Uyghur and Tibetan Voices Project
Anonymous Tibetan #3
This Tibetan refugee, who now lives in Dharamsala, shares some tragic childhood memories of living amid the perils of the Chinese Army, such as hearing, as an 8 year old, from another young boy in their community who had to witness his sister dying by gunshot. As an adult, she reflects on how the Tibetans struggle to hold on to their identities in the face of pressures against their religion, culture and language, and how any perceived transgressions against the Chinese government can lead to repercussions for that individual but also their entire family. These stories reveal how the physical and emotional wounds from Chinese oppression continue to reverberate and are difficult to discuss even after decades have passed since some of the incidents.
Tragic Childhood Memories
“They have to walk at night to get away from the Chinese Army….the way is all snow…you have to go over snow mountains in the night…walking night after night…[my classmate] doesn’t have [toes] because of [frostbite]”
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“Monk came and told us his story…I couldn’t get it out of my mind…heard it when I was 8 years old…I cried that day…he saw his little sister die in front of him with a gunshot…hard for me to tell this story because it chokes me up even now…”
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Religious Oppression
“majority of self-immolators who set themselves on fire for Tibet’s cause are monks…Chinese impose a lot of rules especially on the monasteries…restrict them from practicing their religion freely”
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Human Rights Lost
“what I can’t understand is why the government is so strict on the Uyghurs and the Tibetans…how can a human being be so harsh on another human being…how can they stand such a brutal practice”
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“when it comes to human rights…being free and practicing religion, practicing own traditional culture…learning Tibetan language…these are the very basic rights that we want…”
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“lots of Tibetans youngers are forgetting Tibet…sad to imagine youngsters forgetting their identity…”
Fear of Family Retribution
“157 have set themselves on fire for Tibet’s cause, recently there have been less self-immolating because…if a Tibetan does anything against the rule of the Chinese…it will lead to not only him getting imprisoned or killed, it also leads to his relatives getting affected…”
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“DNA collection thing going on…which will lead to a very strong repression…if anyone goes against the Chinese…they will track every relative of that person from the DNA collection…so they can oppress them…”
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How Can We Help?
“We want the world to know about this middle-way approach and also help us achieve it….we are not wanting so much, we are wanting free, basic rights…"
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