Testimony of a Tibetan in Exile

This is the first of a series of interviews with Tibetan refugees who have recently escaped from occupied-Tibet, and arrived India in early 2023. Their testimonies give insight into a life without freedom under the ruling Chinese government.

In the first interview, Tibet Watch spoke to a man in his mid 20s from Kham, eastern Tibet, who worked as a chef. In his interview, he recounted a range of experiences about life under occupation and his arrest and detention. This interview is his words but has been edited for security and clarity. His name has also been withheld.

Personal background

In 2010, I learned how to cook from a relative in our village and since then, I worked as chef/sous-chef at restaurants in different towns and cities of Tibet. I faced many difficulties finding a livelihood as a cook and also saw others go through many challenges.

There is only one primary school in our village and no school for secondary and high school education. We are mostly taught in the Chinese language except for one Tibetan class. Then there is one government-run, county-level “Tibetan language school”, but this is just a name; most of the teaching is done in Chinese.

Since there are fewer schools with Tibetan as the language of instruction, Tibetan students prefer not to go to school in my area.

Demolitions and removals at Larung Gar Buddhist Academy

During my stay at Larung Gar [a large monastic community located in eastern Tibet] from 2016 to 2019, I saw the forced eviction of monks and nuns, and the destruction of monks’ residences.

When I asked my friends why they [the demolition workers] were doing this, they told me that they were told it was because of excessive residential homes in the monastery. But I don’t know the real reason behind this. Between 2016 to 2017, the Monastic Management Committee and security personnel visited the monastery and instructed: “These and these residences must be cleared”, and monks and nuns of those marked residences were asked to return home.

Later on, they came with bulldozers to tear down the residences. I remember, most of the evicted monks and nuns happened to be from different areas in the Tibet Autonomous Region. But I don’t know what happened to them afterwards or their current situation, after their return home or somewhere else.

In 2019, they set up a checkpoint at the place between Larung Gar Monastery and the township. With two police working in rotating shifts, every visitor is checked and scrutinised. Visitors must present an identity card and temporary residence permit and have it with them all the time. I don’t know about other required documents.But most of the visitors are Chinese. Only a few are Tibetans who go to the funeral grounds of Larung Gar Monastery. And occasionally, a few western tourists come by.

They [the authorities] built many new structures in place of demolished residences. For example, they constructed eight buildings around the monastery’s corner areas, and a long staircase in the centre. A new monastic assembly hall was built, and some other residences were renovated.

There were many monks and nuns, including many lay students in 2016. But around 2018-2019, fewer than 30 percent of them were remaining at the monastery.

Restrictions on Religion and Culture

View of snow mountain range in Kham from a train to Lhasa Image source:thelandofsnows.com

Since 2018 and 2019, in my village and its surrounding areas, heavy restrictions were imposed on conducting religious rituals during the cultural festivals. To conduct the yearly religious ritual ceremonies on Losar [Tibetan New Year] and other culturally significant days, and even to perform prayers for the deceased at the local monastery, we must first seek permission from the Public Security Bureau and township police. They warned and threatened us that they will make arrests and impose fines if we conduct religious ceremonies and rituals without their approval.

At the beginning of 2020, when our local monastery was preparing for religious rituals, some leaders of the monastery and some village heads were summoned by the police. They were warned that religious ceremonies and rituals are not permitted without the permission of the authorities and that doing so would have seen them imposed with heavy penalties and even detention.

What I know is that in 2020, 2021, and 2022- for three years in a row- our village was not able to conduct our yearly religious rituals. They came up with various pretexts to forbid religious rituals by making excuses; sometimes by saying gatherings of large crowds are not allowed, other times citing stability maintenance, precautionary pandemic measures, and laws that forbid underaged Tibetans from attending religious events.

Regulations and Surveillance in Lhasa

Literally meaning “Land of the Gods”, Lhasa attracts Tibetan devotees from across the Tibetan plateau for pilgrimage. Traveling to Lhasa for pilgrimage, at least once, is a lifelong dream for Tibetans, especially those living in other areas of Tibet, but as he explains, this is becoming increasingly difficult for Tibetans.

In 2021, I took my mother on a pilgrimage to Lhasa. We were not able to do it properly and had to return. Tibetan pilgrims from outside the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) not only need an ID card and temporary residence permit but also a guarantor. They also have to be permanent residents of Lhasa. Without these cards and guarantors, visiting pilgrims are not allowed to visit the Potala Palace and other important cultural places. They are not even allowed to stay in a guest house or rent a room. We had both the ID and temporary residence card, but we didn’t find a person who could be our guarantor because we have no relatives in Lhasa. So we only managed to visit Potala and Chakpori and returned after two days.

“***There are no corners and streets in Lhasa without surveillance cameras”***

Fortunately, we met a guy from our village and stayed at his place for a few days. But he could not be our guarantor since he has been staying in Lhasa for the last few years, which was not long enough to be a guarantor. So, it was really very hard to visit and do the pilgrimage in Lhasa. I don’t know why they are making Lhasa so difficult to visit for the pilgrims. But the Chinese tourists are free to tour wherever they want to go and stay in Lhasa and other places in Tibet.

There are police checkpoints at every street corner and several police personnel at every few steps in Lhasa. They are making sure that every individual is being checked and scrutinised- even those who are going for circumambulation. At the checkpoint, they thoroughly check every individual: their ID cards, residence card, bags, and even their mobile. If anything suspicious is found, they are taken to a detention centre for interrogation.

There are no corners and streets in Lhasa without surveillance cameras. This is the same as in our village. There are too many surveillance cameras to monitor Tibetans’ every movement and step.

First detention

Warning: This section contains some details of torture.

During Losar [Tibetan new year] in 2022, I walked up to the top of a local sacred mountain with four other villagers to burn juniper incense. Upon our return, three to four police came to our home and took us to a detention centre.

We were kept in detention for more than 40 days and beaten repeatedly. They stated that it is illegal to burn juniper incense wherever one wishes. They stated that this is illegal and a case of political crime. We are beaten and detained for these reasons.

Sometimes, they said that burning incense on the mountain risks wildfire, and other times, they stated that we have not taken prior permission from the security office, which, they stated amounts to illegal activity.

During our detention, they put us in handcuffs and tied our feet, removed our pants, and administered electric shocks to our private parts and legs. I suffered from injuries on my legs because of the beatings and electrocution but was not given medical treatment. After my release from detention, my family took me to the hospital, and I was hospitalised for ten days for medical treatment. My family had to bear all the expenses incurred due to this injury.

We were forced to do work for the families of the security personnel in the detention centre. We were forced to cook, clean rooms, wash clothes, and run on the campus, join their meetings, etc. In the meetings, we were told to respect the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party, respect the state, and the party leaders. If they were not happy about our reaction, they resorted to beating us immediately.

Second detention

After my release from detention, all of my movements were monitored. One time, when I went into the township and in the market street, police secretly came and took me to the police station. And at the police station, they checked my bag and searched my mobile as well as my chat messages.

When they found images of the Dalai Lama, I was beaten and interrogated. They asked where I got that picture from and for what purpose I was keeping it.

For three days, I was kept in detention and beaten severely. I don’t know how they managed to find pictures of His Holiness on my mobile. They did not return my mobile afterwards. I was warned again that I will be beaten and detained again if I repeat this action.

So because of the excessive beating, my injuries were severe. And I am still not able to walk properly. It hurts and it is difficult for me to move and sit.

A photo from 2017 showing portrait of Xi Jinping hanging in a Tibetan home in Lhuntse County, Tibet Autonmous Region

Since 2018, extensive security measures and restrictions have been imposed in the entire village. Search operations were conducted on every household and those found with pictures of His Holiness were arrested and fined. There are many cases of such incidents but I cannot tell everything for the safety and security of those people who are still in Tibet. Up on the walls in one’s home, every family must put up photos of Chinese leaders, and the Chinese national flag must hang up outside.

In 2022, I came back to Lhasa looking for a job. I thought that if I managed to find a job post as a chef in one of the big restaurants in Lhasa, I would make good enough money. I was able to find one Tibetan who acted as my guarantor, and I also found a job in a new restaurant owned by a group of people from my village. After a few months of its opening, it was not running well and shortly afterwards they closed it. At the time, I managed to visit Tsuklakhang and Jokhang temples in Lhasa. After that, I returned home. Then, at the beginning of this year, I went back to Lhasa and then fled to India.

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