Sholpa Dawa’s strong pro-independence beliefs have resulted in his arrest on three occasions and a current prison sentence of 16 years. He has gone to great lengths to print material on Tibetan independence and record the experiences of Tibetan people under Chinese occupation so as to distribute it amongst fellow Tibetans.
Dawa is a 56 year old Tibetan tailor from Lhasa city and is more commonly known as Sholpa Dawa, because he is a native of the Shol District. From 1959 he worked for some time as a construction labourer and later worked as a private tailor.
Sholpa Dawa was first arrested on 29 September 1981 for allegedly distributing pamphlets on the independence of Tibet. He was sentenced to two years imprisonment and deprivation of political rights for one year. Sholpa Dawa spent six months in Gutsa Detention Centre and one and half years in Sangyip prison, both close to Lhasa.
“TAR” Middle People’s Court documentation no 17. of 1982 gave the verdict of the trial as : “In 1980, Dawa with defendant Lobsang Choedak and Tsering Lhamo met at Lobsang Choedak’s house and wrote circulars on the independence of Tibet. Thereafter, he contacted his accused friend Lobsang Wangchuk who helped him to prepare a history Independent Status of Tibet and a circular titled, ‘Twenty Years of Tragic Experience.’ After that, Dawa told his uncle and Kunsang who were working in the Metal and Wood Cooperative Programme, to type the articles and hand them over to Dawa aftter finishing the work. Dawa, pretending to be making copies of religious manuscripts, borrowed a cyclo-styling machine from the co-operative and made more than 160 pro-independence posters in his own home. Not only did he distribute the posters in his own, but he also asked Dhondup Dorjee and Lobsang Choedak to assist him in this purpose. Dawa had also printed a picture on the poster of “The Snow Lion Flag when Tibet was independent.”
After his release in 1993, Dawa worked as a labourer for one year in a brick-kiln in Nyethang sub-county, south-west of Lhasa.
On 8 November 1985, Dawa was arrested for the second time for distributing pamphlets which denounced the deteriorating living conditions of the 6 million Tibetans and called attention to the Chinese invasion in Tibet.
Sholpa Dawa was indicted along with eight other young Tibetans. This time he was sentenced to four years in Sangyip Prison and was deprived of his political rights for the duration of one year.
In August 1987, while he was in prison, Dawa’s wife Lhakpa Dolma died.
Dawa was arrested for the third time in Lhasa sometime in the early part of August 1995 for distributing pictures of the young Panchen Lama reincarnation. It was unofficially suggested that Sholpa Dawa was arrested just before the 30th anniversary of the “TAR” because the Chinese feared that Dawa and other former political prisoners would disrupt the celebrations. There were grave concerns for his safety at his time after a source reported on VOA that Dawa was receiving threats of execution by the Chinese authorities.
Dawa’s verdict was issued along with that of Topgyal, another tailor, on 8 August 1996. There was no mention of his activities regarding the Panchen Lama, an issue which was particularly politically sensitive at the time.
The sentence paper stated that: “After thorough investigation, in the year 1993-1994, the accused Dawa told Dhondup Dorjee and Ratoe Dawa to collect the list of all political prisoners who have served and who are currently serving their prison terms. Moreover, in July 1993, the accused Topgyal made three “reactionary” documents and gave them to Dawa who had handed over to the “Dalai Clique.”
Dawa was sentenced to nine years in prison and three years deprivation of political rights. Sholpa Dawa will have spent sixteen years in prison by the time he is released.