1
The Chinese call us separatists, but
that is a false description.
2
Once Tibet was independent from China.
3
Thats the plain truth.
4
And if the world does not back this truth
5
then truth loses its meaning.
6
Four Chinese held my arms and
others kicked me in my back.
7
They carried me away by car.
Along the road an old woman shouted:
8
They arrest our people.
Then they kicked her too and she fell.
9
When I shouted Tibet is independent,
I was not afraid at all.
10
I just expressed a feeling that was hidden deep down in my heart.
11
Look, behind this mountain is Tibet, my country.
4.00
Text 1
This is northern India at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains. The place where the 30-year old nun Yangdol escapes to ten years ago. She flees her home land Tibet to evade Chinese rulers that occupied her country in 1949.
4.19
Text 2
The Chinese regard Tibet as a Chinese province and they rule it with an iron fist. Thousands die and hundred thousands Tibetans fled the country.
4.32
Text 3
In this relief centre new refugees from Tibet arrive every day.
Most come on foot across the Himalaya mountains.
On this morning a girl is born here in the centre. The mother is exhausted. She fled across the mountains from Tibet while about to give birth.
5.02
Text 4
Yangdol welcomes the political refugees. Recently some young nuns have arrived after spending years in Chinese prisons. They tell of being tortured after they were arrested for demonstrating against Chinese rule.
12
One of our fellow inmates was tortured
13
with a cattle prodder, an electrified stick that farmers use with their cattle
14
a stick with a high electric charge
15
was put into her eyes.
16
She could not see anymore and bumped into all kinds of things.
5.36
Text 5
Tibet is completely under the control of Chinese security troops. The land is being reshaped into a Chinese province. Yangdol remembers how indoctrination began at an early stage.
17
At school all books dealt with Chinese history
and were written in the Chinese language.
18
Most subjects were given in the Chinese
language, not in Tibetan.
19
Thats how they want to change Tibet.
20
At school they taught us to honour Mao.
21
They decided what we should learn.
22
I decided there: this is not our language,
but they force it upon us.
23
I told my parents: I want to leave school and
I want to become a nun.
6.27
Text 6
Yangdol became a nun in order to escape the burden of the Chinese yoke. However, Chinas influence is far-reaching. Monasteries were demolished and pictures of the Dalai Lama were forbidden. Everyone had to succumb to the Chinese state. Demonstrations were broken up with force. At the age of 17 on the anniversary of the Chinese Revolution October 1st, 1991, Yangdol decided to demonstrate against the Chinese oppression all alone.
24
There were many soldiers in the city centre.
25
I wore a red habit and a purple blouse.
26
I went to the temple and said a prayer.
27
When I was nearly finished, the army
surrounded the temple.
28
After doing my bows I shouted
Tibet is independent, the Chinese must go.
29
Then I added: Long live the Dalai Lama.
30
Then I ran.
31
But the police grabbed me by my clothes
and dragged me away.
7.46
Text 7
The Chinese arrested Yangdol, solely for shouting slogans. In jail she was so badly treated she became seriously ill and was released early. Yangdol concluded that remaining in her home land was no longer possible.
8.05
Text 8
The nun saw no other option than to flee on foot across the Himalayas.
32
I did not fear dying in the mountains
33
but I feared that the Chinese would seize me
34
before I could manage to flee Tibet.
35
It was a journey full of dangers.
36
Especially if it started snowing.
37
One mountain was covered with snow
38
We had to cross it the same night.
39
If we failed, we would freeze to death.
40
It was really tough.
8.52
Text 9
The journey on foot took more than two weeks. At last Yangdol reached Nepal. From there she went to the town of Dharamsala, in northern India and residence of the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of the Tibetans. After his escape from Tibet he installed a government in exile there.
41
How old are you?
- Eighteen.
42
How many family members do you have?
43
Nine, myself included.
9.37
Text 10
Yangdol spoke to newly arrived refugees and wrote down stories about the persecutions in Tibet.
9.48
Text 11
This information was used by the Tibet Information Network, headed by the Dutchman Jan Willem den Besten. He noted that nuns play a prominent role in the Tibetan Resistance movement.
xxxxx
11.17
Text 12
These nuns, who recently arrived after having fled the Chinese, were detained in this jail for a number of years. This video was made in secret. Together with five other nuns, the nun Niedrun was tortured for days at a time.
46
We were beaten up.
47
They banged my head against the wall
and used the cattle prodder.
48
They used it in several ways.
49
It can make you lose consciousness.
50
It leaves no visible wounds
51
but internal damage is done in various ways.
52
They remove your clothes and administer
electric shocks under your arms and feet.
53
They continue doing this until you confess.
12.16
Text 13
Niedrun ended up in a hospital. Her five companions did not survive being tortured. The Chinese claimed the nuns committed suicide.
55
it is important that we
can talk about our suffering.
56
But if we go back, we are afraid
57
that they will seize us.
58
But for the moment we are happy
to be united with the Dalai Lama.
61
Whenever I hear such a heartbreaking story,
I realize
62
...with how much courage these people risk
their lives. Then I say to myself:
63
How long will this last?
When will truth prevail?
64
When I ponder on these things
I am not able to sleep well.
65
Then I feel pain everywhere.
66
Then I feel miserable.
67
I think of stories about children who
die during the journey through the snow.
68
And the prisoners that are being tortured.
69
When I think of all that, I cannot sleep.
14.06
Text 14
After these nuns were released from detention, the Chinese forbade them to re-enter their monastery. They decided to flee to India, where they hope once again to be able to practice their faith.
Yangdol is writing a book containing protest songs written by detained nuns.
74
These nuns relate with this song
75
what distress they have in their hearts.
They could tell no one.
76
In prisons they were being tortured.
Thats what they sing about.
77
For fear others would hear their songs
78
the Chinese punished them even more severely.
79
One of the girls was held in solitary confinement
for more than a year
80
in a very small square cell meant for those
with a long term.
81
Thats what they sing about.
14.59
Text 15
The information that Yangdol and her colleagues have collected from the refugees is being passed on to organizations like Amnesty International and the United Nations. Regretfully, little is done with these shocking testimonies.
82
Now I live in India. In Tibet I assumed that
all westerners would support our case.
83
I believed they were honest people.
84
But in India I saw to my dismay that
financial interests prevailed.
85
Tibets fate does not count.
Truth is out of the picture.
15.40
Text 16
Until now, resistance against the Chinese has seen very little violence. However, Yangdol doubts this will last if there is no rapid improvement in the situation of the Tibetans.
86
After all these years people lose their patience.
87
After half a century of occupation they feel
they have nothing to say whatsoever.
88
For us, Tibetan Buddhists, it is one of our aims
to remain tolerant.
89
But we are no more than simple human beings.
90
Almost all Tibetans desire independence
91
but we are following the compromise solution
that is suggested by the Dalai Lama.
92
But the Chinese refuse to accept his idea too.
93
Then people do not bother any longer to
put their lives at stake
94
and resort to taking action.
95
I miss my home.
96
But however much I miss it, it lacks freedom.
97
Sometimes I consider going home, but when I
think of the occupation
98
I get disheartened again.
It is hard to keep in a positive mood.
99
I help where I can and work at the top of my ability
100
hoping that I can mean a lot to many people
101
and help them out of their plight and their misery.
102
My ambition is to tell the world the story of Tibet.
103
That is my mission.
The Chinese call us separatists, but
that is a false description.
2
Once Tibet was independent from China.
3
Thats the plain truth.
4
And if the world does not back this truth
5
then truth loses its meaning.
6
Four Chinese held my arms and
others kicked me in my back.
7
They carried me away by car.
Along the road an old woman shouted:
8
They arrest our people.
Then they kicked her too and she fell.
9
When I shouted Tibet is independent,
I was not afraid at all.
10
I just expressed a feeling that was hidden deep down in my heart.
11
Look, behind this mountain is Tibet, my country.
4.00
Text 1
This is northern India at the foot of the Himalaya Mountains. The place where the 30-year old nun Yangdol escapes to ten years ago. She flees her home land Tibet to evade Chinese rulers that occupied her country in 1949.
4.19
Text 2
The Chinese regard Tibet as a Chinese province and they rule it with an iron fist. Thousands die and hundred thousands Tibetans fled the country.
4.32
Text 3
In this relief centre new refugees from Tibet arrive every day.
Most come on foot across the Himalaya mountains.
On this morning a girl is born here in the centre. The mother is exhausted. She fled across the mountains from Tibet while about to give birth.
5.02
Text 4
Yangdol welcomes the political refugees. Recently some young nuns have arrived after spending years in Chinese prisons. They tell of being tortured after they were arrested for demonstrating against Chinese rule.
12
One of our fellow inmates was tortured
13
with a cattle prodder, an electrified stick that farmers use with their cattle
14
a stick with a high electric charge
15
was put into her eyes.
16
She could not see anymore and bumped into all kinds of things.
5.36
Text 5
Tibet is completely under the control of Chinese security troops. The land is being reshaped into a Chinese province. Yangdol remembers how indoctrination began at an early stage.
17
At school all books dealt with Chinese history
and were written in the Chinese language.
18
Most subjects were given in the Chinese
language, not in Tibetan.
19
Thats how they want to change Tibet.
20
At school they taught us to honour Mao.
21
They decided what we should learn.
22
I decided there: this is not our language,
but they force it upon us.
23
I told my parents: I want to leave school and
I want to become a nun.
6.27
Text 6
Yangdol became a nun in order to escape the burden of the Chinese yoke. However, Chinas influence is far-reaching. Monasteries were demolished and pictures of the Dalai Lama were forbidden. Everyone had to succumb to the Chinese state. Demonstrations were broken up with force. At the age of 17 on the anniversary of the Chinese Revolution October 1st, 1991, Yangdol decided to demonstrate against the Chinese oppression all alone.
24
There were many soldiers in the city centre.
25
I wore a red habit and a purple blouse.
26
I went to the temple and said a prayer.
27
When I was nearly finished, the army
surrounded the temple.
28
After doing my bows I shouted
Tibet is independent, the Chinese must go.
29
Then I added: Long live the Dalai Lama.
30
Then I ran.
31
But the police grabbed me by my clothes
and dragged me away.
7.46
Text 7
The Chinese arrested Yangdol, solely for shouting slogans. In jail she was so badly treated she became seriously ill and was released early. Yangdol concluded that remaining in her home land was no longer possible.
8.05
Text 8
The nun saw no other option than to flee on foot across the Himalayas.
32
I did not fear dying in the mountains
33
but I feared that the Chinese would seize me
34
before I could manage to flee Tibet.
35
It was a journey full of dangers.
36
Especially if it started snowing.
37
One mountain was covered with snow
38
We had to cross it the same night.
39
If we failed, we would freeze to death.
40
It was really tough.
8.52
Text 9
The journey on foot took more than two weeks. At last Yangdol reached Nepal. From there she went to the town of Dharamsala, in northern India and residence of the Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual leader of the Tibetans. After his escape from Tibet he installed a government in exile there.
41
How old are you?
- Eighteen.
42
How many family members do you have?
43
Nine, myself included.
9.37
Text 10
Yangdol spoke to newly arrived refugees and wrote down stories about the persecutions in Tibet.
9.48
Text 11
This information was used by the Tibet Information Network, headed by the Dutchman Jan Willem den Besten. He noted that nuns play a prominent role in the Tibetan Resistance movement.
xxxxx
11.17
Text 12
These nuns, who recently arrived after having fled the Chinese, were detained in this jail for a number of years. This video was made in secret. Together with five other nuns, the nun Niedrun was tortured for days at a time.
46
We were beaten up.
47
They banged my head against the wall
and used the cattle prodder.
48
They used it in several ways.
49
It can make you lose consciousness.
50
It leaves no visible wounds
51
but internal damage is done in various ways.
52
They remove your clothes and administer
electric shocks under your arms and feet.
53
They continue doing this until you confess.
12.16
Text 13
Niedrun ended up in a hospital. Her five companions did not survive being tortured. The Chinese claimed the nuns committed suicide.
55
it is important that we
can talk about our suffering.
56
But if we go back, we are afraid
57
that they will seize us.
58
But for the moment we are happy
to be united with the Dalai Lama.
61
Whenever I hear such a heartbreaking story,
I realize
62
...with how much courage these people risk
their lives. Then I say to myself:
63
How long will this last?
When will truth prevail?
64
When I ponder on these things
I am not able to sleep well.
65
Then I feel pain everywhere.
66
Then I feel miserable.
67
I think of stories about children who
die during the journey through the snow.
68
And the prisoners that are being tortured.
69
When I think of all that, I cannot sleep.
14.06
Text 14
After these nuns were released from detention, the Chinese forbade them to re-enter their monastery. They decided to flee to India, where they hope once again to be able to practice their faith.
Yangdol is writing a book containing protest songs written by detained nuns.
74
These nuns relate with this song
75
what distress they have in their hearts.
They could tell no one.
76
In prisons they were being tortured.
Thats what they sing about.
77
For fear others would hear their songs
78
the Chinese punished them even more severely.
79
One of the girls was held in solitary confinement
for more than a year
80
in a very small square cell meant for those
with a long term.
81
Thats what they sing about.
14.59
Text 15
The information that Yangdol and her colleagues have collected from the refugees is being passed on to organizations like Amnesty International and the United Nations. Regretfully, little is done with these shocking testimonies.
82
Now I live in India. In Tibet I assumed that
all westerners would support our case.
83
I believed they were honest people.
84
But in India I saw to my dismay that
financial interests prevailed.
85
Tibets fate does not count.
Truth is out of the picture.
15.40
Text 16
Until now, resistance against the Chinese has seen very little violence. However, Yangdol doubts this will last if there is no rapid improvement in the situation of the Tibetans.
86
After all these years people lose their patience.
87
After half a century of occupation they feel
they have nothing to say whatsoever.
88
For us, Tibetan Buddhists, it is one of our aims
to remain tolerant.
89
But we are no more than simple human beings.
90
Almost all Tibetans desire independence
91
but we are following the compromise solution
that is suggested by the Dalai Lama.
92
But the Chinese refuse to accept his idea too.
93
Then people do not bother any longer to
put their lives at stake
94
and resort to taking action.
95
I miss my home.
96
But however much I miss it, it lacks freedom.
97
Sometimes I consider going home, but when I
think of the occupation
98
I get disheartened again.
It is hard to keep in a positive mood.
99
I help where I can and work at the top of my ability
100
hoping that I can mean a lot to many people
101
and help them out of their plight and their misery.
102
My ambition is to tell the world the story of Tibet.
103
That is my mission.