The  Stories  of  4  Nuns

        The first two nuns are from Nichungri Nunnery, near Lhasa, and were released from prison in Tibet and are now studying at Dolma Ling. Here are their stories:

        Puntsok T. "I didn't find any purpose working in the fields all my life so I decided to join Nichungri Nunnery. I lived there for about a year and a half. During that time I helped to rebuild the nunnery which had been destroyed during the Chinese invasion in the 1960s. I also learned to read Tibetan and memorized a few texts which are essential to a nun.
        "On the 8th day of the Tibetan New Year in 1989, I took part in a protest march against the Chinese occupation of my motherland. We had hand written many pamphlets and distributed them around the Bakhor Square. We managed to take one complete round, shouting and distributing political leaflets, before the police came for us. Some were arrested but I managed to get away. On October 14th the same year, I took part in another demonstration. This time I was caught even before we had protested much and they took us straight to Gutsa Prison. They tied my hands at the back of my neck with a chain. At first it was painful and frightening but after sometime, I didn't feel any pain nor fear. While in this position they kicked, boxed and slapped me constantly. I could not walk, so they pushed me hard. I fell on the ground. I was ordered to get up; but in that position it was impossible to stand up. They then dragged me by the collar of my dress.
        "I stayed in isolation for 18 days during which time I was constantly interrogated and beaten. After that, I was transferred to the women and children's wing of Gutsa Prison where I stayed for two months. I stayed in the main Gutsa prison for two and a half years. I did not do much labor as I was almost always locked up, but sometimes they would make us carry excreta to the vegetable fields and clean the prison compound.
        "I was finally transferred to the brand new Toelung Prison which was a school converted into a re-education prison. They even started a school system which only lasted about a month. At Toelung Prison, we had to attend meetings, express our thoughts and write a weekly report. One nun who was arrested with me was put into a completely dark cell because her writing was defiant. We demonstrated within the prison against this treatment but the result was that when she came out of the cell, I was thrown in there for nine days. They kept me handcuffed for two days. They put the cuffs on so tight that the rusty iron cut into my wrist and my hand swelled up and the cut became septic.
        "After my release, I went to my village for a while and then stayed secretly at Nichungri in spite of the ban on the readmission of ex-prisoners. After a while I decided to leave for India. I sneaked out of Lhasa in a bus with a few friends to a small nearby town. From there, we walked for about eighteen days to Kathmandu. It was a hard journey, but we managed.
        "Now I am in Dolma Ling Nunnery with three other nuns who came with me. We are very comfortable here, and we get the opportunity to study along with the other nuns. We study Tibetan language, English, Philosophy and General Science. My wish now is to study hard and to be able to serve my country in any way that I can."

        Kelsang D., an older nun from Amdo, far eastern Tibet. "During the political struggle against the Chinese occupation in the 1950's and 60's, my father and my older sister's husband were arrested and imprisoned. They both died in prison as a result of ruthless torture. My family was labeled as 'anti-revolutionary'. Our family belongings were confiscated, and my mother died under the relentless mental torture forced on her by the Chinese. I was twenty-eight years old when I left home to become a nun. I went to Labrang, which is about two days bus ride away, to join a small nunnery there where I stayed for ten years. Since there was no religious freedom, I spent my life in Labrang doing hard labor in the fields. All the religious studies that I did at the nunnery was through listening and recitation so I have never learned to write.
        "My long cherished dream was to have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. So I left Labrang, went to Lhasa, visited all the holy shrines of this holy city, and then planned my escape to India."

        Namdol T. "I became a nun in Lhasa at the age of 17. After three months, I was promoted to looking after the shrine room, cleaning it, filling the water bowls, and helping visitors.
        "I was there during the demonstrations at the Great Prayer Festival in 1987. From the roof, I saw a Chinese policeman strike an old monk in the eye with a stone. The blood was streaming down his face like water, but he kept on shouting 'Free Tibet!' with one hand holding his eye. I was so angry I ran down and joined the demonstrators circling the temple. The square was full of Chinese policemen throwing stones. We also threw stones, but the police were protected by metal shields. When they threw tear gas, the Lhasa women brought us buckets of water and wet rags for our eyes. We hid in the shops on the square, and an old woman gave me a dress to wear because everyone in maroon [robes] was being arrested. I returned very late to the nunnery; everyone thought I'd been killed.
        "All the younger nuns participated in the next big demonstration that took place in Lhasa. We were able to circle the temple twice before returning home. Later that evening, Chinese police surrounded the nunnery, and seven officials were assigned to stay with us permanently.
        "Just before His Holiness the DaliLama received the Nobel Prize, they locked us inside at night and showed propaganda videotapes. I went out with the cook to collect our butter supply, and we demonstrated for three days before we brought back the wheelbarrow of butter.
        "On the day His Holiness was to receive the prize, we got up at 3 A.M. to prepare the shrine room. We sang the independence song and made offerings, burning juniper leaves in the courtyard and throwing barley flour into the sky. The Chinese officials just watched, since there were too many of us to catch, but when we went into the prayer hall they locked us inside. Each day they gathered ten or twenty of us, threatened us, and then let us go. They told me I had one foot in prison. This went on for a while.
        "At the New Year, they let everyone go home for the holiday except two of us who were taken to Gutsa prison. They asked me questions for hours about the demonstrations, and punched me and spit in my face. I could hear women screaming. For two months we weren't allowed out except to empty the toilets, but then we worked in the fields.
        "I was released and sent home, but four days later they came to get me again. My father started shouting at them; all my relatives were crying. Everyone in the village came, and I waved to them as we drove away.
        "'So you thought you got away,' the interrogators said. They asked me the same questions for days and hit me until I lost consciousness. They said I would spend the rest of my life in prison, but I was released again two months later.
        "I left Tibet soon after. There, if you can give up your life, you can go demonstrate anytime and shout at the Chinese. Here in India, without education you can't accomplish much. But accomplishing anything requires motivation: I won't stop fighting for Tibet until I die."

        Ngawang J. "I was born in 1971 in Toelung in the province of U-tsang. I have two sisters and two brothers. My parents, who were farmers, are now dead. My mother died from a broken heart after I left Tibet.
        "I only went to school for a year, but I was happy as a child. I was still ignorant of the degradation and suffering of my people. Now I am deeply saddened by memories of Tibet. Here in India life seems so easy, yet the ease makes us forget our brothers and sisters who remain in Tibet in adversity.
        "When I was 18 years old, I became a nun. I was quite familiar with the lifestyle as there were nuns in our town, and I also had cousins who were nuns. Since I was a small child I have had a lot of religious faith. I have always wished to practice the Dharma; becoming a nun was the natural choice for me.
        "I joined Chubsang nunnery. It lies immediately behind Sera monastery on the side of a mountain just outside of Lhasa. In the late 1980's, 200 nuns belonged to Chubsang; since then, 160 have been expelled and over 30 others have been arrested of fled Tibet. We had a very low standard of living at the nunnery, and little opportunity to study.
        "In September 1989, I went with 22 nuns to a demonstration at Norbulinka, the former summer palace of the Dalai Lama. There were many Tibetans attending the opera there that day. We began our protest by circling the crowd and shouting, 'Free Tibet!' The Chinese police soon arrived with electric cattle prods and arrested nine of us.
        "Three police took each one of us forcibly, holding us by the neck and arms. They took us to Gutsa prison where they lined us up and interrogated us. They slapped our faces and ears so hard that some of us permanently lost hearing. Then they asked us the same questions individually: 'Why did you shout? Who taught you to do this?' I answered truthfully, that I did not need to be taught to demonstrate, that I had come of my own free will in response to the great suffering I had personally witnessed in Tibet.
        "When I first entered the interrogation chamber, I was stripped naked and searched. I was then beaten with chairs, sticks, and electric cattle prods. I was left in my cell for nine days without food, and became violently ill as a result of the beatings. After two years of continual beatings, underfeeding, and forcible blood extractions, I was weakened almost to the point of death. I suppose the Chinese officials wanted to avoid the embarrassment of having me die in prison, so they released me to the Tibetan Medical Hospital. I shook constantly from exhaustion and nerve damage. I couldn't even walk for the first two months in the hospital. I had gone to prison at the age of 18, and I was now 20. I had been a nun for only six months when I was arrested.
        "Two months after my release, I was able to escape into exile in India. Now I wish to return, to help free Tibet from the oppression of the Chinese government that threatens our religion and culture with extinction. I was not schooled, so I cannot be a teacher, but I can help through political activity. I pray that my actions may serve as an example to remind younger Tibetans of the power of a courageous heart in the face of oppression. We all need to be brave if we are to counter this terrible crippling carnage."

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