Singing Tibetan nuns reunite to challenge China

By Alastair Sharp

LONDON (Reuters) - It has been a remarkable journey for the 'singing nuns' of Drapchi prison, four of whom are in Britain to raise awareness of the Tibetan plight, just as the world's attention is turning to August's Beijing Olympics.

Jailed by the Chinese for civil disobedience in 1989, the Tibetan nuns secretly recorded songs describing the beatings they received in prison, praising exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and calling for China to leave Tibet.

Now they are raising their voices again, this time in Britain, joining a growing international chorus demanding action by China on human rights.

The 14 nuns, jailed while some were still teenagers, were discovered recording their songs by prison guards in Drapchi prison on the outskirts of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, and their sentences were extended by between five and nine years.

But the first cassette tape was smuggled out of the prison and out of the Himalayan region, making its way to exile communities across the world.

"It is not very big, what we did. We just sang songs, peacefully, for the love of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and for a free Tibet," said Ngawang Sangdrol, who spent 10 years in Drapchi prison.

"They say we want to destroy the government, but how can songs destroy a government?" she asked.

On Saturday, Tibetan communities commemorated the 1959 abortive uprising against Chinese rule which forced the Dalai Lama into exile in India.