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Tibetan mother seeks union with condemned son

She sits outside the Jantar Mantar in the debilitating heat, grieving for her son condemned to 18 years in prison by Chinese authorities in Tibet on charges of spying.

Sonam Dickey, a Tibetan refugee, refuses to believe that Ngawang Choephel, a Fulbright scholar in music, was even remotely connected with spying against the Chinese government.

''It must be a terrible goof-up by the Chinese authorities that has wrenched my son away from me,'' says Sonam, in tears.

Worn out by sorrow and years of destitution, Sonam, her bones protruding through sagging skin, has been squatting on the pavement for nearly a year. ''My ultimate desire is to get my son released. If it is not possible, I would like to meet him before my death,'' she says. But the Chinese embassy officials has taken no decision on allowing her to visit Tibet and meet her son, says Sonam, who looks much older than her 62 years.

Sonam came to India as a refugee with Choephel in 1966 following the Chinese persecution of Tibetans and sought succour at the Byallakuppi camp in Mysore district of Karnataka, says Pema Lhundup, joint secretary of the Tibetan Youth Congress, which is spearheading her case.

''Already, emotionally battered because her husband was executed by the Chinese authorities for taking part in anti-China demonstrations, Sonam's only anchor is her son Choephel, a docile boy with a flair for Tibetan music,'' he points out.

Choephel studied Tibetan music and culture at the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts at Dharmasala and then qualified for a Fulbright scholarship in music from the United States. After completing his scholarship, he went back to Tibet to do research on original Tibetan culture.

According to Lhundup, Choephel was picked up by the Chinese authorities from Shightse market in August 1995 while he was making a video documentary on Tibetan culture, particularly its dance and music forms. The charge slapped on him was that, pretending to videotape villagers singing folk songs, he was actually spying for the Tibetan government-in-exile.

''The charge levelled by the Chinese authorities against my son defies all logic. There is no evidence... I have been told that my son was moving with a video camera in a sensitive place. That is hardly a reason to sentence him to 18 years in prison,'' she says before breaking down.

Says Lhundup: ''After being picked up by the Chinese authorities, Choephel was taken to an undisclosed prison. A Tibetan businessman, Rinchen, who was also arrested along with Choephel, later said he had spotted the music scholar in Drapchi prison in October 1995.

''As per Rinchen's version, Choephel was subjected to long bouts of interrogation and was tortured. He was not even taken to a judicial court, nor were any charges framed against him, in callous disregard of all judicial procedures,'' says the TYC official. However, in June 1997, Choephel was produced before a Chinese court which sentenced him to 18 years in prison, says Lhundup.

The TYC, he says, has been fighting the case by sending memoranda to world leaders, launching a signature campaign and articles in the media.

Hollywood actor Richard Gere, who has embraced Buddhism, has pleaded with the Chinese authorities on Sonam's behalf. The US government has also spoken to Beijing in this connection.

''In fact, the United Nations, the US embassy in India and the human rights commission, each one of them has been petitioned to bring relief to the aggrieved Sonam, but nothing has come of it so far,'' says Lhundup.

Meanwhile, an emaciated and sickly-looking Sonam, clutching the photograph of her son, sits under a banner that reads out: ''I pray to the UNO, all heads of state, NGOs and individuals to influence the government of China to release my son early. I would like to meet him once before my death.''

UNI

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