TCHRD has translated some of the songs from the album, ‘Agony of Unhealed Wounds’, to highlight the secret imprisonment of Tibetan musicians Chakdor and Pema Trinley in Ngaba County in the Tibetan province of Amdo. The release and distribution of the album in July last year led to the detention and imprisonment of Chakdor and Pema Trinley, and the disappearance of musician Khenrap and songwriter Nyagdompo.
Chakdor and Pema Trinley each received four years’ prison sentence in February this year. After being informed officially about the sentencing, family members of both the musicians made at least two unsuccessful attempts to visit them in Mianyang Prison. The Mianyang prison officials apparently had no knowledge about the musicians’ whereabouts.
However, family members and relatives of the musicians believe that they are being imprisoned at Mianyang Prison, which is about 127 km from the provincial capital of Chengdu. Individuals or groups wishing to help the families locate the imprisoned musicians can make a direct call to Mianyang Prison at (0086)8162890762 and enquire about their actual whereabouts. On 15 June, TCHRD staff called this number asking to speak with the Party Head of Mianyang Prison, Mr Xie Ping but the call was abruptly cut short.
Many sentenced Tibetans in Sichuan Province are being imprisoned at Mianyang Prison, which also runs Re-education Through (RTL) Labour camps. The official website of Mianyang Prison features some interesting pictures of prisoners getting what the prison authorities call ‘help’ during ‘political education’ classes and ‘legal education’ trainings.
There is no information on the status and whereabouts of Khenrap and Nyagdompo.
Below is the translation of six of the total 12 songs from the album, ‘Agony of Unhealed Wounds’:
1. The Protector of Snow Land
Martyr Lobsang Phunstok
You are the protector of the Land of Snows
You show the great path of victory
For freedom you burned
Martyr Lobsang Tashi
You are the protector of the Land of Snows
From the boundless sky enveloped in dark clouds
Your roar has tamed the three worlds
For freedom you sacrificed your life
Martyr Lobsang Phunstok
You are the protector of the Land of Snows
From the deep lush forest engulfed in windstorms
The lion roared for truth and justice
Bearing witness for freedom you sacrificed your life
Male and Female martyrs of the Land of Snows
You all are the protectors of the Tibetan people
Male and Female martyrs of the Land of Snows
You all are the protectors of the Tibetan people
2. Lamentation
Alas
The white snow mountains are engulfed in darkness
Talented cubs of the snow lion are exiled
In the cold boundless desert
Alone and unprotected
Alas
Soldiers surround the monasteries
Patriots are put in prison
From the land of death devoid of karmic law
Tibetans are defenseless and powerless
Alas
The heroism of the martyrs is seen as ignorance
Unity and solidarity seen as enemies
In the times of the ruthless Chinese Communist Party
How can there be a future for the Land of Snows?
In the times of the ruthless Chinese Communist Party
How can there be a future for the Land of Snows?
3. The Flag of Truth and Blood
The precious lives of thousand ancestors
The wounds of the past decade
Inflicted by the poisoned arrows
Can they be wiped out from [our] hearts?
The flow of red-blood
Floods the four sources of nature
The agonized cry of torture
Will it stop echoing in [our] ears?
Yeshin Norbu
Who sees the three times
Is exiled to the ends of the earth
Can [we] forget it from our hearts?
On the summit of the red mountain
The face of snow lion flag
Is engulfed in the darkness
Does that appear in [your] mind’s eye?
4. The Unbearable Suffering
At the centre of the universe in the south
Under the illegitimate Chinese laws
If you look with a truthful eye
So many images of torn karmic laws
In the land surrounded by the snow mountains
Under the red Chinese colonial laws
If [you] observe with an open mind
So many myriad hellish sufferings
In a land bereft of protectors and kinship
No life and happiness exist in Tibet
If seen by countries on all sides
So many martyrs burning up in flames
5. Dark Boundless Barren Desert
The edge of the barren desert
The incomparable wings of intelligence
The flight of the deft little bird
Hard to know where it is heading
The oppressive and cruel tyrant
Although they lack the willingness
The humble submissive masses of the desert
Who can estimate their unwilling losses?
The white-colored flag of truth
Although painted by charcoal
The true nature of a compassionate mind
Can’t be wiped out by cruel intentions and tricks
The gracious tent of peace
The felicitous livelihood of the beings
The descendants of the powerful red-faced Tibetans
Never lose unity and solidarity in the depth of your heart
If there’s an independent path of truth
None will be trapped in the web of trickery
The pride of the three provinces
Let it fly from the summit of the snow mountains
6. Despair
Pallid plain bereft of natural beauty
Sour pain Inflicted by history’s darkness
My frozen homeland lacking civilization
I am despaired by you
The pack of deer chased by the tribes of huntsmen
Wolves putting on benevolent veneer lacking thread of love
Your life and death struggle lacking love
I am despaired by it
Peacocks on pulpits bereft of compassion
The baggage of an unharmonious community
Foolish ox-like masses lacking patriotism
I am despaired by you
Cash-loving Lamas corrupted from within and outside
Monks begging for money in the streets
Monasteries fight for supremacy of their sects
I am despaired by you
I am a dog-thief from upper Tibet
You are a bandit from lower Tibet
He is fox-wolf from middle Tibet
We are criminals who have sold our nation’s soul
Note on translation:
In the song, ‘Protector of the Snow Land’, Lobsang Tashi aka Tapey and Lobsang Phuntsok are monks from Kirti Monastery in Ngaba County who respectively became the first and second Tibetan to self-immolate in Tibet. Lobsang Tashi self-immolated on 27 February 2009 and Lobsang Phuntsok on 19 March 2011. In ‘The Flag of Truth and Blood’, Yeshin Norbu refers to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.