Dissenting Voices: TCHRD releases English translation of Ancestors’ Tomb

The Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) is pleased to announce the release of Ancestors’ Tomb, a book written by a Tibetan university student in Ngaba in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

Mar Jang-nyug (pseudonym) is a Tibetan writer who was born and brought up in Marong village of Ngaba in the Tibetan province of Amdo. Ancestors’ Tomb reveals the oppressive nature of Chinese rule in Tibet. With his writings, Mar Jang-nyug bears witness to the suffering and pain endured by Tibetans and exposes the authoritarian workings of the Chinese government.

Through an array of prose and poetry, the book describes the dictatorial nature of the Chinese government, its relentless marginalization of Tibetan language and culture, destruction of environment through unrestricted deforestation and mining and its ever-increasing violations of human rights.

In particular, the book exposes the lie behind China’s claim that self-immolation protests and other demonstrations of unrest in Tibet are incited and encouraged by a so-called “Dalai Clique”. In addition to calling the claim baseless, the author goes on to honour the courage demonstrated by Tibetans from all walks of life in burning their bodies to protest China’s unjust and oppressive rule.

In Ancestors’ Tomb, TCHRD has used Wylie Standard system of transcription to spell the names of places. For instance, Ngaba is spelled as rNga ba and Marong as Smar Rong. This was done to preserve the unique voice of the author.

The book is being presented under the Dissenting Voices series.  Please click here to view our 2010 Dissenting Voices report for more information. Under the Dissenting Voices series, TCHRD will translate and publish writings and other works of art by Tibetans in Tibet.

TCHRD believes that the right to freedom of expression and opinion is one of the most important conditions for the full realisation of human freedom and justice. The right to freely and fearlessly express opinions contributes toward the robust development of human creativity, the sense of critical consciousness, and native instrumentality. These rights assume added importance in oppressive societies where governments and vested powers endeavour to strictly control information about human rights abuses.

Please click here for the full text of Ancestors’ Tomb.