MARCH FOR TIBET'S INDEPENDENCE: FLORIDA 2004
–A Fifty-Five Mile March For The Six Million Who Cannot–"Indestructible: The all too common story of Ani Kalsang Palmo"
If therešs one thing we Americans think we know itšs stress. Seemingly every little thing that can go wrong in our lives provides us with reasons for unhappiness and excuses to maintain dependent behaviors, which inevitably develop even deeper problems, but I wonder whether or not what we consider to be stress even exists in our lives. Does it exist all on its own or do we allow ourselves to be commanded by a force as fictional, yet relevant, as
Homer Simpson? I am not suggesting I have never felt it quicken my pulse, or allowed it to override my sense of judgment, but after hearing what Ani Kalsang Palmo had to say about her life and times inside Chinese-Occupied Tibet I tend to believe none of us even remotely know what stress truly feels like.
Considering the illegal occupation of Tibet by Chinese Communist forces has stretched past its45-year anniversary earlier this year, Ani, 38, is not old enough to have lived within an independent Tibet. Her English is manageable but not sophisticated enough to translate words like interrogation, torture, or electric cattle prods. Similarly when my eyes fell upon her graceful face I was unable to efficiently translate the details of her ordeal into experienced emotion. Even though the details of her struggles, which she calmly shares with strangers halfway around the world, come across as anything but reality, her story is disturbingly common.
With the help of Tenzin Namgyal - a Tibetan Buddhist Scholar who participated in the March - Ani-la explained to congregations of Unitarian Universalists in Fort Lauderdale and Miami that even as a young girl she was not allowed to recite the most basic of Buddhist Prayers - Om Mani Padme Hum. As she continued to describe what it was like in Tibet in the early years of her life I struggled to grasp what it would have been like to bear witness to the destruction of a world you were being introduced to. With nothing to stand upon, how was she to succeed? During the years of supposed reform Ani-la 24 and found herself enveloped within a rigid system unwilling to allow her to educate herself in the ways of her culture. The elders were all dead but somehow she found sanctuary through corruption. Since donated funds were redirected into the pockets of corrupt Chinese officials her community received secret permission to rebuild their monastery, and upon the conclusion of their efforts Ani-la became a nun.
Regardless of what Beijing considered to be reforms, the situation inside Tibet worsened and in the late 1980s a group of Tibetans led by Monks and Nuns protested the Chinese occupation in the capital city, Lhasa. Circumambulating the Jokhang- holiest building in Tibetan Buddhism- 15 Nuns chanted 'Chinese go back to China' and 'Long Live His Holiness the Dalai Lama.' Although their protest was a peaceful one, they were met with extreme brutality. Upon completion of their third revolution along the Barkhor, they were met by armed Chinese Guards, who beat them into submission, and finally took them into custody. Ani-la was among them and only 23. Some of the others incarcerated were as young as 18 but this weighed very lightly in the minds of the Chinese as each Nun was beaten by at least three guards. After being tossed into trucks and driven about the capital city, each Nun was brought to a prison and interrogated. The guards informed them that they were 'simple and small' and 'too foolish' to have comprised the protest on their own. The guards threatened them with violence if they wouldn't give up those behind the 'organization' that sponsored the protest but there weren't any organizers. When they defended this fact the guards followed through with their threat. In between the beatings the Nuns were left to reflect upon why 'Freedom for Tibet was a foolish dream.'
Torture devices such as sticks, belts, rubber wands, and electric cattle prods were used to abuse the Nuns throughout days characteristically absent of food and water. During times when the guards became fatigued from the intensity of their beatings, attack dogs were used to terrorize them long enough for the guards to catch their breathe and resume interrogations and beatings. It became customary that prior to their solitary meal of the day, which comprised of left over trash littered with cigarette butts and maggots, each Nun was brought into an area visible for other prisoners to witness them disrobe and lie face down on the floor. Ani-la stated that "after a while being naked in front of people no longer affected them as it became commonplace to be disgraced in this manner, and what would follow was so much worse."
After being slapped in the face with rubber sticks and rulers their naked bodies would be severely beaten with rough sticks, and eventually they would be rendered unconscious from cattle prods stuck into their eye sockets, ears, and mouths. When they would wake they were normally in another cell or interrogation room and another wave of abuse so severe that it would sometimes take eight guards per prisoner to hold down their writhing bodies. During the times when they would tire they were tossed into corners and told to 'meditate on what they did wrong.'
Styles and methods of torture differed from prison to prison and guard to guard. Ani-la's younger sister, also a Nun incarcerated on similar charges, was once tied and hung from a ceiling rafter upside down and then lowered upon an open fire until her hair, scalp, and face were severely burned. Many of those tortured developed serious health issues from the beatings and as a result found it hard to eat when they were finally fed. Malnutrition was a constant issue among the Political Prisoners along with many Monks and Nuns having permanently injured backs making it impossible to ever stand straight. Never during these interrogations or beatings were they formally charged with any crime. Eventually they were released, but once on the outside the real struggle seemed to begin.
With permanently curved spines from the beatings and severe internal matters the former prisoners were in constant need of medical care but the Chinese made this unobtainable. Any Doctor caught treating someone recently released from prison would face the same treatment their desperate patients in waiting received, which made it a risky proposition for those that could lend assistance. The Nuns were unable to return to their Nunneries, if they even existed anymore, and the Chinese made it extremely difficult for them to find work. In certain ways they were forcibly shunned by society to serve as examples of what would happen if you were to step out of line. If they were actually allowed to re-enter a Nunnery or obtain employment they were not allowed to speak of what occurred within the prisons. Exposure of the atrocities within the prison walls carried a return sentence with an increased level of torture. Once on the outside, left without any money or belongings, and no job prospects, many were given no option other than exile, which in many cases carried a potential death sentence along the two-month journey through the Himalayas.
Ani-la was one of the lucky ones who were seemingly indestructible. After all the beatings, mental torture, and the severe journey into exile, she finally arrived in Dharamsala, and joined with thousands of other refugees. Ani-la maintained her vows as a Nun and reentered her spiritual education at the Shugseb Nunnery, which she now advocates for as she tours America telling her story in an effort to increase awareness of what is STILL happening in Tibet. Still think you know something about stress?
Douglas F. Herman Tour Coordinator/Photographer
To learn more about upcoming speaking engagements with Ani Kalsang Palmo, to support her mission of extended awareness, or to organize your own events please contact Larry Gerstein, President International Tibetan Independence Movement. rangzen@aol.com