Palden Gyatso

PALDEN GYATSO

Palden Gyatso was born in 1933 in a small Tibetan village. At 10, he became a Buddhist monk at the Drepung monastery. Under the Chinese occupation of Tibet in 1959, Palden and thousands of citizens and monks were put into prisons. The goal of the Chinese was to force "thought reform" on the Tibetan people.

He endured 33 years of suffering in prisons and labor camps. he published a book in 1997 called "The Autobiography of a Tibetan Monk." In his book, he describes the ruthlessness of the Chinese penal system. One occasion that he describes illustrates how he was jabbed with an electric cattle prod and scalded with boiling water by one of the guards because the guard simply did not like his attitude.

In 1962, he escaped from one of the prisons, only to be caught a short time later. They then increased his sentence to 15 years. He was released in 1975, but not allowed to return home; instead he was sent to a labor camp. He escaped from the labor camp four years later and was yet again arrested, this time for putting up posters that called for Tibetan independence. He was sentenced to nine years without any legal representation. Then in 1990, he was transferred to the Drapchi prison and released in 1992. Thirteen days later, he escaped to India.

PALDEN GYATSO

To have proof of the tortures that he and his jailmates endured, Palden Gyatso smuggled out torture weapons. Now he lives in Dharamsala, but travels the world telling his tales of torture, suffering, and cruelty. Since 1992, he has dedicated the rest of his life to uncovering the nightmares that occurred under the Chinese occupation, especially the most brutal stories amongst the political prisoners.

I believe that Palden Gyatso is a hero because he did not give in to the pressures by the Chinese government that demanded reform. Any prisoner who would reform had his sentence greatly reduced and even wiped clean, allowing him to return to his family. Palden Gyatso still would not reform his faith and beliefs. He shows that someone does not need superhuman strength to be a hero. Through such great suffering, he endured and was set on freeing Tibet.