Ani Pachen

Ani Pachen (Tibetan: ཨ་ནེ་དཔའ་ཆེན།, Wylie: A-ne Dpa'-chen) (1933–2002) was a Tibetan Buddhist nun who led her clan in armed rebellion against China.

Early life

Pachen Dolma was born around 1933 in Gonjo, Kham, Eastern Tibet. She was the only child of Chieftain elder son Pomda Gonor of the Lemdha clan. Her father had a younger brother, Pomda Yonten. Pomda yonten had a daughter, Tashi Choedon, who died in Kalimpong, India in the 1980s. At 17, she fled to a monastery after overhearing plans to marry her off. The monastery was three days away on horseback.

The Tibetan Joan of Arc

Now known as Ani Pachen (translated "(Nun) Great Courage"), she lived in the monastery for the next 18 years. She inherited the leadership of the Lemdha clan, returning to the outside world when her father died in 1958.

She led her clan in rebellion against the Communist Chinese. She led a guerrilla campaign of 600 fighters on horseback against Chinese tanks until her capture in late 1959.

Release

After her release from prison in January 1981, Ani Pachen went on resisting the Chinese remaining in Lhasa. She fled for the border when she learned she was to be arrested again, and wandered for four days in deep snow before chancing upon a friendly villager. She then walked for 25 days to Nepal. Her dream to meet the Dalai Lama came true when she was granted a personal audience soon after her arrival. She settled in Dharamsala in India.

Autobiography

Ani Pachen's autobiography, Sorrow Mountain: the journey of a Tibetan warrior nun, was published in 2000, and she toured the United States and Europe. In 2001, she visited the United Kingdom at the invitation of the Tibet Society, and led the annual march through central London to commemorate the Lhasa Uprising.

References

• "World Tibet Network News Published by the Canada Tibet Committee Tuesday, February 19, 2002 3. Ani Pachen, Warrior Nun in Tibet Jail 21 Years, Dies By DOUGLAS MARTIN, New York Times February 18, 2002", URL accessed 08/21/08

See also

• Political prisoners