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Mar Jang-nyug
Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy
Ancestors Tomb
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Oxen that rattle the yoke and chain or halt in the leay
shade, what is that you express in your eyes? It seems tome more than all the print I have read in my lie.
~ Walt Whitman
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IV
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Introduction
One o the most notable corollaries o the 2008
protests in Tibet is the unprecedented surge in artis-
tic expression and intellectual activism among young,
educated and bilingual Tibetans. Born ater the 1949
occupation and the dark years o Cultural Revolution,they are equipped with the means to understand the
politico-socio dynamics o one-party system in Chinese-
ruled Tibet. Outraged by the violent repression o peace-
ul protests, Tibetan intellectuals, writers, bloggers, and
singers, took to publicly expressing their oppositionagainst the Chinese government and the Chinese Com-
munist Party (CCP).
A concurrent result is the on-going repression
o such legitimate opposition and criminalization o
voices critical o the governments ailure to protect its
citizens rom human rights abuses. In the atermath o
the 2008 protests, more than 70 Tibetan intellectuals,
writers, artists, and cultural gures have been detained,
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VI
disappeared, tortured and imprisoned or exercising
their undamental right to reedom o expression andopinion. Blogs, websites, magazines critical o govern-
ment policy have been shut down. Online postings are
censored and international media are banned rom
entering Tibet without special permits. The inorma-
tion blackout in Tibet would be complete i not or the
courage o individual Tibetans, who continue to share
inormation on the ground realities knowing they risk
being subjected to the brutal and inhumane punish-
ment meted out to prisoners o conscience in Chinese
prisons.
Many Tibetan writers and artists who have dared
to discuss or criticize Chinas repressive response to sel-
immolation protests have been tortured, disappearedand sentenced without due process o law and judicial
impartiality. Vague and overbroad legal provisions are
invoked to punish the troublemakers and splittists
pejorative terms used to denounce and silence coura-
geous voices calling or reedom and justice. The meresharing o inormation about human rights abuses out-
side o Tibet is deemed criminal and justication or as
much as 10 to 13 years in prison, besides the requent
prospects o detention, torture and disappearance.
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VII
The right to reedom o expression and opinion is
one o the most important conditions or the ull realiza-
tion o human reedom and justice. The right to reely
and earlessly express opinions contributes toward the
robust development o human creativity, the sense o
critical consciousness, and native instrumentality. These
rights assume added importance in oppressive societ-
ies where governments and vested powers endeav-
our to strictly control inormation about human rights
abuses.
Under international law, no exception is allowed
in derogating the right to hold opinions. In its General
Comment No. 10 on the right to Freedom o expression
as provided in article 19 o the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Human RightsCommittee states: Paragraph 1 requires protection o
the right to hold opinions without intererence. This is
a right to which the Covenant permits no exception or
restriction.
Despite the obvious risks involved in exercising the right
to reedom o expression, Tibetan writers and artists
continue to take up their cudgels on behal o their
countrymen by publishing their thoughts and criticisms
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in books, magazines, blogs and other online platorms.
Many like Mar Jang-nyug use pseudonyms to protecttheir identities. The overwhelming use o pseudonyms
is induced not by choice but or ear o ocial retribu-
tion, thus underscoring the oppressive conditions that
weigh heavily on the lives o so many in Tibet.
Mar Jang-nyug is a Tibetan writer who was born
and brought up in Marong village o Ngaba in the Tibetan
province o Amdo. He is, in many ways, representative
o a generation o young University-educated Tibetans
schooled in the Chinese system, a system that Mar Jang-
nyug rips apart in this stinging collection o journal entries
and personal notes titled Ancestors Tomb. This book
reveals the oppressive nature o Chinese rule in Tibet.
With his writings, Mar Jang-nyug bears witness to thesuering and pain endured by Tibetans and exposes the
authoritarian workings o the Chinese government.
Through an array o prose and poetry, the book
describes the dictatorial nature o the Chinese govern-ment, its relentless marginalization o Tibetan language
and culture, destruction o environment through unre-
stricted deorestation and mining and its ever-increasing
violations o human rights.
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His interviews with elderly Tibetans who survived
the early years o Chinese invasion are heart-rending
accounts o the starvation, imprisonment, torture, death
and destruction unleashed on Ngaba and by extension,
the rest o the Tibetan plateau during the late 1950s.
All o these witnesses are common olks such as no-
mads and armers whose stories lay bare the sophistry
o Chinas claim o liberating ordinary Tibetans rom
eudal serdom and slavery. Their recollections also
vary signicantly rom the history touted by the Chinese
government, which contains no mention o the events
that led to the consolidation o Chinese rule in Tibet.
The eye witness accounts o the Tibetans are replete
with unaddressed grievances and unullled aspirations,
at once personal and yet political, as is demonstratedby the tortured body o the authors mother and her
legacy to her son o a wounded heart, both bearing
witness to brutalities bygone and present.
The invoking o memories about Ngaba duringthe nascent stages o Chinese rule is telling in that it
gives a historical context -resonant with the underlying
Buddhist theme o cause and eect - to the spate o
sel-immolation protests in Tibet in recent years. The
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recollections o Ngaba inhabitants shed light on deep-
rooted grievances against past and current injusticesthat, in many ways, explains why Ngaba became the
rst Tibetan area to witness sel-immolation protests.
In particular, the book exposes the lie behind
Chinas claim that sel-immolation protests and other
demonstrations o unrest in Tibet are incited and en-
couraged by a so-called Dalai Clique. In addition to
calling the claim baseless, the author goes on to honour
the courage demonstrated by Tibetans rom all walks
o lie in burning their bodies to protest Chinas unjust
and oppressive rule.
For someone who has spent his whole lie in a
closed society, Mar Jang-nyug possesses a keen politi-cal consciousness that recognizes and understands the
true nature o colonialism, that is, to control and render
dependent through violence and repression. He asks
ellow Tibetans to learn rom Indias struggle or ree-
dom under the leadership o Mahatma Gandhi and theJewish struggle to maintain a cultural identity. Among
the peaceul ways he advocates to bring in change, he
explicitly makes a strong case in avour o human rights
especially reedom o expression and artistic expression,
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citing article 27 o the Universal Declaration o Human
Rights. He writes, I have exposed the oppressive poli-cies o the Chinese Communist Party that go against
the spirit o the Universal Declaration o Human Rights.
By putting my lie at risk, I have demonstrated to the
people o the world the ate o my homeland.
Arguing strongly in avour o individual rights,
the author says, The individual citizens are the ends
or which the state is established. The individuals do
not exist or the state. The state has a duty to protect
the inalienable rights o its citizens.
In short, Mar Jang-nyug reminds us in a very pow-
erul way that reedom is a basic human right, one that
cannot be realised by begging, but only by challengingthe status quo.
This slim book speaks truth to power. It bears
witness to truth, like a snow mountain.
Note: The Walt Whitman quote is not part o the original Tibetan
manuscript o this book.
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Contents
Introduction
Preface
Tears of Smar Rong
They Killed Everyone-Conversation with an
Old Women
Rnga Ba A Hell on Earth
Conversation with On-lo
Conversation with Aye Lolon from Yulshul
The Unbearable Suffering of 2008
These Are My Words
My Mother was a Maidservant of the Communist
Party
Commemorating the Noble Souls
Monks are the Enemies of the Communist Party
1
3
8
14
21
26
38
42
60
66
73
V
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I Know That Far Away in a Foreign Land
You Remember Me
A Dry Chest
Tonight I write this poem
Words of My Mother
March 16
My Homeland
Whose Fate is This Dream?
Dear Yulshul
Kirti Monastery has Become Like a Leprosy
Patient
Afterthought
77
79
81
84
87
90
92
94
97
103
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Preface
My riends told me not to publish this small book.
They said i I published it, I would not have time to con-
centrate on my studies. But the world needs to hear the
cry o our murdered ellow Tibetans and to remember
the blood o our ancestors that was spilled by the Chi-
nese occupation. So I worked hard to complete this book
without compromising the truth.
Let me say that this small book is like the con o a
close relative and a testimony o those whose blood will
be spilled in the uture. It is a testimony o truth collected
by an ordinary person. This work is like the paradise o
a wealthy prince. This work represents the tears shed
by a helpless and unprotected person who suered or
many years. This work is a testimony o murdered parents
and relatives. This work is like a mirror exposing the ace
behind the mask o dictatorship.
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My ellow suering Tibetans, read this book once.
Your agonizing heart might get some solace. To thosewho care or the ate o our people, this book will serve
as a witness like a mountain to truth.
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Tears of Smar Rong
The ate o my village resembles that o other Tibetan
villages in the Land o Snows. We could only speculate
about the past that we were not physically a part o. The
ollowing is an account o the early years o Chinese
invasion in the late 1950s based on conversations Ihad with a ew elderly Tibetans in my homeland.
Beore 1959, Smar Rong was part o Khro Sde.
Geographically, Smar Rong covers a huge area and is
blessed with mountains, lakes, and orests. Its inhabit-ants were engaged in arming and animal husbandry.
They had a decent livelihood. More than ve hundred
amilies lived there all o them practicing the ten virtu-
ous deeds o Dharma.
Today, Smar Rong is part o rNga ba. It comprises
around two hundred amilies. The name Smar Rong has
been changed to the Chinese name Khog Po Shang. In
1958, the Red Army arrived in lower rNga ba and began
causing disturbances. A year later, in 1959, the Red Army
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arrived in our area.
In the winter o 1959, as our village was going
about its peaceul lie, we received inormation about
the Red Army killing everyone in rNga ba. As a result,
twenty young men rom our village went to resist them.
They divided themselves into two groups. The rst grouplost their ght right rom the beginning and could not
prevent the Chinese rom entering our area. The second
group resisted the Chinese or one whole day. In the end
they suered heavy losses; most o them died ghting.
The Red Army then entered our village.
Our village was plunged into chaos. People started
feeing into neighboring areas. Most o them fed to Mi
Nang. Both the upper and lower Mi Nang areas were
fooded with reugees, most o them hailing rom Golokand rNga ba. The Red Army arrived in Mi Nang and killed
every Tibetan reugee that they encountered. Probably
three to our thousand o the Tibetans who fed to Mi
Nang were killed.
The surviving sons, daughters, widowers, and
widows were all disinherited. The Chinese nationalized
their property and created communes. The children were
orced to become shepherds and the able-bodied adults
were orced to till the land and rear animals.
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In spring, they had to plant seeds and in autumn
they had to harvest the crops. They did not get a singleday o rest. While harvesting crops, each person had to
carry a hundred and nine sacks o barley. However, each
person was allotted only twenty gyamas o tsampa a
month or ood. During winter, they were orced to carry
cow dung weighing one hundred gyamas twice a day.
They had to cover our to ve miles o land. Those who
were unable to carry two hundred gyamas o cow-dung
a day rarely had anything to eat. There were many such
people, including disabled ones. People say the monks
took care o them.
A ew elderly monks who remained behind did
not die o hunger. But there were other people who died
o hunger, like the close relatives o Bumlo who hails
rom the Sumpa amily. For ten years, there was not a
single woman who could conceive a child in her womb.
Because o the hard excessive labor, many young men
and women developed physical disabilities. These days,
ocials say the disabilities were caused by pollution o
the water and the land. They say these disabled victims
should be settled in other areas.
On early mornings in winter, accused counter-rev-
olutionaries were stripped naked and orced to stand in
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a line on the rozen ground. They were then subjected to
verbal abuse and beaten with iron rods. The fesh o thevictims turned red due to the beatings. One day, Ador
stood up and rebelled. The Chinese crushed his ngers.
There were many others who rebelled. They were not
allowed to return to their homes. Most o them perished
in prisons.
Thaye, Pukya, Chogye, Rinchen, Sang Ngag, Rang-
dol, the ather and sons o the Netharma amily, all rom
our village, rebelled against the Chinese. As a result,
they were stripped naked, their bodies tied with ropes,and made to do rounds in lower and upper villages. The
masses cursed them, orcing them to go through struggle
sessions. The masses were clamoring or the spread o
communism and destruction o the teachings o Lamas
and local lords. Most o them later died in prisons. Such
inhumane treatment sucked the blood o my ancestors.
The natives o my land, the inhabitants o my locality,
were mercilessly destroyed.
Monasteries were turned into storerooms andstables. Buddhist statues and scriptures were destroyed
and burned. In every village, Buddhist scriptures and
prayer wheels were destroyed and burned. The well-to-
do amilies in our village had Buddhist scriptures printed
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in gold letters, while the less-well-to-do had scriptures
printed in silver letters. My amily possessed scripturesprinted in silver letters. All o them were burned. In our
village alone, two to three hundred Buddhist scriptures
were burned. The covers o prayer wheels were removed
and burned, their smoke swirling the air or three to our
days. For many years, we underwent endless cycles o
suering.
The greed o higher-ups has not been satiated.
They have started destroying the natural resources o
my homeland. They are cutting down our orests. Eachorest in our village covers roughly seventy mu o land.
Even the less dense orest covers ten mu o land. In to-
tal, they have cut down more than a thousand orests
and the deorestation continues. Today, orests covering
between twenty to orty thousand meters have been cut
down and the wood taken to China. Only the worthless
ashes remain. My homeland is beautiul. It is blessed with
mountains, rivers and orests. The rain alls at appropriate
seasons. But now, due to the destruction o its natural
resources, my homeland has become emaciated like
an old worn out man, terried and beret o lie.
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They Killed Everyone - Conversation
with an Old Woman
Author:
Aunt, what are you doing?
Aunt:
Im down with a cold. Please sit down. Have some
tea.
Author:I dont want tea. I came here to talk to you about
something important. People say when the Red Army
arrived in our village in 1958-59 they killed many mem-bers o your amily. Is this true? You have become so
old. You are the only one who could tell the story. Would
you please tell me what actually happened during that
time?
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Aunt:
Oh yes. I can tell the story. It is not dicult. At that
time we were in Mi Nang. My mother, brother, and I moved
to Ja Tsang. Four to ve Tibetan amilies were already
there. As we unloaded our packs (we had not even set
up our tents yet) and made tea, the Red Army soldierssuddenly appeared among us. We were so scared, but
were helpless. We raised our arms in the air and bent
our knees to the Chinese. We pleaded or our lives. But
they acted as i they didnt hear anything. Instead they
red o a ew shots.
I was so terried. I stood still. I couldnt talk to
the Chinese and plea with them. Nor could we fee. My
brother was wearing a very good slog pa. He removed it
and bent his knees to the ground and raised his arms inthe air. Despite such pleading, the Chinese didnt show
any mercy. They broke his arms and legs. They killed all
the men, except or a ew elderly olks. The Chinese then
conscated all the horses and other belongings rom
the ones who survived. My mother pleaded with themto not conscate our tsampa. She said, my little son is
severely injured. My daughter is very young. We dont
have anything to survive on. Please spare some o our
belongings. But they conscated everything. My brother
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was injured. He couldnt move at all.
My ather, accompanied by a three-year-old girl
and a nine-year-old boy, was on his way to Ja Tsang. My
mother told my brother and I to remain at our place. In
terror, she let us to see i our ather and the rest had not
been killed. We waited or her or some time. But shedidnt return. My brother told me to search or mother.
He said, now the Chinese are not around, you can leave
and see what happened to mother. I was almost our-
teen years old at that time. Shivering with terror, I ran
towards where mother had let. Ater walking or somedistance, I reached Drelwe village. But I couldnt nd my
mother. As I walked urther, I saw my ather and the two
kids. I ran toward them. I asked in vain i they had seen
mother. Letting out a long sigh o despair, my ather said,
perhaps they killed her. We all cried together or some
time. Then we saw a group o Chinese soldiers running
toward us. We three kids hid ourselves in a small trench.
My ather surrendered to the Chinese by raising his arms
in the air. But the Chinese shot him. They killed him,
his body rolling down. The soldiers ran toward us and
red on us. I didnt die but I lost consciousness. When I
regained consciousness, I ound that bullets had hit my
arms and legs. As I result, I couldnt move them at all. My
three-year-old sister was dead, while my nine-year-old
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brother was severely injured; his entrails had come out
o his chest. Thats how the Chinese killed my amily. Icouldnt gure out where and how my mother was killed.
I thought she was killed in a orest that lies on the border
o Ja Tsang village. So I planted a ew prayer fags there
in memory o her.
Ater shooting and robbing us, the Chinese let. A
little later, my injured nine-year-old brother died. Later, my
other brother and I were taken care o by one surviving
old woman, belonging to a amily called Shi Kyak. The
amily was our neighbors in the village. Later, a amilycalled Chokden Tsang took care o us. They buried the
bodies o my beloved ather and two siblings.
Author:
Did the Chinese kill any one rom Chokden Tsang
amily?
Aunt:
No, the Chinese did not kill anyone rom Chokden
Tsang amily. But they looted all o their property. They
had two Akhus (uncles), both o whom were monks. The
two Akhus made sure all o us didnt die o hunger. We
two siblings became a huge burden to the amily. The
old man o the amily set up a small, separate, tent or
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us. For a year, the amily cared us in that small tent.
Author:
How much property did your amily own at that
time?
Aunt:
We didnt have a huge property. We had around
orty belongings and one horse. The Chinese conscated
all o them.
Author:
How many Chinese soldiers arrived in your
area?
Aunt:
At that time I was very young. Perhaps it could be
the eect o terror that I was struck with, but I saw the
whole village lled with Chinese soldiers. No one rom
our village stood up and resisted them. Even when the
Tibetans surrendered it did not help. They killed every-one that they saw and met, except the old, inrm, and
the inants.
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Author:
How many people were killed along with your
amily?
Aunt:
They killed a lot o people. There were ve to sixamilies. All o their members were killed, except a ew
old and inrm elderly women. They killed between thirty
to orty people.
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Rnga Ba A Hell on Earth
Author:
Dear Akhu, what are you doing?
Akhu:
Im not doing anything. I am just taking rest.
Author:
I came here to ask you about the implementa-tion o the so-called Democratic Reorms in our village
during the late 1950s. Could you share with me your
experiences o that time?
Akhu:
In our village, Democratic Reorms were implemented
in 1959. In rNga ba, it was implemented in 1958. It was
like a hell on earth. People were killed and properties
were conscated. Chaos reigned all over. Some able-
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bodied men bought rifes and ought the Chinese. At
the time the Chinese soldiers were stationed in Kyarabs.Twelve men went to ght them. Only three survived the
rest o them died. Then everyone rom our village fed
into the mountains. Our amily fed to the village o Bsu
Khar. For a ew days, we didnt even have tsampa to eat.
So Gos Bsang, Damdon, and I went to get some tsampa
at Midor. While taking some rest at Sogpo Tsang, eat-
ing some letover meat, someone screamed, Chinese
soldiers are coming. When I looked up, I saw Chinese
soldiers coming rom Midor. As we fed, Damdon cried.
She begged us not to leave her alone. I told her not to
be scared and that I wouldnt leave her alone. As I was
reassuring her with these words, a bullet hit her and
she started screaming and crying. The Chinese soldiers
were ring incessantly so much that the bullets hit thetrees around us. I let her and began running. As I fed
upwards, I saw Gusods horse lying down, covered in
blood. I then met Gusod himsel. He asked me about
Damdons whereabouts. I told him that she suered se-
vere bullet injuries and might be dead. Finally we wereable to escape rom Chukhor.
A month later, when we were hiding in Zowo, my
sister came to see us. She said that there was no way we
could save ourselves by feeing, that Chinese soldiers had
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surrounded every mountain, valley and plain and that the
sky overhead was occupied by iron-birds (Chinese military
planes). She advised that the best strategy would be to
surrender and remain in jails or the time being. Thats
how I got arrested and was taken to Kyarabs, where I was
subjected to struggle sessions or a week. The Chinese
tied our hands behind our backs and poured cold water
on our heads. They said that we should orget the lamas
and tribal lords. Thats how they tortured us.
Ater a week, we were taken to a stable, whereas
Phurtsa Yawo and others were taken to another placeor more struggle sessions. Forty-nine o us were taken
to rNga ba district and conned in one o the temples
o Kirti monastery that had been turned into a makeshit
prison. At the time there were around three thousand
people there brought rom dierent places. People were
orced to dig Gomang Gyarathang plain or arming; the
area covered approximately three thousand mu. They
were orced to build highways connecting lower rNga
ba. We went through unbearable suering.
We had to wake up early in the morning and be-
gin our hard labor. People had hardly anything to eat.
They would give us boiled water. But most o us had no
bowls to drink rom. A ew had copper bowls, while a ew
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had mud pots. We didnt have any bowls. At that time
Kirti monastery was just destroyed. So we got some zokhra (wooden buckets used or carrying water) in which
we kept our water. Local people were allowed to bring
ood to the prisoners, but we had no one who could
bring us ood. Each o us was given a hundred gyamas
o tsampa a day. Whether that lled our appetite or not
didnt matter. We didnt receive more than that. In the
aternoon, we were given an ordinary tea. For whole days
we toiled digging the elds. In the evening, the Chinese
registered our names twice to ensure that we attended
labor everyday. I we ailed to do so, we would be sub-
jected to beatings.
In spring o 1961, three hundred and seventy o us
were taken to Shen Kos. We were divided into groups o
seven people each. We were orced to dig a mountain. As
tools, we were given only iron rods. We also had to break
rocks. Those o us who couldnt nish our work during
the daytime had to work in the night. We had hardly any
time to rest. The ood was very poor. Early in the morn-
ing, we were given a small amount o steamed maize
and soup made out o wild plants. In the aternoon, we
were again given a little steamed maize. And or dinner
also, we were given a bowl o maize soup. We were not
given any other ood. Those who drank the soup made
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o wild plants succumbed to serious intestinal diseases.
I resisted and didnt drink that soup.
Shen Kos lies on the south o Mong Aan and is lled
with rocks and mountains. It didnt have any grassland
and was surrounded by barbed wire. We destroyed a
rock-mountain there. Four years later, in 1965, we wereallowed to leave the area. From my group, our people
died o hunger. O the total three hundred and seventy
people taken there, in the end only one hundred and
ty survived. The rest all perished in Shen Kos.
Author:
How was the living standard o [your amily] dur-
ing those times?
Akhu:
When I was released rom Shen Kos, I learned
that both my parents had survived. My inant son had
grown up so much that he was able to rear animals. The
ood we ate was very poor. Some amilies didnt have
anything to eat or a week. So they survived on ram bu
(a wild bean grown in Tibet). They had no other choice,
because their property and domestic animals were con-
scated and looted in the name o socialism. The lords
and aristocrats properties were conscated and looted
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too, although they were allowed to keep a ew o their
domestic animals like mdzo. A ew were allowed to keep
their houses. In our village, during summer, it was im-
possible to die o hunger. Thats because many plants
are grown there that can be eaten by human beings.
There were a ew people who survived on the chas o
barley.
Since I was labeled a counter-revolutionary crimi-
nal, I had to work incessantly. Even ater I nished my
daily portion o work, I had no time to rest in the eve-
ning because then I had to work as a postman deliver-ing letters. Once Topden, Jamsher and I were ordered
to butcher animals. Topden and Jamsher were monks.
According to their Vinaya vows, they were not allowed
to butcher animals. So I told them that they should recite
their prayers while I butchered all the animals on their
behal. During winter, all o us had to carry cow and yak
dung to the elds. We had to carry one hundred gyamas
o cow-dung a day. We had to pick up pebbles rom the
elds, cut the weeds, and then do the arming. In autumn
we had to harvest barley and carry it back. There was
so much work that we were able to return to our homes
only at midnight. We didnt have a single day o rest or
a whole year. We suered so much.
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Author:
How much o your religious artiacts were destroyed
during that time?
Akhu:
I had a collection o sutras printed in silver letters.They were all burned. I had other religious and sacred
items such as drums. They were conscated even beore I
returned rom the [prison camp]. There was an old monk
in Gonpo Letsang amily who died. When the amily was
conducting prayers and uneral rites or him, the Chinesebarged in, killing the mother and smashing the sacred
objects. Most o the destruction had been carried out
beore my release rom the prison. Richer amilies prob-
ably had sutras printed in gold. Between two hundred
and three hundred sutras were burned down. The smoke
rom these burned scriptures swirled in the air or many
days. So this is my lie story, lled with happiness and
sorrows, a cold and warm lie.
Author:
Thank you so much Akhu.
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Conversation with On-lo
Author:
Ashang (uncle), tell me something about our vil-
lage when the Chinese army rst arrived there in 1959.
Please tell me what happened exactly in our village?
On-lo:
I almost orgot everything. I hardly remember
anything.
Author:
Please tell me what happened during that time,
anything that you witnessed and experienced.
On-lo:
At that time we fed to Mi Nang. Everyone as-
sumed we would be sae there. One day, many natives
rom Zi Ka fed to Rong Kor. The next day, near the Rong
Kor Bridge, they abandoned all their belongings and
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fed again. Those who were able to fee ar went to Mi
Nang. Those who couldnt fee ar went to places like Wei
Nang and Sha Nang. Thus not a single soul remained
behind, almost all fed into the mountains. Only one old
man rom Jangyam Tsang amily remained. The Chinese
didnt spare him they killed him. We let our homes
and fed to Gyatsa. From there, we fed to Boeye, which
was swarming with reugees. They included members o
Kyawe Tsang, Khar Tsang and Tseshe Tsang amilies. From
there, we fed to Traye. The Chinese soldiers massacred
everyone who remained in Boeye, including Kyawe Tsang
amily. We kept feeing and nally reached the end o
Boeye, where on a huge eld we remained, along with
Mibung and Namsey Tsang amilies.
Two yaks carrying loads started going down the
valley. As Namsey and I went to etch them up, we saw
Chinese soldiers moving towards us. I told Namsey that
the Chinese were coming. He hid himsel in the orest. We
couldnt track him down or two days. Ater abandoning
all our belongings at Milgo, we fed into the orest. There
was a lone Tibetan among the Chinese soldiers who told
us not to fee. But a man (who is dead now) rom Abum
told us not to listen to the Chinese. He said, all o you
must not listen to the Chinese, they will kill you, so it is
better to fee. Ater having said this, he himsel went to
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hide in the orest. He was carrying a rife and ammuni-
tion.
Rangdol and I fed into the mountain, whereas
my Akhu and the children o Bung Tsang amily hid in a
trench. As Rangdol and I started feeing urther toward
the top o the mountain, we heard the sound o gun-shots. The soldiers were running toward us ring their
guns. Rangdol and I couldnt move an inch, so we lay
down among the trees. The Chinese kept running up the
mountain ring their guns. Fortunately, the bullets didnt
hit us. The orest we hid ourselves in was very denseand covered with heavy snow. So the Chinese soldiers
didnt dare to reach us. But they kept ring incessantly,
so much that their bullets destroyed all the branches o
the trees around us.
Ater some time, late in the night, when the Chi-
nese soldiers were gone, we came down rom our hiding
place in the mountain. What we saw then was chaos let
behind by the Chinese. They had destroyed all o our
belongings, the ground was covered with wheat, barleyand tsampa. I had a woolen slog pa; the Chinese soldiers
had taken that away. There were more than twenty sacks
o wheat lying on the ground. Only two o them were
cut open by knives. The rest were not harmed. We were
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not killed that day.
The next day we went to search or the man rom
Abum. We ound him dead in the orest. We called Jam-
sod rom Milgos to do the uneral rites or him. We didnt
come across any Chinese on that day but the sound o
gunshots continued or two days. When it nally stopped,my ather appeared with his yak-loads. He was shocked
that we were all alive. Tears streaming down his cheeks,
he said, I never expected to see you all alive. The roads
through which I returned are all lled with corpses, both
o human beings and horses. Hardly anyone survivedin Mi Nang, all o them had been killed. Almost every
member o Ngawo Tsang amily had been killed. Only
Tsele survived. He was lying with corpses. His three sis-
ters had been killed. Yangson wasnt dead, but she was
severely injured and was lying down. The Chinese looted
everything, including all the ood and clothes. The two
parents had both disappeared. Tents were either burned
down or destroyed.
When we reached the plain walking down romTseltsa, we saw that it was covered with rubbish and
corpses o human beings and horses. It was dicult to
nd a place to stay. I was 17 or 18 years old then. Because
o the stench o corpses and the vultures hovering in the
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air, I was gripped by intense ear and couldnt move an
inch. Later we let the place. Ater walking or a wholenight, accompanied by Apang Phunlo and Kyale She, we
reached Nedun, where we remained across one Buddhist
Stupa.
We saw many people leaving the village withloaded yaks and sheep. We saw the Bechugma Tsang
amily and their huge black tent on the grassland. In the
aternoon, we prepared to fee urther. In order to do this,
we lightened our loads. A little later, we heard the sounds
o gunshots. Chaos reigned as the horses and yaks allsplit up. We took our loads and yaks into the orest and
hid there. Apang Phunlo and Kyale She, who possessed
good rifes, guarded us. Later, the Chinese destroyed the
black tent o Bechungma Tsang amily. On that day, the
sound o gunshots didnt cease even or a moment. In
the evening, Apang Shabdon came to see us. He said,
You must not come to Kada, the area is swarming with
Chinese soldiers. As a result, we fed downwards, to-
wards Kyeba and Boproe. Phuno and Sheche both o
them fed upwards. Some days later, we were arrested
and put in prison. At that time, my ather was accused
o being the gang leader o rebels. He was taken to rNa
ba and sentenced to death. In winter o that year, the
Chinese started their reorms.
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Conversation with Aye Lolon from
Yulshul
Author:
When the world turned upside down, you suered
a lot. Many members o your amily perished. Please tellus briefy what you witnessed and experienced during
that time.
Aye Lolon:
We actually hailed rom Bamshung. We were toldthat something called the Communist Party would visit
us and would give us as much ood and clothes as we
wanted. Then the village was divided into small groups
o seven amilies each. Many disputes occurred among
people about whether the village should be divided into
groups. Some supported it, while some opposed it.
The Chinese soldiers prevented Tibetans rom walk-
ing between Nangchen and Lungshul monasteries or
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almost one month. Then everyone rom the village said
we should fee. As a result, some fed through Tsangwo,
while some fed downward crossing the river Tsichu. We
couldnt go ar, so we crossed Bumgyal and stationed
ourselves, along with our horses and yaks, at Magye. Ater
a ew days, we heard the sound o Chinese soldiers shell-
ing Lungshul monastery. Then we kept moving urther
rom Magye, crossing Tralep pass, even as the Chinese
military planes hovered in the air striking immense terror
in our hearts. We stationed ourselves in between rocks.
Some o the amilies took their loads and belongings
into the mountains. Some amilies couldnt do so and
settled there, roasting meat and boiling water. All o a
sudden, however, the Chinese soldiers red their guns.
Saying prayers, we assembled our yaks and sheep and
loaded our belongings onto them. The old mothers oBolha and Ladrang Tsang amily were killed there. We
took our animals and moved to Magye, crossing Dechen
Yaphu.
At Magye, we sought the services o Lama Rigzin
Tsang to do prayers or the two old mothers killed by the
Chinese. Ater staying at Magye or two days, we heard
that the Chinese were closing in on us; so we let Magye
or Mayo Langlung, where we remained or around -
teen days. Again the Chinese soldiers began arriving
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there. As a result, we had to abandon all our belongings,
including our yaks and sheep. The two or three peoplewho possessed horses fed on them. Those who didnt
possess horses started running. The Chinese arrested my
uncle and took him rom there to Kyodrak. My mother,
two o my children and a ew disabled men and women
couldnt fee and had to be abandoned there.
I took one o my children, keeping it in the pouches
o my chupa, rode a horse, and fed with other people.
When the Chinese soldiers let Manyo Langlung taking
my uncle and some elderly men with them, I returned toMayo Langlung. I ound that the Chinese soldiers hadnt
killed my mother, my two children and the other disabled
old men and women. They had survived. I took them to
Tralem, where many reugees had already assembled. A
ew days later, those men who had been taken to Kyodrak
by the Chinese returned to relay the message rom the
Chinese that we should surrender.
As the Chinese began arriving at our place, we
fed towards Bumgyal, crossing Tralep pass. We had veor six people who had fed earlier. Many people were let
behind; some o them pretended they were hit, and thus
killed, by bullets while on their horses. They survived by
lying on the ground as i dead. Some o us fed to Tawo
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through Bumgyal. I told them that I wouldnt be able to
fee with them and that it would be better or them togo on without me. With the inant in the pouches o my
chupa, I walked a little urther, hiding mysel in a small
cave. A dog belonging to one o the amilies rom my
village ollowed me, and since the Chinese were ring,
the sounds o gunshots made the dog bark. I had to
stone him and remained there or a whole day.
In the evening, my companions came to search or
me, and we descended Ngona and fed to Rabu Rongak,
where or two days and two nights we had nothing toeat. In the evening, carrying my child, I was the only one
who could have let. We didnt have anything to eat, we
survived by drinking ice cold water. Then my husband
and our companions told me that I should wait and that
they would go out to search ood or all o us. Saying
this, they let me alone and six o the men went to search
or ood. A little later, they butchered a cal. Although I
tried to pass the night by eating the meat o that poor
animal, I didnt enjoy the taste o that meat. I was totally
preoccupied by and worried about the two children that
I let behind. A reugee feeing the Chinese appeared
among us. He said the Chinese soldiers had massacred
around two hundred Tibetans that he was feeing with.
He said only one person survived as he pretended that
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he was dead by lying on the ground.
We too fed upwards. As we returned to the place
where we had let behind my children and the disabled
old men and women, we saw Gapoes old mother run-
ning towards us. Crying her heart out, she told us that
the Chinese soldiers killed her son and that we shouldaccompany her to look or his corpse. We ound the
son lying dead in a trench, a bullet through his ribs, and
his head almost chopped o by a sword. As we let the
corpse behind and fed upwards, we saw the dead bod-
ies o two Tibetans and many horses lying on the road,as told to us beore by two reugees. As we reached the
place where we had let my children and the disabled
men and women behind, we ound them huddled over
a re. I asked them how they were able to survive. They
said the Chinese simply kicked them, asked i they had
any other companions and then let them. The Chinese
also spared a ew yaks and sheep. Assembling them, we
went to Domchen, where we remained or a ew days.
One day as we were going towards Magye, wesuddenly met the Chinese at Ngona. They arrested and
took us to Kukhyam. We were orced to stay at Kukhyam,
and some o our yaks and sheep were conscated. O us,
eight young men, along with their horses, were taken to
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Kyegu or re-education purposes. From Lungshul mon-
astery, the Chinese returned the horses. We were orcedto do arming at Kukhyam or two seasons, rom winter
to spring.
O the eight men taken by the Chinese or re-
education purposes, one was able to escape. The resto them never returned. Later, the Chinese took away all
the yaks, sheep, and tents in short, all the property o
the village. Every day, those who were able to work had
to collect rewood and dig land or cultivation. In the
name o doing arming, they were orced to destroy allthe grassland. Unortunately, crops were not able to grow
and the grasslands were all turned into deserts. Each day,
a person was ed a bowl o tsampa. Since we had to go
ar to collect rewood, we were oten unable to return on
time to receive our share o tsampa. The Chinese, instead
o considering our genuine circumstances, would reuse
to give us tsampa saying, you people were eating ruits
in the jungles rather than collecting rewood, which is
why it took so long or you to return.
In that year, many people rom our village died o
hunger. It was a terrible year. People rom ve villages
had been staying in Kukhyam. Every day, people had to
be appointed to collect the corpses o victims who died
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o hunger.
Author:
Who were the people that collected the corpses?
Aye Lolon:
People rom our village had to collect the corpses.
Early in the morning when we woke up, they collected the
corpses and threw them away at a distant location. Even
at dusk, we saw them collecting and throwing away the
corpses. For their services, they were given a spoonul
o tsampa to eat each day.
Despite suering rom sickness and old age, my
mother and others had been ordered to pick medicinal
plants on Joda Pass. I begged in vain or the Chinese
to spare them. Two or three days later, I asked a woman
named Gage i she heard any news about my mother.
Gage said that my mother had returned to our home a
long time back. On that aternoon, even as I was eed-
ing my children dinner with a spoonul o tsampa, my
mother didnt return. I was so worried, as I thought my
mother couldnt return due to hunger. I waited or her till
darkness ell. Then leaving my children behind, I went to
search or my mother in Nyoga by crossing Golung Pass.
Then crossing Kela I reached Marsha, screaming or my
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mother. It was already late at night, and the stars were
clearly visible up in the sky. I walked or so long that myeet started aching; I couldnt walk urther and had to
take some rest. Despite my cries or my mother, I didnt
get any response. Tears streaming down my cheeks, I
had no choice but to retreat. When I nally returned to
Nyoga, it was early morning. In Nyoga, many radishes
had been cultivated. Terror struck in the depth o my
heart, or I thought i the Chinese soldiers saw me, they
would kill me instantly. I plucked a ew radishes and put
them in the pouches o my chupa. As I returned through
Surug, a man saw me and inquired about my identity. I
lied to him, saying that I went to pick up rewood I had
let behind yesterday and that now I was returning to
see i my children had died rom hunger.
When I returned to my home, the iron-helmet
wearing Chinese soldiers were summoning the men
and women o our village by beating upon a fat piece
o iron. The people were orced to stand in a line as the
Chinese soldiers read out their names and took twenty
o them inside a tent. In the aternoon, shirts removed,
their hands tied behind their backs, beaten with sticks,
they were then taken away. Every day, groups o able-
bodied people were taken away like that. Those who
were not strong enough to work were let behind. They
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died o hunger including the disabled. Their corpses
were lying all around the ground.
The Chinese established what they called a child
care house where they kept the orphans. At nighttime,
six to seven orphans slept together under one sheep-
skin. The next morning we ound that only three o themsurvived the rest had perished. In such a way, most o
them died ater a ew months, except a ew orphans and
my two children.. One day, ve men wearing yellow hats
appeared. They divided the corpses o all those who had
died o hunger into three groups and assembled themon the ground. Those who had survived attempted to
live by eating the seeds ound in horse shit. Those who
were able to walk kept their children on their backs and
tried to fee. I was barely able to walk. Although Palzin
was six or seven years old, he couldnt walk because
he had become so weak due to lack o ood. I took my
two children and let Kukhyam or Nedo Monastery. The
journey took me three days. We remained or three days
at Nedo Monastery. Everyday I went out to dig groma
(a seed usually eaten by Tibetans in Tibet) to eed my
children. I collected the leather skins that I ound among
the remains o the destroyed monastery. Boiling them
with water, I ed them to my children. As a result, they
gained a little bit o energy and, although weak, were
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able to walk.
Author:
How many people died during that time?
Aye Lolon:
Needless to say the whole o Kukhyam was lled
with human corpses, to such an extent that people could
hardly nd enough space to walk. There were so many
corpses that even the dogs and vultures reused to eat
them. The place where the iron-helmet-wearing Chinese
abandoned the corpses today is called the corpse valley.
Except or a ew old aged and disabled people, everyone
rom the villages o Kukhyam, Bama, Zado, Surug and
Thoma had been killed, put in prison, or died o hunger.
Although I didnt count all the dead people, I would saythat many more people died during those years than
what we saw in this years earthquake.
Author:
How many rom your amily died during thattime?
Aye Lolon:
Eight members o my amily died, including those
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who perished in prison and rom hunger.
Author:
How old were you then?
Aye Lolon:
I was probably thirty-three or thirty-our years old
at the time. I have turned eighty-ve this year.
Author:
The mountain o your village had been enced.
Why did they do this?
Aye Lolon:
They enced it much later probably in the 1980s
ater dismantling the communes and dividing us into smallgroups. I heard that people were unnecessarily made
to suer or many years. They were made to ence the
mountains. It is said the ences extend up to a hundred
miles.
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Author:
What happened to those who were taken to prison?
Aye Lolon:
One prisoner rom Bema who survived told me
that he and his ellow prisoners were taken on trucks to-wards Siling. On the road to Siling, one Chinese soldier
asked i there were any prisoners who were sick and
unwell and said i there were any, they must raise their
arms in the air. Some o them thought it was a chance
o respite. As a result, many prisoners both those whowere sick and not sick raised their arms in the air. The
Chinese soldiers buried them alive, probably sixty to
seventy people rom his village. He said that prisoners
in other trucks suered a similar ate.
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The Unbearable Suffering of 2008
On 16 March 2008, protests erupted in our county.
On that night, the Red Flag hanging in ront o the gov-
ernment building was taken down and burned. The win-
dowpanes o houses inhabited by government cadres
were stoned and broken. The Red Flag on the roo o
the community hall disappeared.
On 18 March, in the aternoon, a group o soldiers
and our or ve vehicles belonging to the Public SecurityBureau (PSB) appeared. They surrounded the Zamkha
and Ser Ri villages. They broke into every house in the
two villages. Most o the younger villagers had already
fed into the mountains, only the elderly ones remained
behind. Still the Chinese didnt spare them. They inter-
rogated all o them. Led by PSB ocials wearing mili-
tary uniorms, more than twenty armed soldiers broke
into each house. They pointed their guns at the victims.
They screamed at them, ordering them not to move an
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inch. They handcued the Tibetans and conscated the
photos o His Holiness the Dalai Lama, along with themobile phones, cash, and bikes ound in the houses.
More than seventy motorbikes were conscated rom our
village alone. The soldiers themselves used the better-
conditioned motorbikes. Three months later, when they
returned our motorbikes, not a single one o them was
unctioning. As to the mobile phones and the cash, they
never returned them.
One innocent monk and a Tibetan man called
Pendor who was perorming prayers or his dead ather both o them belonged to Ser Ri village were arrested
and beaten. The Chinese soldiers punched them in their
eyes, which were already swollen rom beating. For the
next couple o days, the ocials o the monastery and
the villages were assembled and given education. They
were told to report to the higher-ups. Some o the ocials
who ailed to report to the higher-ups were dismissed
rom their positions.
The Chinese soldiers then put up their militarytents in our villages. They began breaking into peoples
houses and making arrests. Young people were especially
targeted as they arrested people who were above sixteen
years o age and interrogated them. More than twenty
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people rom our village were arrested. These included
people such as Kunsang Lhundup (26), Tsamsang (23),Gelek (23), Nangze (28), Nyima (22). Handcued, they
were orced to keep heavy stones in their hands and stand
without rest or two days. The prisoners hands were tied
behind their backs with beer bottles inserted between
them;, their chests and ribs were pierced with keys. They
were tortured in such gruesome ways or nearly twenty
days, and when they nally returned to their homes, their
whole bodies were so swollen they couldnt put on or
remove their clothes. They were accused o belonging
to the Dalai clique, burning the Red Flag, and breaking
the windows. (Some people said the ocials themselves
broke the windows).
Those who fed into the mountains had still not
returned to their homes when this report was led in
2010. Every day, the Chinese soldiers went on a hunting
spree, killing wild deer and pigs ound in the villages.
All the monks studying in the monasteries were ordered
to assemble and then interrogated. The Chinese asked
the monks what they thought o the Dalai clique. Monks
were told not to become members o the Dalai clique,
and that the Dalai Lama had never been as kind as the
Communist Party. Such patriotic education was given
to the monks. Some o the monks were accused o not
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showing a positive attitude to the education sessions or
speaking the right language, and orced to stand up or a
whole day. People were told that i they didnt attend the
education sessions, they would be branded as criminals
o the country. Monks were divided and then conned in
a community hall surrounded by armed Chinese guards.
As a result, they couldnt move outside and keep contact
with other Tibetans.
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These Are My Words
My beloved ancestors, I remember your legacy.
I have grown up surrounded by poverty, hunger and
destruction. I have been turned into a person who could
either destroy or nurture this world created by your blood
and bones. No one can tell i I would be your companion,
laughing and crying with you.
I I stand in ront o the cons o my ancestors
and express my lonely laments, I will say that once upon
a time I had a amily and many siblings. This is not a
mythical story, nor is this a ction created by imagina-
tion. This is a real story. Since 1958, this generation has
been swallowing tears, enduring pain and agony in a
storm o suering unleashed by the policies o a oreign
occupying orce. The policies are becoming ever more
repressive with hardly any signs o respite.
On this earth, Tibetans are a humble nationality,
having given up war and the eelings o vengeance that
call or blood or blood and fesh or fesh. Instead we
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chose the pursuits o a Bodhisattva donning monastic
robes. We as a nationality our lie, our world, our people,
everything that we possess are being crushed by a
more powerul nationality. From U-tsang to Amdo, we
have been deprived o an environment that can sustain
our language and culture.
Not satised with their own country, the Chinese
militarily occupied and settled in our territories, becom-
ing a butcher o our people and our environment. Toxic
waste and poisonous ood that carry many diseases are
being transported into Tibet. Precious minerals that arevery rare on this planet are being mined, Tibetan grass-
lands are being turned into deserts. The mountains, rocks,
and grasslands are being torn rom their roots. My once-
upon-a-time beautiul world is being turned into a heap
o trash.
Chinese soldiers guard the Tibetan mountains.
Their eyes and mouths gaping, they look greedily upon
the Tibetans inhabiting the valleys and nomadic grass-
lands, hoping that they will churn out butter and cheese.Swarms o Chinese permanently settle in Tibetan areas,
squeezing money rom the hands o nomads and armers
who have never gone to school. The Chinese stubbornly
use Chinese while speaking with Tibetan nomads and
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armers, despite knowing that the Tibetans do not speak
Chinese. As a result, Tibetan nomads and armers suerrom ineriority complexes, as i their native language is
not good enough to communicate with other people.
Such colonial machinations make me wonder: i the
Chinese are not our adversary, then who is?
I assert all this not because I want to create discord
among people. I am expressing the acts on the ground.
Some o the Chinese who have settled in Tibet or busi-
ness purposes hold condescending attitudes towards
native Tibetans. For instance, i a Tibetan buyer whodoesnt speak Chinese asks the price o a commodity,
the Chinese merchant will respond condescendingly by
saying I dont understand what you are saying, I dont
understand, get lost. Faced with such a humiliating situ-
ation, the Tibetan nomads and armers oten take a deep
breath and lament, not being able to speak Chinese is
really humiliating. Indeed, anger is oten elt against
such people who make you eel ashamed o yoursel.
Look at the status o the Tibetan language andliterature the essence o the Tibetan world. How long
will our culture survive? The present condition explains
clearly how long we can protect our culture. The twen-
ty-rst century is a century o urbanization. Thereore,
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Tibetan nomads and armers are orced to resettle in
urban areas, to give up nomadic and arming pursuits,. I
heard some o them have died o hunger. Some o them
havent received adequate compensation. Some super-
cial use o Tibetan language and names does exist in our
villages and cities. However, in reality, Tibetan language
and literature are on the verge o death and destruction.
This is one o the most critical responsibilities lying on
the shoulders o educated olks. Even in areas like Tso
Ngon and Sichuan where Tibetan intellectuals live, the
Tibetan language, especially in various levels o oces,
has become redundant.
How long can we deal with such a situation? Not
or one decade or two decades. Not or one genera-
tion or two generations. Three generations have passed.
Yet, the sound o gunre and the fow o blood havent
stopped. Nor have the cries o occupation and dictator-
ship. Surrounded by the sounds o gunre and the fow
o blood, hardly any Tibetan-inhabited towns exist where
ears and eyes can hear and see the Tibetan language
spoken and written.
In 1959, the Red Army shot down and murdered
my innocent grandmother. My innocent great-grandather
died o torture, leaving behind his beloved grandchildren.
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At the time, my oldest aunt, Sopo, was 15; my youngest
uncle, Peshar, 4; my mother, 9; and Gyankyi, anotheraunt, 6. All o them became orphans and were orced
to live a lie o misery and suering, oten at the mercy
o other people. The roots o some amilies were ully
destroyed, while some amilies properties were looted,
reducing them to naked poverty. In the past ve decades,
the Land o Snows has been turned into a vast, empty,
and desolate place splattered with blood. Brave men and
women who emerged were imprisoned and corrupted
respectively, uprooting the nation called Tibet. However,
a ew exceptionally courageous people, whose Tibetan
consciousness was as proound as an ocean and loty as
a mountain, preserved and nurtured the Tibetan culture
as i it was their precious soul and eyes. Their hard work
and sacrice ensured that a nation called Tibet continuesto exist on the roo o this planet, raising the banner o
peace and tranquility.
Emerging From a Legacy of Bloodshed
Reusing to submit to terror, torture, hunger, and
thirst, inficted by a oreign dictatorship, Tibetans laid
bare their suering and oppression to the outside world
through nationwide protests in 2008. The protests lled
the eyes and hearts o the Tibetan people with tears o
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hope and pride. However, many brave men and women
lost their lives to bullets and the value o their sacricehas been undermined. Needless to say, it is worthwhile
to reclaim them. As a result o the heroic 2008 protests,
more and more people began taking notice o Tibet
and the Tibetan peoples struggle or reedom. At a time
when Tibets triumph is becoming increasingly imminent,
I have expressed my innermost desire in writing.
My ate is that I do not belong to the human com-
munity. Among the community o nationalities, my na-
tionality is counted as the most ordinary. In my world, I donot have a right to make demands or my livelihood and
or my homeland. When I say livelihood, I dont mean
that I am claiming simply or a right to ll my stomach. It
means my uture descendants should have a dignied
source o livelihood, a homeland o their own, which in-
cludes Tibetan mountains, rivers and precious minerals.
Moreover, their lives should be considered sacrosanct
and their human dignity upheld. Tibetan people must
have the right to pursue their own culture, language,
commerce and other sources o livelihood. Like other
people on this planet, we too must have reedom o
speech, thought and assembly. Thereore, we have no
choice but to demand that the Chinese cease the killing
o the Tibetan people, as they killed my ancestors and
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other relatives, and the exploitation o Tibets rich mineral
resources. Since the 2008 protests, my homeland SmarRong has not seen a single day o peace and tranquility.
We live under the constant ear o Chinese accusation
and incrimination. Since 18 March 2008, our area has
been under Chinese military clampdown. Soldiers have
surrounded all the villages and break into every house-
hold to interrogate the Tibetans. Soldiers conscated the
pictures o the Dalai Lama, mobile phones, and motor-
bikes they ound in the houses. They didnt even spare
the cooking utensils. People were taken to prison and
wildlie was hunted down. Such unbearable repression
reminds us o the early years o Chinese invasion, when
our world was turned upside-down. to control and render
dependent through violence and repression.
The Chinese Regime Will be Overthrown
Freedom and democracy, cowardice and lethargy,
sel-gratication and oppression, colonization and sel-
promotion, authority and dictatorship, terror and hope
- all these experiences teach important lessons aboutthe rights and interests o individuals, nationalities and
nations. Similarly, every day, every month, every year,
these experiences teach us proound and practical les-
sons about our rights and our nations rights. Because
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o these circumstances, even our so-called ignorant and
oolish nomads and armers have their consciousnessawakened they now have the pride and conviction to
give up their lives to protect their religious and political
reedoms. These proound lessons learned over thou-
sands o years are not trivial, as i they are to be dis-
carded without any second thoughts, but the Chinese
Communist Party (CCP) keeps on regarding the Tibetan
people as spineless yes men who would simply ollow
them like tail-wagging pets. For the past more than ty
years, under the shadow o the mask it wears, the CCP
has ailed to acknowledge its own true ace, let alone
that o other nationalities. The minority nationalities in
China are like pebbles in the eyes o the CCP, who use
them as instruments and raw material or its develop-
ment.
The CCP dispatches hundreds o armored vehicles
among the people to induce ear and terror. Moreover,
in the name o doing service to the local people, and
giving education to the local people, they subject us to
unbearable ear and humiliation, inficting wounds in our
hearts. People are alsely accused o instigating crimes o
hatred and separatism, or which they are beaten, looted
and murdered. Among other nationalities and nations,
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the CCP sings songs o propaganda, stating that Tibet
enjoys harmony, reedom, and happiness, and that theTibetan people are given ood, clothing, and housing
aid. CCP ocials seem surprised at the protests o the
Tibetan people. The lackeys o the CCP might be satis-
ed with the little bit o ood aid, but i we think about
Tibets minerals that are being exploited, let alone the
tears, bloodshed, and graveyards o our ancestors, how
can we assume there would be no tremors?
Leave alone our daily bread, theres not a single
ocial among the CCP who regards our lives as sacrosanctand inviolable. No one is blind enough not to see the real
ace o the CCP behind the mask o dry compassion they
put on that o a merciless, wild beast. Over the years,
through both guile and violence, CCP has made eorts
to strengthen its image o dry compassion, but its real
ace will be exposed nakedly one day. In one sense, I do
laugh at the CCP, and the way it unctions: concerned
only with its short-term petty interests, beret o any u-
ture vision. The CCP keeps on churning out baseless
myths, asserting that the Tibet-China confict is created
on the spur o the moment by the Dalai Lama and a ew
separatists. For instance, the Chinese ocials in our area
advised us that the 2008 protests were instigated by the
Dalai group to disrupt the Beijing Olympics. The truth
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is that the protests didnt occur all o a sudden in 2008.
They had a long history. For instance, my older brotherhad twice walked all the way to Lhasa in 1993 to seek
the blessings o the Jokhang Temple. During his visit, he
witnessed protests by Tibetans. He told me the ollowing
story:
Many protestors, including monks, collapsed when
the Chinese threw venomous tear gas on them. They
were then arrested. Some o the leading protestors were
severely beaten; one Chinese soldier in act kicked the
ace o a protestor, whose teeth ell out. He was throwninto a military truck and taken away. Even as he was be-
ing taken away, with blood oozing out o his mouth, he
was shouting slogans about the return o the Dalai Lama
and the restoration o Tibetan reedom. Since I happened
to be at the site o the protest at Jokhang Temple and
since the protest was related to the ate o Tibet and
His Holiness the Dalai Lama, I too joined it. Raising my
st in the air, without giving into ear and regret that I
might never see my parents again, I shouted slogans
calling or the return o the Dalai Lama and reedom or
Tibet. The Chinese soldiers red tear gas into the crowd
and many protestors collapsed on the ground. I was let
unconscious in some trees behind the Potala Palace or
three to our days.
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These poetic reedom slogans were raised at the
risk o ones lie to protest the corrupt regime . They arear more precious than hundreds o millions o gold coins
put together. The shortsighted Chinese regime clings
stubbornly to the assertion that a Dalai separatist group
instigated the protests that swept Tibet in 2008. Such ac-
cusations might help the regime to mask the truth, but
all o us know that they are not based on act. Didnt the
2008 protests lay bare to the world the swelling pride
o the Tibetan people who, like other minorities such as
the Mongols, have suered invasion and colonization?
Indeed, it was a moment o joy and pride. How could we
deny that the protests represented the desire o the mi-
nority nationalities to realize truth and justice? Dear brave
men and women, continue your struggle. We shall surely
triumph one day. There are examples o such triumphsin history. Ater having been dispersed throughout the
world as reugees and suered brutally at the hands o
powerul nations or thousands o years, a ew million
Jews nally returned to their own independent home-
land in Israel. Similarly, ater having been colonized orcenturies by the English, the people o India secured
independence through non-violent means. Thereore, we
must struggle to overthrow the corrupt Chinese regime.
We must struggle to deeat the colonialist polices o the
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Chinese Communist Party.
I think a rational man would consider happiness
more valuable than mere survival. Generally, this human
society is an aggregate o individual beings. I every in-
dividual is deprived o hope, then human societies or
nations cannot survive. Similarly, without the existenceo a Tibetan nationality, the entity called the Peoples
Republic o China that comprises ty-six nationalities
wouldnt exist in the great continent o Asia. Thereore,
we as a people must have sovereign rights. It is the duty
o any nation to respect the rights o every individualand to protect the sovereign rights o any nationality
that exists within its territorial boundaries. Such a duty
is inviolable and the ulllment o this duty decides ul-
timately whether a nation can secure genuine stability
and harmony.
Let me express it in a ew words. I a nation wants
to have genuine stability, it must wholeheartedly sup-
port the existence o individuals and civil society groups.
However, in the past more than ty years, the sovereignrights o ty-six nationalities have been appropriated by
one nationality or organization led by dark souls called
the Chinese Communist Party. As a result o the CCPs
colonialist policies, the traditional and contemporary cul-
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tures o those ty-six minority nationalities have been
severely undermined. In the beginning o this twenty-rst
century, when every nationality hopes to tread the path
o democracy and reedom, the sel-delusional citizens
o the Peoples Republic o China have been kept in a
hell deprived o even their basic reedoms.
CCP leaders reprimand oreign journalists or
their ignorance about the Peoples Republic o China.
Chinese leaders lie to these journalists, proclaiming that
the PRC is a nation built by ty-six nationalities who en-
joy democracy, reedom and harmony. But the truth isthat the Chinese leaders themselves are ignorant about
China. Although the great helmsman o lies, Mao Zedong,
once was purported to have acknowledged the lack o
democracy in China, the truth is that a humble Tibetan
exile government has been practicing democracy.
In act, China has instituted colonialism a system
o slavery and decadence in Tibet or the past more
than ty years. The policies implemented by the Chinese
leadership have enslaved the masses, turning them intomere instruments to advance the Partys interests. Any-
one who expresses a bit o dissent is branded as worth-
less trash or a wild creature, and subjected to torture
in prison or death. Such an attitude clearly refects the
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Chinese leaderships inability to give up its authoritarian
tendency, which regards the well-being o the massesas a poisonous weed that need to be uprooted. Ever
since the Chinese communists occupied Tibet, our people
have literally become orphans, deprived o the legacies
and histories o our ancestors. Three generations have
passed since we became poor, humbled, and alienated
souls, occupying a peripheral existence on the roo o
this world. A party having a tongue to reprimand oth-
ers, but lacking a mirror to see its own ace only makes
a mockery o itsel.
Despite its corrupt and dictatorial ways o unc-
tioning, CCP propagandizes that it is taking care o Tibet.
Since 2008, the Chinese government has stepped up its
propaganda among the Tibetan people, churning out
leafets asserting that Tibet has always been a part o the
Chinese motherland, and that the peaceul protests are
illegal. Moreover, they say that the Tibetans rom rNa ba
have become victims o Dalai separatist propaganda. The
act that the Dalai Lama institution has historically been
the spiritual and temporal head o Tibet is denied. On the
contrary, the Chinese assert that Tibet became part o the
Chinese motherland during the reign o Tibetan Tsanpos,
despite the inscription on the pillar erected in ront o
Lhasas Jokhang Temple, which reads as ollows:
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On both sides they shall be treated with customary
honour and respect in conormity with the riendly relations
between Nephew and Uncle ... Tibetans shall be happy
in the land o Tibet, and Chinese in the land o China
the Three Precious Jewels o Religion, the Assembly o
Saints, the Sun and Moon, Planets and Stars have been
invoked as witnesses. An oath has been taken with solemn
words ... and an agreement has been ratied.
Any person with a limited amount o intelligence can
comprehend that such baseless accusations are designed
to manipulate people. Moreover, the rise o inormationtechnology and the relative fow o ree inormation have
transormed the mindsets o the younger generation. No
longer are they araid to speak their minds and lose their
lives to Chinese guns. Instead they have gained a new
pride in speaking out against injustice, as we saw with
the protests in 2008 that demonstrated to the world the
depth o suering Tibetans have been plunged in or so
long. I I give the example o my own region, although
the red Chinese have been oppressing and dictating us
since the 1950s, our young men and women have bravely
ought against them with swords, bows and spears. By
putting their bodies on the line, they have demonstrated
to the world their tremendous courage in seeking ree-
dom rom Chinese oppression. As I expressed beore,
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this year the Chinese government has let no stone un-
turned to manipulate and corrupt the Tibetans o rNgaba through various means such as oering them cash
and lucrative jobs. For instance, when the protests swept
rNga ba on 16 March 2008, the Chinese posted pictures
o young Tibetan protestors on the walls and promised
to give cash rewards to those who could give inormation
leading to their arrests. Similarly, this year, government
proclamations in both Tibetan and Chinese, have been
issued among the masses. One example ollows:
Proclamation o the rNga ba Public Security oBureau (PSB) to provide Rewards to those who provide
inormation on the sources o Sel-Immolations
Cadres, armers, nomads and masses,
In recent years some extremist individuals have been
sel-immolating themselves. These acts have had severe
impacts on the regular productivity and livelihood o
armers, nomads and masses o our region. The overall
economic development, welare activities, public works,
as well as the image and psyche o the masses o rNgaba
have also been harmed severely. Based on our investi-
gations, we have ound that the primary reason o the
sel-immolations is the machination o a very ew people,
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who are driven by their own isolated goals. The cadres,
armers, nomads and masses should contact the PSB i they
have any inormation on the sources o sel-immolations,
so that we could prevent masses and the orphans rom
getting harmed, as they had been harmed in the past,
strike hard on the criminals, protect the dignity o the
constitution, ensure social stability and harmony, and
awaken people rom deep slumber o ignorance. I the
given inormation on the sources o sel-immolations are
true, a reward o Chinese Yuan twenty thousand would
be provided. The inormer can decide how to receive
the reward. Not only the inormers security would be
guaranteed, his identity would be kept strictly condential.
Inormers should contact the ollowing police numbers:
08372482833, 13568783371 and 13056463066.
Dated: 10 February 2012
The above proclamation clearly shows the eorts o
the Chinese government to manipulate people. Similarly,
work teams and cadres oten assemble or many days in
the government oces and declare that the losses Tibethas suered are all due to Dalai separatist groups. Under
the cover o orced conessions o prisoners terrorized
by guns, and the declarations o Tibetan cowards who
have sold their souls to privilege, the Chinese govern-
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ment turns a dea ear to the cries o truth and justice
expressed by Tibetan protestors. These are the result othe Chinese leaderships alse judgments, like the prover-
bial helpless rabbit appealing to the sky. I the Chinese
leadership had a conscience, it would realize that such
an approach is untenable in this century. I the Chinese
occupiers had humane eelings, they would cease their
brutal repression o the Tibetan people. I I were to have
an opportunity to talk to Hu Jintao, I would rst o all ask
him i he had a heart in his chest. For such a long time, the
Chinese have indulged in a cycle o bloodshed, depriv-
ing our ancestors o their happiness. Soldiers carrying
guns surround our villages and cities, yet the Chinese
leadership has the audacity to proclaim slogans such as
Congratulations to the local people and Educate the
local people. Such humiliation stokes the re o resent-ment in the hearts o the masses.
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My Mother was a Maidservant of the
Communist Party
Spending lie in emptiness with a cold and mel-
ancholic heart, striving hard, walking on humble and un-
steady legs; like a divine oering, the dark world hovers
above our heads. No activity is more valuable than placing
ones hopes and aspirations in the orce o compassion
and unapologetic and earless pride. No work is more
precious than dedicating ones lie to the survival o ones
nation and culture. As someone who is supposed to be
involved in such work, at times I orget that ar away
my gray-haired parents are yearning or their beloved
son.
My beloved parents! Today, I endure a hitherto
unendurable suering. Unlike in the past, today tears
stream down my cheeks. My beloved sixty-nine year old
mother created and brought us seven siblings into this
world. Amid the warmth o joys and happiness, she passed
to us this hearth and home. My dear beloved mother, I
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am aware o the deep ocean-like aith in your heart that
one day we would see each other. I am aware o theburning desire in your heart that one day we would be
reunited.
Sadly, I didnt see the ace o my beloved mother.
She abandoned me orever. My dear mother, no onecan count the amount o sweat and tears you shed or
us children. How can we measure the depth o the pain
in your heart?
I shall never orget that each time I let my mother
to search or the rainbow-like uture, she saw me o with
her tears. I shall always remember her caring and anxious
words: Do you have enough ood to eat and enough
clothes to wear?
In her entire lie, my beloved mother never saw a
day o sunshine and happiness. She grew up surrounded
by unendurable pain and agony. When she was an inant,
she was robbed o the love and care o her beloved
parents and relatives. She was an orphan, a lonely soul.
When she told me o the humiliations she had been
subjected to in lie, they reminded me o the exploitation
o the capitalist societies in the West.
My dear beloved mother, you are the savior who
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helped me cross the desert o melancholy. You are the
one who gave consciousness to my lie. You are the onewho showed me the light to the uture. I shall never or-
get you. Every time I think about the pain you endured
in lie, terror and nausea strike my heart.
Thanks to the great peaceul liberation broughtby the Communist Party, my mother became an orphan.
As I mentioned beore, my mother lost her ather when
she was very young. The Red Army killed him in 1959.
My mother had three siblings. She was the second oldest
child. When their mother died at the hands o the Chinese,their eighty-year-old grandmother took care o them.
But the Chinese arrested and killed their grandmother
too. The our siblings not only became orphans but were
accused o being black hatters. Despite being children,
they were subjected to orced labor. People belonging
to lower classes abused and humiliated them. They spat
on their aces.
Because o the harsh agricultural labor she was
subjected to, my mother suered physical deormities.Her ngers became so deormed that or years she wa