By Mayank Chhaya

[Photo] Migmar (known only by his first name; not the same as Migmar Tsering whose photo appears on page one), 34, served a prison term in Tibet for "sedition" before making the journey to India through Nepal early this year. He has left his wife and son behing in Tibet and doesn't think he can go back for now.

McLEOD GANJ--

Migmar was leading a happy family life with his wife Dawadolkar and one son in the Tibetan capital of Lhasa till April 1992, when the Chinese authorities "dumped" him in prison on charges of sedition.

"My life has been turned upside down since then. I have been separated from my family and have no particular future here," Migmar, 34, who was in charge of a government video-making unit, says.

He languished in the Drapchi prison from April 6, 1992, to July 7, 1995, along with 300 other political prisoners. Soon after his release, he began making plans for crossing over into India through neighboring Nepal. Since his arrival here he says he has been trying to make other Tibetans in exile aware of the "current reign of terror that China has unleashed." Some 2,000 to 2,500 Tibetans cross over into India every year to escape Chinese rule.

"I worked in the government for 15 years, but even during those years I was always supporting Tibet's cause. Finally, when I could no longer take Chinese injustice, I decided to express myself politically," Migmar told India Abroad. He began writing on the walls what the Chinese authorities considered seditious.

"Although I earned a good salary, I began to question what China was doing to Tibetans and their culture," he says. "We have no right to question whatever the Chinese do. We have no right to disagree. They are happy as long as we do as they say."

He says life in Tibet "is very tense, though people do make an attempt to find distractions." "But how long can you go on under harsh political conditions? This tension is bound to lead to something larger."

"Killings go on like before. While there is no open firing, there are many deaths in the prison," Migmar, seven members of whose family have been arrested at some time or other, says.

He recalls that after his release he told his family that he would have to leave because he had no other choice. He and three others came to Nepal together, often walking through inhospitable mountain terrain and facing danger to their lives.

"I was questioned by the Nepalese and Indian authorities but was allowed to seek refugee status here," he says. "I don't think I can go back for now. I will try and somehow keep in touch with my family."

He believes that China has realized that Tibet could well prove its undoing internationally, adding, "That is why they have stepped up the campaign against dissidents. But what do you do when the entire Tibetan population is dissident?"

There are thousands of Tibetans like Migmar who have somehow reached India. Not many of them want to express their opinions openly. Says one dissident woman who came in late last year, "China is a big power. We cannot face them alone. We need countries like India to help us." She reports that the Chinese authorities make no attempt to "understand what we are. For them, Tibet is a territory, a piece of land which they must hold onto at any cost."

Another refugee, an 18-year-old student, says, "More than having been denied our home, what we are worried about is the intellectual destruction of our people. We have been away from Tibet for over 30 years. If this goes on we might soon forget who we originally were. The fear of losing my identity often scares me."

He says in this context it is very important for the exiled community to preserve their art and culture, explaining, "Once we lose that, we have nothing left. We have already lost our home."