Escaping Chinese Oppression in Tibet

A Tibetan Monk Defects to India to Meet the Dalai Lama

My name is Dakpa. I'm 24 years old. I was born in Thepo, in the Amdo province of Tibet in 1984. I'm a Tibetan monk and a refugee. This is my story.

On the request of my father, I decided to become a monk in Lhamo Kirti Monastery in Tibet. The monastery is far away from our village. It takes almost two hours on foot to Tsong and then three hours to a place called Lhamo.

Being a poor monk, I would go home only twice a year. However, I was determined to go to India. I wanted to continue my studies, see His Holiness, the Dalai Lama, and learn how Tibetan people live in India. I had heard in Tibet that India is the largest democracy in the world.

On October 18, 1998, I got my chance.

Escaping Tibet to Go to India

I was poor and did not have any money. The only way was to steal from my family. I went to the second floor and opened one old box where I knew my family usually put cash. Out of the 2,000 Yuan, I took only 800. Neither of us told our families. If we did, it would be very dangerous for them.

The next morning, we went to the ticket office and bought two tickets to Lanzhou. The bus was full of people, but we were the only Tibetans. The next morning, we arrived in Lanzhou. It is not a big city, but for me it was huge. We were lost and confused when someone called to me, "Hey monk, do you speak Tibetan?"

It was a 23-year-old guy who was studying in the city. He guided us to the train station and told us to keep our money in a safe place.

We took a train to Xining, and on October 21, boarded the bus to Lhasa. We arrived in Lhasa on the morning of the 23rd and we were very grateful to see the Potala Palace for the first time. Next, we had to find a good guide to help us cross the border into Nepal.

By a stroke of good luck, I ran into someone from my own village. He said he'd been to India before and could help us find a guide. Through my village friend, the price of 800 Yuan per person was settled.

At 7 p.m. we went to the meeting place where we saw an old truck covered with black cloth full of people who wanted to go to India - 40 men and 12 women. My friend and I were the youngest. I was 15 years old. The guide said we would go by road for six days, and then we would walk.

Most days we stayed in the forest, and traveled at night. The guide told us that when we got out of the truck, we had to quickly jump out and run into the forest as quickly as possible.

I fell on the way a few times. I broke my elbow and hurt my knee. Every night after that was painful. We walked for 18 days.

When we arrived near the Chinese military base we could no longer all continue together, so we made groups of seven. One by one, the groups moved forward. We were all very scared. I was missing my dear mum and dad on the way. Thankfully, we all crossed over the Chinese military base safely.

We didn't eat any food for five days. At that time I didn't care if the Chinese army arrested me. I was so tired and so hungry.

The next day, we arrived in Nepal and the Nepali police arrested us and asked where we were going. We said we wanted to go to India as political refugees.

With no money, we had to exchange our clothes, torches and watches to buy food. Finally, we reached the Reception Center of the Tibetan Government in Exile in Nepal.

One month later, we were sent to India. I joined an institute for higher Tibetan studies.

Difficulties of Being a Political Refugee

For a few years, I had no contact with my family. I didn't see my dear parents when they died. I heard this bad news when someone from my homeland came to India in 2005. I was very unhappy and I went to the Dalai Lama temple and prayed. It was the saddest time since I was born.

I would like to go back to Tibet after I finish studying and my English is good. I would like to help people learn in my poor village.