Reminder for Buddhists

When the Chinese Communists seized Tibet in 1959 and drove its Buddhist god-King, the Dalai Lama, into exile, Peking found what it thought was a ready puppet in the kingdom's No. 2 Buddhist, the Panchen Lama. The Panchen seemed a perfect choice, since he was born and raised in China and had long coveted his master's post. Mao Tse-tung beamed benevolently as the young successor was given his official title, Acting Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The Reds even made him a Deputy in Peking's parliament.

But the Panchen's popularity was doomed to fade. Last month the Communists' military commander in Tibet began lashing out at unnamed "schemers" who were "plotting the restoration of integration of politics and religion." Sure enough, he was talking about the Panchen Lama, on whom so many Communist hopes had been pinned. Last week the Panchen was not only out of his job in the Red Chinese parliament, but had been stripped of his Tibetan chairmanship as well and forced to confess "antipeople, anti-state and anti-socialist activities." To Asian Buddhists, many of whom nurture the illusion that they can cope with the Communists, the Panchen's fate was fair warning that toleration of local religions lasts only so long as it serves Marxist ends.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.