Passang Lhamo is a

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

nun A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service and contemplation, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 5 ...

, former political prisoner, activist. Lhamo, a

Tibetan Buddhist Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Darjeeling, Sikkim, and Arunachal Prades ...

, was ordained as a nun at age 14. According to the Tibet government in exile, on 25 May 1994, Lhamo, along with four other nuns, went to

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

to shout slogans and to protest over the PRC rule. They were imprisoned by the police and placed in the notorious Drapchi Prison in November 1994 to serve a five-year sentence, charged with endangering state security. The CTA claims in April 1996 all the inmates of Unit 3 of Drapchi prison, consisting of nearly 100 female political prisoners, went on a hunger strike in protest of the harsh treatment they believed they were receiving in Drapchi. The week long strike caused the prison officers some concern that it might damage the reputation of the prison further if the inmates died as a result. They promised an end to the brutality. Lhamo was eventually set free on 24 May 1999, after five full years in Drapchi. She briefly returned to Penpo, but fled in exile to

Dharamsala Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibetan ...

in India where she now serves as a nun at the Ganden Choeling Nunnery, near the monastery and residence of the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

. There is also a Tibetan singer named Passang Lhamo, who has done much towards the cause of Tibetan independence, including numerous performances singing at various traditional festivals in the United States and Canada. However, contrary to some reports, she was not a Buddhist nun and political prisoner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lhamo, Passang Tibetan Buddhist nuns Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Tibetan diaspora in India People from Dharamshala Tibet freedom activists Tibetan Buddhists from India