Phuntsok joined a nunnery at Chopsang when she was fourteen
years old. When she was fifteen, on August 15, 1989, she
demonstrated with two other friends who were also nuns in the
central streets of Lhasa. The group of three shouted, “Free Tibet!”,
“Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama!” and “Chinese Out of
Tibet!” They had made it half way around the Barkhor shouting, and
then she was apprehended by police and dragged from the spot to a
police jeep. They were taken to the biggest police station in Lhasa,
‘the Kohonting’.
(During this interview, my good friend Kelnam couldn’t help but
mention that he witnessed the arrest as he was on his motorcycle
nearby. He also watched as a few other Tibetan ladies shouted at the
police not to arrest them, and one of those women was thrown into a
jeep and taken away.)
Phuntsok’s other friends were seventeen years old and twenty. They
were on their way to Lhasa when the seventeen year old friend
asked the two to come to her room. It was there that they made up
their minds to demonstrate in Lhasa.
At the police station, in the interrogation, she was asked what the
situation was like in her village. They asked her to tell them who had
asked her to do this demonstration. She and the other two
responded that they did it on their own initiative. They were then
taken to Gutsah prison. Throughout the day they had to stand
outside in the sun and weren’t allowed to sit. The prison was divided
into three sections: one section for women, one for men, and one
was for children. She was first put into the children’s section and then
moved to the other section.
Phuntsok was put in a room with five other nuns and a few ladies.
The Chinese police said something that she didn’t understand
because it was in Chinese. Then he turned off the light. Then it was
turned back on and the Chinese officer beat her and the others with
a long, black stick -- on her face and hands, and she became very
swollen. One of the women later told her that the Chinese policeman
had said for them to “pray for the light to come back on” before
turning it off. He said, “if the light comes on then we won’t beat you. If
it doesn’t come on, then you’ll be beaten.” They were beaten
severely but they didn’t cry she said.
During her stay in prison, she complained about giddiness and was
taken to the hospital. They injected a very long needle in her spinal
cord which was very painful. On another day, she and others
complained they didn’t have enough to eat and shouted out. They
were all punished by being forced to stand all day in the sun, and
would be beaten if they didn’t stand. Until they gave orders to sit, she
had to stand. It was a kind of torture. She shared a cell with five
others and was imprisoned for ten months.
On the day of her release, she was requested to pay the Chinese
prison for daily food charges. The nuns all said that they didn’t have
money but they were still released anyway. After that she was sent to
her home. From there, Phuntsok joined others on her journey to
India and escaped to Nepal, then to India, in September 1990..
When I asked, Phuntsok at first, “why do you think demonstrations
are important?” She answered that 1)His Holiness is the leader of six
million Tibetans and is still in exile but should be in Tibet 2)Tibet is
not under Chinese rule and this must be cleared up.
Young Phuntsok may very well turn out to be a great future leader for
the Tibetan people. She is one of many young determined monks
and nuns who have stood up to speak out in public over the last
twenty years, very well knowing that they will be imprisoned and
abused by the Chinese authorities.
The communist Chinese are involved in presenting an exhibition on
Tibet at various places in the U.S. While I was in India, my friend Erik
viewed it at the Houston Public Library. He was surprised to see the
Chinese propaganda on display. He told me that they showed a
picture of a man locked in a pillory and stocks on the street. They
include a caption: ‘this is how prisoners were treated in feudal Tibet’.
That photo shows how, pre-Chinese invasion, the previous Tibetan
government dealt with the worst criminals in their society. Perhaps it
would be illuminating to show how the current Chinese government
deals with sixteen year old, non-violent religious devotees for a
comparative analysis.
trademark of CYBEReTOWER™ LLC. All text and photographs above are copyrighted by
the artist, David F Shever, all rights reserved.
