My education and my reasons for coming into exile.
The standard of Tibetan education in monasteries has also changed. For example, if one finishes schooling, there is not enough opportunity to use the Tibetan language. Automatically, Tibetan culture becomes powerless and extinct in Tibetan society under these conditions. Students who want to learn Tibetan language have no other choice other than to join a monastery so I, too, lived and dressed like a monk to get my education. For that reason right after I finished higher secondary school I entered the Higher Tibetan learning centre called (Tsonyon Ngythan Lobta chemo). in Amdo Khumbam. It had the similar system of education like that in the monasteries. For three years I learnt Tibetan culture and that's the only satisfactory education I received while in Tibet.
Near the end of graduation from my university, I have to write a dissertation. At that time I wrote an article. 'The situation of Tibetan life on roof of the world' I divided it into two subjects. The work focussed on;
1) the reality of Tibetan women's condition of force sterilization. 2) why there is no future for those Tibetans who knows or have been educated in Tibetan culture and religion in their society which is based on processes in Tibet.
But these articles of mine indirectly create uneasy problem to stay in Tibet for me.Today again I go back to re-live the memories along with some of the things to clarify the situation in Tibet among you
Chinese government has introduced family planing in Tibet. Farmers and Nomads are not allowed to have more than two children and only one for the Chinese government staff. They are fined if they break this rule. Government staffs have their wages deducted as a penalty for exceeding the quota. They have a tax added for the ordinary people if they too exceed the quota. It is even worse for the women who break the rules. Women have to queue up at the hospitals and are coerced to undergo forced sterilization,
I knew a Tibetan man from Kanze who was trained first as an accountant and then as a birth control surgeon. In 1985 after his two months training. He was sent to work on birth control in his homeland, Kanze. He said, "I witnessed more then 2.000 men and women being sterilized in a district of about 40.000 inhabitants. In the village where he was working, he sterilized 163 people out of a population of 4.953 in just one week in June, 1986. If the person selected for sterilization did not come to the hospital, then he or she was fined between 1.500 to 1.800 Yuan. It depended on the record of a person's behave."
As a direct result of these operations, many women suffered long term consequences. I discovered many common difficulties experienced by the victims of sterilization but these are the principal ones:
· The women experience a low sexual drive resulting in marriage problems. Many husbands become dissatisfied with the sexual performance of their wives and often leave their partners as a result. Many opt to have extra marital affairs with mistresses, most of who are Chinese prostitutes.
· Due to the high altitude of Tibet and the low temperatures in the land of the snows, many women find it difficult to heal from their wounds. They experience paralyzing pains and are unable to work and support their families.
All the Tibetans are unhappy about these birth control measures. For thousands of years, a mere 6 million Tibetans have inhabited the vast landmass of Tibet without the need for birth control. China has resettled millions of Chinese in Tibet resulting in pressure on resources. This suffering is completely unnecessary and is just another weapon in reducing the Tibetan population. This is further evidence of Chinese policy to destroy the Tibetan nation.
But they have to bear it. Inside is not feeling well but they can't express these feelings. It is difficult because the problem is kept secret. The problem is that we are under orders. We have to listen to the others and even if we have many things inside. We are not able to express them. We secretly comfort each other.
Such are the rights enjoyed by Tibetan woman under the Chinese government. These measures are not just about population control but, principally moreover to have the Tibetans a minority in their own country and erase Tibetan identity.
In my dissertation titled: 'The conditions of Tibetan life on the roof of the world', I identified key areas in human rights violations.
They expelled me from the university after three years of study and failed to recognise my achievements. After that time, the Chinese authorities in occupied Tibet kept me under close observation and interrogated me about my daily life. I endured it for one year until in 1989 I could no longer bare the discrimination and threats of the police. I realized that I could not live a full life in my homeland and I increasingly feared for the safety of my family As much as I loved my family and country I had no option but to leave all that I knew behind me.