Ancestors' Tomb

7/27/2019 Ancestors' Tomb

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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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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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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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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

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8

14

21

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42

60

66

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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

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79

81

84

87

90

92

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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

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