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My name is Sonam Tsewang, and I was born in 1971, in Meldro Gungkar. My father¹s name was Thupten Samdup, and mother Yangchen. At the age of 6 I started going to the Montessori Central Village School. At the age of 12, I received admission to Central Middle School in Meldro Gungkar for 2 years. Later in 1985,

I got admission in Buddhist Philosophy and studied till 1990. On September 27, 1987 I participated in a mass demonstration in Lhasa with four other friends. Many protestors were arrested and some were executed. Fortunately I was able to escape from under the hands of Chinese authorities and went back to school.The Chinese officials came to my school and ordered the students not to involve themselves in any political activities. For a consecutive 5 days, the police interrogated me and asked my whereabouts during the demonstration. Due to the mental pressure and tension from the interrogations, I took medical leave from my school and returned to my village. On my way home, there was extremely tight security and each individual was asked to show identity cards. During that time I showed my school identity card and they let me move.

The Chinese official returned to my home on the next day and because I had gone to visit relatives, the authorities accused my parents for their son¹s participation in the Lhasa mass demonstration. The following day, my father, uncle, brother, and myself were arrested by the Chinese authorities and taken to the police station of Meldro Gungkar district. The police repetitively interrogated me and my family members, and did not offer us meals between the hours of 9am to 7pm. At this time, I did not confess to the accusations, and was released home.

On March 5, 1988 I participated in the mass demonstration in Lhasa with some of my friends. A group of my friends were arrested and taken to police station, and fortunately this time I escaped.

In April 1990, my friends and I spoke against a Chinese official who came to give advice on the political ground. For this reason, I was expelled. Thereafter I was not able to get admission in other schools. As it was difficult to get admission in school I planned to flee to India. In August of 1990, I fled to India with some of my friends.

Presently, I am a committee member of Gu Chu Sum, elected in late September 2001 during the Gu Chu Sum General Meeting. Nowadays I am working in the office as Financial Minister cum Headmaster.

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