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Appendix I: Statement of Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, Recorded Just Prior to June 16, 2000 195

Editor’s note: The following text was recorded after security officials pressured Tenzin Delek into signing a document listing his alleged crimes and Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture authorities, in a midnight call, “requested” he come alone to the prefectural capital. They advised him to inform anyone who asked that he needed a medical checkup. Fearing arrest, Tenzin Delek made the tape to explain to his supporters why he was leaving and what they could do to help. In it he discussed some of the “crimes” of which he was accused and the motivation behind his decisions.


I have a few words to say to everyone. When I inform you of this difficult situation, it is important that my motivation be pure. As is said in a sutra, “All phenomena are conditional.” Therefore, the most important thing is motivation

Even when a situation is difficult, I have always spoken with good intentions; I have not complained, but have spoken out in a positive way. Therefore, I speak to all of you, leaders, people, monks, and lay people.

As the saying goes, “even if you do good deeds, they may be called bad.” I have been accused during the past few years and there are signs that I will be falsely accused again. The reason why [I believe this] is that recently I was interrogated a lot at county headquarters. Many questions were directed at me. Not only that, officials from the Public Security Bureau[who were] at the Prefecture Religious Affairs Bureaucalled me up and asked me many questions.

When I was initially ordered to appear I did not know that the orders were coming from the Public Security Bureau. When the government seized the school at Geshe Lungpa,196 it was the county head, who [ordered it] seized. When I was there [at the Religious Affairs Bureau], I recognized a few of the officials. When I asked them what department they were from, they did not answer my question. When my interrogation started, the Chinese officials said, “We are not going to tell you which department we are from. In our department nobody has any business asking us any questions.” That is how they conducted the interrogation. They also told me, “You might have some notion about which department we are from.” That is what they were saying to me, but I didn’t know where they were from. I thought it was very strange; that is why I asked. I told them that I thought they might be from the Education Bureau and that was why I had asked. Other than that, I had no reason to ask.

They told me, “You can’t ask about us, but you must answer our questions. You have to tell us about your most important activities, not before you left Tibet, but from the time you returned from India until now.” I told them that since I had been back I’d been involved in different kinds of activities and I didn’t know what to tell them, but I said that if they asked me questions I would answer them directly.

So they asked me many questions, but it began with [why I had gone to India], and so I answered that the reason I had gone to India was that because I was just a monk. I went to pursue my religious education. I told them that I had gone to India to receive empowerments and teachings. Whatever I studied in India I had tried to put into practice. That was the only reason I went to India. My family and my relatives had called me and asked me to return to Tibet. They had told me that the Chinese policies were good. They told me that the situation in Tibet had improved. That is why I came back to Tibet.

But there I was in a police station.

When I arrived here, you all knew me as A-ngag Tashi, my lay name. I don’t have many good qualities. I merely have the name of a tulku, but I am not a learned tulku or anything. I have a direct karmic connection to the people here [and because of this] people here have a lot of hope in me.

Ever since I came back from India I have always carried out my work within one country, meaning the People’s Republic of China. The work I have undertaken has been to unite people, to develop their welfare, to protect the environment, to promote economic development for the people, and to promote education. These are the things I always discussed with people. I also have written about these issues. They are what I have put my energy into. Although I [try to] do things that are beneficial, sometimes the things I do turn out to be unhelpful.

They asked me all these [kinds of] questions, and when I answered their questions, they said that everything I had done was wrong, and that I was guilty. They told me that I had to realize that these were all errors. They said that if I admitted they were errors, they would not put me on trial. They told me not to do them again in the future. I told them “okay” and “yes.”

Because I am a monk from Lithang monastery, when I came back from India I went there directly. At that time, yes, I talked a lot with other monks about the practice of propitiating [or worshipping] Dorje Shugden. I did so because I was a monk at Lithang monastery. I told the officials that I thought this [worshipping or not worshipping Dorje Shugden] was a religious affair and that it had nothing to do with political activities. Later on the police told me it was political and I was not allowed to say anything about it. So I just kept quiet. That was one of the things that the officials said I had done wrong.

The second thing the officials said I did wrong was this: One time I had been to Khola township to visit [a man] who was sick and dying. There was no doctor and not even any medicine for him to take. There were no monks or lamas to recite prayers. Nearby, there was a woman who had had complications while giving birth and was dying. Seeing such sad things, people wanted to be closer to roads from which they could access a motor road. That was the people’s wish. All the people of the region asked me to bring this about. If it were accomplished, then Chinese officials could come to visit us because we would be near the road. I had planned for people to move from Khola to Thangkarma. The plan was to build permanent houses for elderly people there so they would have easier access to main roads. The children then could get some education. The people asked for this. I announced the plan at the horse festival.197

This was the second thing the officials said I was guilty of. They said it was a very big offense. Again I apologized, and told them I did not realize that it was a big offense and I said I would not do it again. When I told people about my ideas, I didn’t force them to agree. I just made suggestions. If this is wrong I will not do it again, I said. They had said I am guilty [because of the business] about worshipping Dorje Shugden, but I don’t know why they found me guilty on this second point.

We also had a problem with our forest. The forest was not government forest; it was public forest for public use. The county’s forestry department tried to confiscate the people’s forest at least two or three times. That is like stealing a baby bird’s food from its mouth. When I saw this, I couldn’t just stand still. That is why I worked with people and talked about it. It was for the well-being of the people that I went around and talked about the forest issue. The Chinese officials also called this a very serious offense.

Tibet has been liberated by China for many years, but specific areas remain undeveloped. There is no education. I always explain this to people. The Chinese who come from inland China are those who cannot cope with living in their communities or don’t have partners. They come to our area and they sell popcorn and stitch shoes, but they are more educated than our county officials and our own people…For that reason I have always urged better education in the area. Since I have been back from India I have advocated education, culture, and art.

The nomads in this area are very poor. That is why I started collecting the children from poor families who cannot pay for their children’s education, and from the better-off families who cannot send their children to schools. I told officials in the area about it. There might have been a little time difference, but I told most of the officials about it.

Before the year 2000, the senior and junior party secretaries both told me that I was not allowed to run this school, that it must be run by the county government. I agreed. So we talked, and we agreed the school would be given to the county. In 1999, I was told to give up the school to the county and by 2000 I had done so. The Civil Affairs Department came and I gave up the school. They told me I had to give money to the school but they would run it, and I said that was all right. Then the officials fired the cook, the tea-makers, the sweepers, and others. I could not do anything [to stop it]. At the time I did not have money to give them [the officials], but I was able to give grains, cheese and butter, and potatoes. I told the officials that I would give these things to the school, and the head of the Education Office [jiaoyuchu] said that was all right, and that even if I had [only] a handful of vegetables to give, that would be all right.

When I turned over the school to the Chinese officials, there were 170 children in it. I promised to provide food worth 50 renminbi [U.S.$6.25] a month for each child. The next day I thought about it. I had lots of grain at the time, over 30,000 gyama [15,000 kilograms]. I thought that was quite a lot of grain. Because I was a nomad, I also had butter, cheese, and meat.198 I thought about giving it all to the children. I had about two trucks full of potatoes. When the time came for me to hand over all of this food, the officials didn’t even take even one gyama of grain. Instead they said that the butter and the meat smelled and would make the children sick. They told me that. So I told them that even if the butter and the meat smell, the grain should be all right. Why don’t you take the grain? But they did not take even one gyama. That was when I realized they were up to something, and they were up to something no good. Even though I had agreed to give up the school, and had agreed to give money and grain and food, the Public Security people said that establishing the school was an offense. They said it was a very big offense.

Everything I did, they considered a crime. They said everything I did was a crime. Nothing was good.

However, it is not quite right to say that the officials criticized everything I did. One time, after I established the Geshe Lungpa school, the head of the Prefecture Education Office, the head of Nyagchu county, a woman who looks after schools and education [in the area], a junior official from Ya’an, the head of Kardze prefecture, the chief of the education department and many other officials all came together to see the school at Geshe Lungpa. We all sat around in the meeting room and talked. The Kardze Education head said to me, “A-ngag Tashi, you have done a great job,” and he gave a thumbs up with both thumbs, like this. He said, “It is very good that you have built this school on your own without the government’s help.” He said that these days this is in accord with the government’s plan for setting up schools. You can build private schools, and this school fits with that. And he said to me, “We support you.” And he was the leader of the Kardze Autonomous Prefecture. But the Security people consider it a crime, so I don’t know what to make of that.

Whether [what we are talking about] is a foreign country or our own country, if there is no education there is no development. We all know whether or not the nomads are educated. From my point of view, I thought I could be helpful to all the nomads. But the officials called all these activities crimes. The Security people said I had committed five or six crimes. Right now I cannot think of everything in detail, but definitely they accused me of committing many crimes. So I told the Security people everything I had done, and they told me I had told my story truthfully, but that in the future I should “be careful or it wouldn’t be good.” And I said “all right.” So in the end, everything was settled.

Recently, I was called to the Religious Affairs Bureau and the United Front Work Department. That was when I realized that the officials that I had talked with before were Public Security. When I went there, they told me there was an agreement with the prefectural Public Security Bureau. They told me, “You cannot have photos of the 14th Dalai Lama, the young Panchen Lama, or pictures of yourself.” And they said, “The pictures are getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger, and you cannot do that. And you cannot have a lama’s title.” I told them that I was not worried about not having a lama’s title, and that in the past I have told Kardze Prefecture [officials] that I did not need the title of lama; I did not need the title of monk, but I did need the rights of a human being. I told them this in the past, and that day I told it to them again. And they told me, “You cannot go to Kechukar.” They told me, “You cannot go to Golog or to Detsa.” I said, “That is all right.” For example, there is a place called Gara that is only three kilometers away. For me to go there, I have to get a written permit from the Religious Affairs Bureau and the United Front Work Department.

I have done all these good things and have done nothing that opposes the national constitution. I am not afraid of anything, and I have no doubts in my mind. At one time, I thought that no matter how many lies they told about me, the truth would eventually come out. It’s like an abra [a Tibetan prairie marmot]—it hasn’t got a tail. They accused me because of rumors about me, but in the past I did nothing opposing the Chinese government, and, without a doubt, I am not going to do so in the future. I thought the truth would come out very soon, so and I just stayed like that [and did not complain].

From my point of view, I thought I had been frank, but I did not think I had committed a crime.

What I did say was that in China there has been a lot of development and that Chinese people are educated. However, in Tibet, there has been no development and Tibetans do not get education. When I say such things it is not because I do not like the Chinese people or the Chinese government. Within the 1.2 or 1.3 billion population of China, there are 56 different nationalities. I belong to one of them, and I do not have to speak badly about them. Because I am one of those 56 peoples, I have the right to speak out. That is why I am speaking. Otherwise why would I do it, why would I speak out? I live on offerings from people who are living and from people who have died; that is how I eat. I hold prayer beads and pray for the well-being of sentient beings. For that reason, why would I talk badly about other nationalities? I would never say bad things about any other nationality. In terms of religion, if I were to think bad thoughts about any other nationality, it would not be virtuous. From a political point of view, I would not criticize other nationalities because that is obviously separatist.

Given the situation I am in, even if I [want to] go to Gara I need permission.

Unexpectedly, I received a call from Public Security officials who ordered me to go to the police station in Dartsedo alone without telling anyone. I have heard that the officials had a plan to arrest me when they questioned me before, but somehow it wasn’t convenient for them to do that then. What they want is for me to come down there [to Dartsedo] quietly by myself, but I don’t want to go there quietly by myself without telling anyone. They can just come and arrest me. My arrest can be announced publicly from loudspeakers on top of a car. They can come with chains. If I have committed crimes, they should come and arrest me this way. I would not let anyone protest.

Nowadays, China has 1.3 billion people. Its economy, army, and weapons are second to none. Against such a powerful country, humble people like us [committing a crime] would be like an egg being smashed on a rock. It would be like jumping off a cliff with your eyes wide open. The people in this area are very humble people. Why would they throw an egg on a rock? If I have committed a crime, they can come and arrest me. They will be satisfied, and if I have committed a crime I will be all right with that.

For example, [name withheld] was arrested secretly. He was tortured in prison for almost five or six months. At some point during his imprisonment, he told me, he felt like committing suicide. After he was released, they tried to arrest him again. He escaped to India, and there he later talked on the radio about how he had been accused but not convicted, and he said that…if he had done something wrong, he would admit it.

Just like that, I don’t wish to be arrested quietly. Now I cannot just stay here, because if I do I will have to go to them [the police in Dartsedo]. If I do not go, they will come and arrest me and tell me that I have done this wrong and that wrong. For now, it seems better for me to go to a different place and just say my prayers and use this as an opportunity to practice religion. If I stay in Nyagchu county, the Chinese officials in this area will take all that they use monitoring thousands of people and focus it all on me. People living in this area ask me to come to them for many reasons——when they get sick, when they die, they call me. Now I have to get permits to go anywhere. So in the same way, if I am going to the police station in Dartsedo alone, I don’t want to go there without telling anyone. [I have to tell the police when I go to see the people, so I think I should tell the people when I have to go to see the police.]

My hope is that I will get a chance to talk with the central authorities. I do not have any reason to protest against China and I do not want to go to some other country. Don’t go to the township; in the past you have done that, going to them to try to defend me. I am pleading with you, don’t do that…All I want is help from the general public in getting permission to talk to higher officials so I can explain my situation to them. It would be helpful if the representatives in the People’s Congress could tell the truth about my situation to the central authorities. But I remember the last time I went away. People went to the township and the county to protest. Don’t do that. That is not going to help. It makes it look as if I instigated those activities, so please don’t do that. If it were a Tibetan, or a “tsampa-eater,” I could swear that I did not ask people to do such things [protesting], but when outsiders look at it, it looks like I am instigating all these activities.

.…I have never opposed or broken Chinese law or the constitution. I have always been straightforward. I have not done what I am not supposed to do. Do not go and raise your voices at the township and the county. Please do not do that. If you go to the central authorities, I hope they will see that what I have done is constructive. I have a firm belief in this. I believe the central government will be fair,because they have to face foreign countries.If the local representatives can find a way for me to talk to the central government, that would be really helpful. And if we can get some official documents that say who we will meet with, that would be excellent. I would go and talk with them. But just shouting and yelling in the county and the township is not good at all because in the end they would blame me for instigating such activities.

For me, I can go to a foreign country; that is not a problem. I can go to India. I have my room. But I don’t want to leave the people here. Even if I go to India, I have aged and I cannot study well there. So there is no reason for me to go. I should stay here because I have a strong karmic link to the people of Tibet and specifically [to those] in this region. These days even His Holiness the Dalai Lama has said he does not want independence. Therefore, I am not seeking independence for Tibet.

The last time I was with the Security people, they asked me to sign different documents. I signed quite a number. I wrote confessions. If I hadn’t signed, they wouldn’t have let me go. I was already like a black crow wherever I went [the accusations of the officials shadowed me as a shadow follows a crow in flight], so I thought signing would let me get away for the time being. People who dislike me might think that I have committed a crime and am running away. But I am hoping that for the time being going away might bring truth to the matter. They might announce to the public that A-ngag Tashi has signed all the documents, but you will realize——if they read out the items——then you will know what I have signed.

They do just accuse people of crimes. When Tsedor was arrested, Aku Yongbe’s younger brother Lhodar was also arrested and was put in prison for over a month and was tortured. But he hadn’t committed any crimes so they finally let him go. And five of my students in Lhasa were also arrested at that time. They were arrested and accused of being “splittists” and for over a month they were in prison [and] beaten severely. They broke their teeth and everything, but then they released them after one or two months. If they were splittists, why would they have released them?. . . .All the time, they are always accusing us of committing crimes. In the past, people have collected the signatures and fingerprints of thousands of people and submitted them to the Sichuan province.

The Chinese are saying that in the past, the situation in Tibet improved, as it has even now. As for me, they have accused me of crimes such as recognizing lamas, and about the forestry and about monastery [issues]. They have accused me of all these crimes, but not only have I verbally apologized, I have signed. Still they will not leave me alone. Not only that, but they even uncover stories from 18 years ago and try to harass me. When I think about these things I feel very sad, but I believe it is not the central authorities, that it is just the local government who are doing these things. And I believe soon the truth will come out. It is a few county officials who dislike me. That is what I believe is happening. I also feel that if I get arrested very quietly I will be in trouble. If you people are ready to talk to the central authorities, I am ready with my answers. That would be, and that will be excellent.



195 Tape and full transcript on file at Human Rights Watch.

196 A school established by Tenzin Delek.

197 China has a household registration system which authorities use, among other things, to regulate internal migration. Tenzin Delek’s plan to move people from one place to another without application to civil authorities thus flouted prevailing regulations.

198 Identification as a nomad, farmer, or semi-pastoralist is an important ethnographic marker that most everyone in the area uses. Nomads are known for living off animal products while barley is the staple of a farmer diet. Tenzin Delek was born into a nomad family and continues to so identify himself. It is not clear to what extent Tenzin Delek continued to eat the normal nomad diet or what access he had to quantities of animal products.


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February 2004