Tibetans Write A Letter to the State To Air Grievances

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated an anonymous letter that appeared on a Tibetan blog on October 19, 2010, this was the time when Tibetan language protests were taking place in Amdo.

The letter was posted onto this blog on TibetCul but had already been removed just two days later. The blogpost does not provide any details or commentary on the 10 points contained in the letter. The blogger has just made a note that he copied the posting from somewhere else on the internet.

Earthquake in Tibet, Letter from a Tibetan monk in the Earthquake Area

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated a letter from a Tibetan monk originally written in Tibetan on April 21, 2010 from Kyegudo, the area in Kham affected by the April 14 earthquake.

The letter gives a personal perspective on the relief work on the ground, insights into the amount of work done by monks and nuns and criticises the Chinese soldiers. Overwhelmingly, the monk sees the Chinese relief efforts as a performance with the emphasis on media and show. The visits by Chinese leaders are as well measured in the amount of hours that the relief efforts were halted for.

This is the fifth earthquake related post on High Peaks Pure Earth, see our previous posts for more Tibetan reactions, critical questions and the detention of Tibetan scholar Shogdung:

1. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-initial-reactions.html
2. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-tibetan-netizens.html
3. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-tibetan-blogger.html
4. http://www.highpeakspureearth.com/2010/04/earthquake-in-tibet-leading-tibetan.html

 

Don’t Use the Tragic Incident as A Stage for Your Performance

The earthquake in Kyegudo occurred at 7:40 on April 14th and it was really a powerful one. Right at the beginning, I heard that this earthquake hugely damaged our monastery and two fellow monks had died. Shortly after that we heard more news, one after another, saying that the death toll was rapidly increasing.

More than two hundred monks left the monastery for Kyegudo to rescue the people who were buried underground but because of the traffic on the way, we arrived in Kyegudo at around 8 in the evening. When we got there, we realised that this was a really devastating earthquake. The electricity poles had fallen down and all the houses were razed down to the ground. As we contacted the local rescue office in the town to identify the location where we could start our work of saving people’s lives, we were told that the office was already closed for the day and they suggested that we contact the office the next day.

We knew it was urgent so we just ran to all the places where there were people likely to be trapped underground after the earthquake. We approached a school which was partially damaged with probably around twenty students trapped below the ruins of the building. We saw that some Chinese soldiers were digging the ruins and trying to rescue the students. We were at the back of the school building from where we could see the lower part of a student’s body and a man there was saying “before sunset, the children might ... ,” a cry of a student came up from below the rubble. When the monks used ropes to remove the broken beams and tilestones, a soldier appeared before us and asked “What are you doing?” We replied “there is a student down there in the ruins.” He took a glance at the scene and said “ha ha, this student is already dead, his head is smashed, and it's dangerous to stand on the rubble.”

However, in order to save the life of the student, a monk told the Chinese man "I have no regrets if I can save the life of the student by entering into the hole.” But he was refused to do so and we could not do anything but just try to dig the rubble from the front side of the building with the Chinese soldiers.

It is maybe because of our compassionate hearts or out of love for our fellow people, all the monks had so much strength to contribute to the rescue work. When we were working so hard to get close to the bottom of the rubble, the soldiers were just staring at us in a surprised manner. After a while, the media arrived at that spot and  another surprising incident that occurred was that a man who was said to be the leader of the region grabbed the shoulder of a monk and rudely said “get out of here, get out of here.” When the young monks tried to fight back the leader, the elderly monk stopped the young monks and said “please do not act like this, the most important job right now is to save the lives of the people.”

When we were leaving that location, all the soldiers picked up the digging instruments and the ropes and pretended to be rescuing the lives of the people underneath while the media were taking pictures of them.

At that point, a question that popped up suddenly in my mind was what was the priority between saving the lives of the people and filming the soldiers? All the soldiers left after they had co-operated with the filmmakers and they were said to have gone to another rescue location in the town. But the truth is that they fled to the mountains after they heard that the dam in the upper village had been damaged and a possible flood would be occurring soon.

One of people from Nangchen area, whose father had died, said “an earthquake is a kind of natural disaster, it can't be helped but the failure to save the lives of the people is caused by such rumour.” At 7 on the second day morning, we went to the rescue office and continued to work on the rubble. A dead body of a housewife from Nangchen county was found and her two year old son was buried on the second floor of the ruined house. We hoped that the son was still alive so we continued to dig the ground with the soldiers who run away again when another small wave of earthquake occurred. When I encountered the behaviour of the Chinese soldiers, I was wondering where these brave heroes of Wenchuan earthquake were and why they did not show up in Kyegudo.

While the soldiers were going to have lunch, a young boy was begging with tears in his eyes that the soldiers come back to rescue his people as soon as possible. By seeing this scene with my own eyes, I felt so sad and suffered tremendously. The rescue team of the armies went back to their camps for meals whenever they were slightly hungry.

After thinking about this for a while, I realised that all the TV programmes confused my mind and each of the people shown on TV was a perfect actor. As a matter of fact, rescue work is not an easy job. For example, when one part of a second-floor building has fallen down, the other side can collapse at any time and thus the people who are rescuing lives nearby are at great risk. Therefore, the people who are in danger and saving other’s lives must be those who love their fellow people or willing to sacrifice their lives for others. These people are only few in number and most of the people are just actors on the TV screen.

Around the afternoon of that day, some of the Chinese rescue workers arrived and left the spot after one hour by saying there was nobody in the ground and they said “even if there were people down there, we cannot do anything to help them.” We told the soldiers that they should not act like that and there is probably life under the ruins of the houses. Unfortunately, they did not pay any attention to what we said and left the spot shortly afterwards.

All the TV programmes are saying that the people from different nationalities are united and working side by side and the touching moments of helping each other can be seen everywhere. But, in reality, there is more disappointment and anger amongst the people of China and the Tibetan people.

When we were going to rescue lives in the northern part of the town, we had not seen anyone sent there by official rescue teams. When we got there, we only saw many people holding banners on which they wrote their rescue slogans and we also witnessed a group of photographers taking pictures and filming them.

One of the unfair, sad, and disheartening things is that they claimed that all the rescue work done by the monks and ordinary Tibetans were counted as the merit of the Chinese rescuers. The truth is that the whole city was guarded by heavily armed police. I was thinking of how it would be useful if the government sent more rescue teams instead of sending more security forces to control the people in the region. After I got another moment to think about the policy of the regime, I wondered what the target was of the guns carried by the soldiers? When I realised that the real targets of the guns are the people of Kyegudo who had just lost their loved ones, tears started to fall from my eyes.

I had heard Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Kyegudo. Although Wen said “your loss is our loss and your suffering is our suffering”, which allegedly moved many people in the region. However, the effect of his visit was obviously that all the corners of the town were blocked and the rescue workers turned into actors of the state TV news.

On the fifth day after the earthquake, President Hu Jintao visited the earthquake region and greeted the rescue soldiers by saying “you must be very tired now and I want to express my sincere thanks to your great efforts.”  He did not utter a single word about the fifteen thousand monks and nuns who were tirelessly working on the ground. On the contrary, a lot of incidents of abusing and torturing the monks and nuns were taking place and the work they are doing is threatened by saying “it is time to restrain.”

I can confidently say here that we did a better and more efficient job than what the soldiers did and we did not do anything illegal. We do not have any wish for anyone to come to us to express his or her appreciation for our work. It is beyond our expectations and we feel so sad to hear that our life-saving work is considered as criminal activity by the authorities.

The road towards the town and all the roads inside the town were closed for more than 11 hours while Hu Jintao was visiting. The consequence of Hu’s unpopular visit to the region is immeasurable in the context of saving the lives of the people. What I know is that on the same day of Hu Jintao’s visit, a group of monks were on their way to Trango Monastery to rescue the monks over there, but they were stopped on the way and the driver of the vehicle was even warned by the police.

All the artificial political show and senseless action of the officials indeed delayed the time to rescue the people who were crying for help from underneath the rubble as well as distributing food to those who were starving and dying. However, since the Chinese are good at acting and propaganda, it seems that the Chinese government has drawn the eyeballs of the international community.

Finally, I want to call for one thing, that this tragic incident should not being used as a stage for political actors and saving lives of the people should be the top priority of the agenda of the government. Please do not bring any unnecessary suffering to the survivors of the earthquake.

Performing political drama on the stage built above the lives of thousands of people is another tragic scene and an inhumane action.

The consciousness of the deceased, on April 21, 2010

"A Letter to President Obama" by a Tibetan Blogger

Obama's first state visit to China generated huge online discussions amongst Chinese netizens but the Tibetan blogs were generally much quieter due to the political sensitivities surrounding the visit. However, High Peaks Pure Earth discovered and translated a letter written to President Obama by a Tibetan blogger in the form of a long poem which was posted on their blog on November 18, 2009.

The writer demonstrates an astute grasp of world affairs and politics and the poem mixes seriousness with joviality, giving it altogether mostly a sarcastic tone. High Peaks Pure Earth would have translated the poem sooner but had difficulty with the second verse, namely with the sentence: གོ་པའི་བཀག་སྡོམ་ (go pa'i bkag sdom) - it took a long time to figure out that the writer was referring to Guantanamo!

A Letter to President Obama

Respected all around the world,

America, the most powerful country of the west,

The great, first black president of the United States,

Your victory shook the whole world.

Reducing the smoke and clouds of the war in Iraq,

The policy to close Guantanamo detention centre,

Your contribution to world peace became manifest,

For which you recently won the Nobel Peace Prize.

Since you’ve come to the Mainland in the East,

On a state visit to the country of China,

Where all the high and mighty shake hands with you,

Citizens like me are listening keenly from a distance. 

The decline of the world economy has been disastrous,

The resources of the world, complex and variegated,

Improvement of critical Sino-US relations for the road ahead,

Is supposedly the purpose of your state visit.

Further, with respect to one or two political issues, 

As well as matters of violation of religious belief,

Appear to have been raised incidentally,

Giving the impression, they are not trivial matters.

Denial of the people’s right to participate in national affairs,

Is the fundamental principle of our country,

And telling the truth to visiting dignitaries,

Has never been a tradition of this country of ours.

Although I have neither witnessed nor heard first hand,

According to what I hear from afar,

Human rights are guaranteed and safeguarded by laws,

And the laws reflect the essence of human values and dignity.

Governmental power is exercised in the name of the people,

And equality of the people is regarded a natural right,

Such liberal and great principles your country represents,

Why can't you, Mr. President, speak a little about these?

Heavenly pronouncements reflect human needs,

And the fate of human beings lie in their own hands,

People enjoy freedom of religious faith and practice,

Religious tolerance and openness, a hallmark of your country.

All phenomenon, big and small, are objects of research,

And truth is arrived at through rigorous examination of evidence,

A culture of respecting material evidence seems to flourish there.

Why can’t you, Mr. President, speak a little about these?

Harnessing atoms you have produced nuclear weapons,

You’ve developed technology to traverse the galaxy,

Such marvellous scientific heights your nation has attained,

Why can’t you, Mr. President, speak a little about these?

Where education is said to begin in the mother’s womb,

And fathers cannot obstruct their children’s interests,

Where students are free to negate their teachers,

Is there really such an unprecedented system of education?

A simpleton like me has said more than I should,

Still, the essence of what I wish to submit is this,

When citizens appeal to the government with hope and trust,

Have you heard of the official response with tanks and bullets?

Wondering about without friends or a place to call home,

A lonely and bereft  monk nearing his eightieth year,

Joining his two hands together in the chest, prays,

Can you see a sparkle of hope in the old monk’s eyes?

When lines are drawn between old and new ideologies,

Nations get embroiled in bloody wars, have you heard?

Placing an innocent child high on the golden throne.

Have you seen how the child’s life is manipulated?

Although I have a lot more to say and appeal,

Being mindful of claiming too much of your time,

The actual state of affairs that I wish to state truthfully,

Can't be said openly for fear of my own safety.

The hustle and bustle of welcome in the Great Hall of the People,

Will leave you no time to visit my tiny black yak-hair tent,

So, should one day you happen to see this short petition of mine,

I pray that you pay heed to the sufferings of the common people.

November 18, 2009

"Third Letter to My Friend Norzin Wangmo" by Jamyang Kyi

High Peaks Pure Earth has translated Jamyang Kyi's third letter to her friend Norzin Wangmo (Nor ‘dzin dbang mo). The letter was orginally written in Tibetan and posted on Jamyang Kyi's blog on 6th June 2009.

Regular readers of High Peaks Pure Earth will be familiar with the friendship between Jamyang Kyi and Norzin Wangmo. The emotionally written first two letters from last year were translated and published here on 5th January 2009. Norzin Wangmo is currently serving a five year prison sentence for sending emails and making phone calls abroad last year. Jamyang Kyi herself was arrested and detained for some time in 2008 and wrote a blogpost full of emotional anguish about her experience, the tones of this experience can also be detected in her letters.

Jamyang Kyi mentions Phuntsog Wangyal, one of the most important figures in modern Tibetan history who, as she points out, spent eighteen years in prison starting in 1958. Phuntsog Wangyal's autobiography 'A Tibetan Revolutionary' was originally released in English in 2004 and was translated into Tibetan and published by The Tibet Times in Dharamsala in 2006.

"Third Letter to My Friend Norzin Wangmo" by Jamyang Kyi

Today I am trying to finish the third letter. I know that you are waiting for the letter which should be written in Chinese since all letters must be checked by the jailors. When I realised that the letter will not be passed on to you by the jailors, I started to think of composing a letter which would reach you eventually and it took me some time to prepare this letter. This is the reason why this letter is late. When I wrote my first letter to you, I really did not know how to begin the letter and wondered how you would understand the letter.

It was a year after your arrest around 3rd April that I wrote my first letter which contained over a hundred words. The letter was filled with my sadness, the reason is that I could not write all the things I wanted to say and discuss with you, whilst writing the letter I was in tears and could only write some words of encouragement in the letter.

A month after sending the letter, I still had not heard any news from you, so I started to think that you may not have received my letter. Then I called your sister to try to find out about your situation. After some days I heard that you had received my letter and we also learned that you are so busy all the time with heavy physical work and you would be punished if you did not finish your work in time. I heard they deprived you of your right to make a phone call to your son Dhondup Dorje once a month. I also heard that in order to regain the right to call your son, now you have been working double time and this has caused you to lose weight.

The day we learned that you had received our letters, it was delightful news and immediately I wrote the second letter. I went to Karma Mindru Tibetan Restaurant to look for my niece and tell her to post the letter in the morning. She told me that she had finished her letter to you. My niece met you only once and you two do not know each other well. She knows you because I talk about you. She promised to write to you every month. I am so happy to see her doing this.

When I wrote my second letter, I was not as sad as the previous time, yet I was not sure what I should write. It is difficult for me to write something which is artificial in the letter. I know you would not be satisfied if I wrote only a few sentences. At the time I was reading ‘A Tibetan Revolutionary’, a book about Phuntshog Wangyal and wrote to you about the book. The reason why I mentioned the book to you is that Phuntshog Wangyal spent eighteen years in jail and whilst in prison he read many books, as a result he eventually became a famous scholar. You should learn from his courage and perseverance that will bring great benefits for your life in the future.

The punishment given to you by the jailor is an attempt to intimidate you. You should not fall into a deceiving trap and I hope that you will devote yourself to reading books the little time you have. If I were to write a more direct letter, I fear that the jailor would not give you the letter.

It is raining today and the weather brings sadness. I remember one time at the end of the autumn, while all the leaves turned a yellowish colour, you with your son, and three members of my family went hiking, when we reached the forest, a (fire) guard prevented us from going further. The children started to play with stones and built the shape of a house. We three adults played a traditional stone game from Ngapa Khyungchu. Do you remember? I remember telling you that I will write down the rules of the game, recently I have started the project along with a collection of folk music of the Ngapa Kyungchu.

How come we Tibetans are so unfortunate? All the people who love our nation have been wasted one after another. At the beginning of March this year, Sanggya Dundrup passed away. I thought of writing something about him, but I was unable to as it was so painful. When he was alive, Sanggya Dundrup voluntarily taught Tibetan language to a group of children in Xining and he loved his students. He was teaching on the day he passed away, and this demonstrates his affection for his nation and this is also the legacy he left for us to carry forward. His death is a great loss to his family and to all of Tibet.

Palsa la (dPal bzang lags), the place where we played the stone game is exactly located on the hillside which stands behind our office building. From the window of the restroom on the top of the building you can see the mountain range, and every time I recall our meeting my heart pains like a weight of stone pressing on it. The pain in my heart lingers on as this year there are so many sad incidents. In the meantime, I have not found an answer why I always think of you with such deep sorrow. Therefore, it is impossible for me to find a moment of clear mind resembling the pure sky. Since last year I have been taking sleeping pills to calm down my mind and heart. When people ask me to sing a song, I reply to them that I have no reason to sing songs this year.

I wrote in my last letter that four years is not a long time to console and give strength to you, nonetheless, I am counting the years on my fingers. Dear friend, it has been a year and two months since your arrest. There is not a single day that passes by without my missing you.

Letter to Chakmo-la by Jamyang Kyi

Jamyang Kyi posted on her blog a letter addressed to her friend Chakmo (lCags mo). She notes that the letter was written in October 2008 but was only posted on her blog on 31 December 2008.

High Peaks Pure Earth has been monitoring Jamyang Kyi’s blog and when she didn't post for several months over the summer of 2008, we were all anxious about her safety. The letter makes it clear that during that period she was visiting her family in Jadoru (Bya dmo ru).

Although the letter is personal, High Peaks Pure Earth has posted this translation as it would be of interest to readers concerned about Jamyang Kyi’s current well being.

Dear Friend Chakmo la (lCags mo),

How are you? It has been more than half a year since we last saw each other, but I never forget the moments that we were together. Although I had thought for months of writing you a short letter, I was not able to do that. Honestly, life is not predictable and it is just like a stream forever flowing.

Today, I woke up at nearly seven o’clock as usual. I spent two hours reading and had a chance to glance at the autobiography Freedom in Exile, (bTsan byol pa’i bag phebs) and with sadness I got up from bed. After breakfast, I went to the office. It takes half an hour from my house to where I work. When I arrived in Xining, after staying half a month in my hometown Jadoru (Bya mdo ru), I had gained four to five kilos in weight, so it forces me to walk to the office everyday now.

It has been raining almost everyday the past several days and the weather is unpredictable. Today, I walked to my office in the rain. I realized when the chilly wind brushed against my face that it is already close to the end of autumn.

The yellow leaves of the trees falling in front of my steps and ta ta sounds of the leaves crushing under my feet brought feelings of sadness inside me. When my mind became clearer, the thought of my beloved compatriots living abroad and the autobiography Freedom in Exile, rushed into my mind. At that moment I suddenly had an urge to write a short letter to you.

First of all, I would like to say congratulations to your translation of learned Tsering Woeser’s book ‘Poetry Named Tibet’. Some days ago you interviewed Paldan Gyal on his experiences in his homeland. I་ thought your frank and honest conversation was good.

Dear friend, I am sure you and your family are well as usual. Are you busy these days? Although I am completely occupied by the endless housework as well as occupied by a massive amount of office work, I am well and my family and relatives are also doing well. Do you remember once I told you that the happiness given to parents by their children is immeasurable? Naturally, this happiness comes with difficulties and suffering. When I was writing down my thoughts from the other day, my daughter was pushing and pulling from the back of my chair and trying to talk to me with nonsense words, and sometimes she held my hand so that I could not write properly. In the meantime I had to answer her questions constantly so I could hardly get a moment in which I could concentrate my mind on what I was doing. I clearly know that my child is wasting a lot of my time, but she is the only source of happiness of mine, so as a mother I cannot complain about her. I think a mother’s love to a child is why a mother risks her life to save her child and the final hope of a mother is her children. Countless mothers break their won dream for their children's well being. This is hard to avoid.

Yes, since I was deeply overwhelmed by the past memories of our meetings, as I walked half an hour to my office, even the Chinese street became more silence and I arrived in front of my office without hearing the noise from the street. I locked the door of my thoughts then and put the key in my pocket. My mind and body was completely seized by a lonely wind.