Name: Tinlay Dorjee
(Alias: No)
Gender: Male
Interview Age: 73
Date of Birth: 1934
Birthplace: Lingpar, Kham, Tibet
Year Left Tibet: 1960
Profession: Farming
Monk/Nun: No
Political Prisoner: No
Interview No.: 47
Date: 2007-06-27
Language: Tibetan
Location: Lugsung Samdupling Settlement, Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India
Categories: Resistance and Revolution
Keywords: childhood memories, Chinese -- oppression under, Chinese rule -- life under, Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, escape experiences, Kham, refugee in India -- life as, taxes, thamzing/struggle sessions
Summary:
Born in Lingpar village in Gyego District, Tinlay Dorjee spent his early days tending cattle and collecting firewood for his family. Occasionally he had to do field work as a form of paying taxes or penalties to the Tibetan government.
After the Chinese arrived and claimed to be liberating the Tibetans, they ordered the villagers to attend lengthy evening meetings. He describes in detail how the Chinese segregated the Tibetan society and how the sadhak 'landlords' and ngadhak 'leaders' were subjected to thamzing 'struggle sessions.' Tinlay Dorjee was falsely accused of possessing a gun and relentlessly harassed during the night meetings. The Chinese instituted a policy called Three Oppositions and Two Allowances in which Tibetans no longer had to pay taxes or repay loans.
Tinlay Dorjee describes in detail the efforts of the Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, who were desperately trying to defend the Tibetans against the superior weapons of the Chinese. Both of Tinlay Dorjee's brothers, who were monks, decided to join the Chushi Gangdrug. Villagers supported the Resistance Force by offering food and supplies. When the Chushi Gangdrug were forced to flee to India, the villagers were left on their own under the Chinese occupation.
Interview Team:
- Rebecca Novick (Interviewer)
- Ronny Novick (Videographer)
- Tsering Dorjee (Interpreter)
