamas played important roles in Tibetan religious culture.

-Report submitted by the Office of Tibet, Japan