Ani Pachen

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Ani Pachen
Ani Pachen
Born1933
Gonjo
DiedFebruary 2, 2002
Occupation(s)Tibetan Freedom Fighter, Activist and nun

Ani Pachen (1933 – February 2, 2002) was a Tibetan freedom fighter and activist.

Early life

Pachen Dolma was born around 1933 in

Chieftain elder son Pomda Gonor of the Lemdha clan, of the Phomda Tsang line.[1]

Pachen took

refuge in the Dharma when she was 8 years old and was subsequently initiated into the deity practice of Dorje Phurba, a Nyingma tradition.[2]
When she was 17, she discovered her father's plans to marry her off and attempted to run away to Gyalsay Rinpoche's monastery at Tromkhog. However, she returned after a few days of traveling with her father's promise to annul the engagement.

The

PRC officially signed the Seventeen Point Agreement in 1951. Increasing tensions led her father to train her in the use of firearms and begin organizing militant resistance.[1]

For the next few years, Pachen sat in on her father's administrative meetings with local chieftains. In 1954, Pachen and her mother spent 6 months in Gyalsay Rinpoche's monastery, during which she completed

Ngondro, or preliminary religious training. She returned at the request of her father, who wanted to officially teach her the duties involved with being the heir to a chieftain.[1]

Rebellion

By the end of 1956, tens of thousands of armed Khampas had taken to the surrounding hills in armed resistance. When her father died in 1958, she assumed her role as chieftainess of the Lemdha clan. In 1959, she rode at the head of their 600 resistance fighters into the nearby hills. Her clan joined with others from Derge and Lingkha Shipa.[1]

After news of eminent Chinese attack, Pachen returned to Lemdha to warn her family and gather their valuables. Their group grew to thousands as families from the towns of Derge, Lingkha Shipa and Markham fled with the ultimate plan of joining Chushi Gangdruk, the principal resistance group centered in Lhasa at the time. After rejoining the earlier Lemdha resistance fighters, Pachen aided in dividing the refugees into smaller, less visible groups, organized and dispatched defensive patrols, and actively engaged in armed warfare.[1] During this migration, her group was aided by CIA paramilitary support.

Their camp was attacked by overwhelming Chinese forces in the area around the Pelbar village in Tingri County in late 1959, shortly after they heard of Chushi Gangdruk's defeat. Pachen, her mother, aunt, and grandmother took refuge in a nearby forest. They successfully traveled towards India for the next 25 days, until they were captured by Chinese forces along with around 300 other refugees.[1]

Imprisonment

Immediately after being captured, Pachen and her family were held in nearby abandoned houses that served as temporary prisons. Over the course of a week, Pachen was interrogated and beaten. Soon after, many of the women, children and elderly people were released (including her mother, aunt, and grandmother), and Pachen was transferred to a 'collection center' in Lhodzong, where she was held for a month. She reported being the only woman held there.[1]

After that, Pachen was transferred to a monastery in

leg irons for over a year. She was held there from 1961 to 1963.[1]

In 1963, she was moved to Silthog Thang, a prison 'where those...considered guilty of the most serious crimes were sent,'[1] located between the Mekong (known as the Zachu river in Tibet[3]) and Ngomchu river (a tributary of the Mekong[4]). At Silthog Thang, she was sectioned according to gender and level of devotion. She was also held in isolation for 9 months after refusing to denounce her religion and rebuking an officer.[1]

After hearing that her mother was living and working in

Drapchi prison, one of the most notorious Chinese prisons, in 1965. She was held there for 11 years. At Drapchi, she reported that prisoners were forced to wear a Chinese uniform and were forbidden to speak Tibetan, pray, or practice Tibetan customs.[1]

After

Nyingtri. She was released in 1981, after being imprisoned for 21 years. She was 48 years old.[1]

Release

After her release from

Samye monastery. There, she learned the Buddhist practice Chud len, or Essence Extraction, and the Chöd practice, before deciding to return to Lhasa to continue support for the cause of Tibetan independence.[1]

She advertised and participated in three

Autobiography

Ani Pachen's autobiography, Sorrow Mountain: the Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun, was

published in 2000, and she toured the United States and Europe. In 2001, she visited the United Kingdom at the invitation of the Tibet Society, and led the annual march through central London to commemorate the Lhasa Uprising
.

Death

Ani Pachen died in Dharamsala on February 2, 2002, of heart failure. She died peacefully at the age of 69.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Pachen; Donnelley, Adelaide (2000). Sorrow Mountain: The Journey of a Tibetan Warrior Nun. New York: Kodansha International.
  2. ^ Cleland, Elizabeth Christine (2001). The Vajrakilaya Sadhana: An Euro-American experience of a Nyingma ritual (M.A.). Carleton University.
  3. ^ Leonard, Thomas M. (18 October 2013). Encyclopedia of the Developing World. Routledge. p. 1548.
  4. ^ Chellaney, Brahma (25 July 2013). Water: Asia's New Battleground. Georgetown University Press. p. 103.
  5. ^ Martin, Douglas (18 February 2002). "Ani Pachen, Warrior Nun in Tibet 21 Years, Dies". New York Times.

See also