TIBETAN STORMTROOPERS

[Guest guest]

The Rediff Special/Claude Arpi

 

June 24, 2004

 

http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/24spec1.htm

 

Twenty years ago, India went through one of the most

traumatic experiences of her modern history. Indira

Gandhi, the then prime minister, had to order the

Indian army to assault the Akal Takht occupied by

armed Sikh militants in the Golden Temple complex at

Amritsar. Several aspects of Operation Bluestar, as

well as the sequence of events that brought the

country and, more particularly, the state of Punjab to

this sad end have been described in detail by eminent

writers.

 

However, one aspect has never been mentioned. It

remains one of the most secret features of this

painful event: the participation of Tibetan commandos

known as the 'Special Frontier Forces' in the military

operations at the Golden Temple complex.

 

Before going into the background of this intervention,

it is necessary to point out the preposterousness of

the situation. Armed militants had not only taken over

the most sacred shrine of the Sikhs, but had also

fortified many places near the main temple to such an

extent that a siege could be sustained for several

weeks. In the West, Operation Bluestar has often been

misunderstood and depicted as an attack on the Sikh

faith. This is wrong. A few months after the

operation, while visiting Paris, I stood in front of

the majestic Notre Dame Cathedral and visualised the

weird situation. What would the French government have

done if militants had barricaded the doors and windows

of this masterpiece of architecture, most sacred for

tens of millions of French Christians?

 

France (or England if a similar episode had occurred

in Westminster) would undoubtedly have taken the same

decision as Indira Gandhi to recover the holy shrine

by force. For such a purpose the best troops are its

disposal would have been used. In reading the story

that follows, this basic tenet should be kept in mind.

 

The question is: Why were Tibetans troops used during

Operation Bluestar? Though it raises many other

questions, the answer is simple: because the SFF were

the best commandos available at that time, at least in

Indira Gandhi's mind.

 

The story of these men started many years earlier. In

1950, Tibet was invaded by the Chinese People

Liberation Army. During the following years, Beijing

began what they called the process of 'liberation' of

the Roof of the World. The eastern part of the Tibetan

plateau, particularly the province of Kham that

adjoins China, suffered most from the forced

'liberation.' But the local Khampas had the reputation

of being the best and the most fearless soldiers in

Asia since centuries. Alexandra David-Neel, the famous

French explorer wrote in detail (and often with

admiration) about the gentleman-brigands of Kham.

 

In the mid-50s, the Khampas organised themselves to

fight the Chinese occupiers. Under the name of 'Chushi

Gangdruk' (Four Rivers, Six Ranges) or 'National

Volunteer Defence Army' the horsemen of Kham inflicted

heavy casualties on the better-equipped Liberation

Army. In March 1959, a few hundred of them secretly

accompanied the Dalai Lama to safety in India.

 

Once the Tibetan leader was given asylum by Delhi, the

Tibetan soldiers were in a dilemma: should they stop

their activities against the Communist troops and

follow their religious leader to exile or continue the

struggle for the liberation of their motherland?

 

The decision was taken for them when, in late 1959,

several hundreds of them were secretly offered a very

special training. According to John Avedon, an

American journalist who investigated the Tibetan

secret war, selected Tibetan youth were first

assembled in Darjeeling. Avedon explains that a senior

official of the Chushi Gangdruk 'instructed the men

either to leave or to sign the paper, which, as a

recruitment form for the National Volunteer Defence

Army, bound them to obey to the death any order given

by a superior.' Forty-five years later, it still

remains difficult to follow their journey as they were

all under oath to not disclose their new activities

(in fact, it is only years later that they would learn

themselves their own itinerary).

 

>From Darjeeling, they were smuggled through the East

Pakistan border (now Bangladesh) with the connivance

of Pakistani authorities. After a long journey in a

sealed wagon and a car ride through East Pakistan,

they were taken to an airport. Finally they boarded a

small aircraft where, for the first time, they were

addressed by white men who offered them a very strange

blackish beverage. They would soon learn the name of

this strange drink, Coca-Cola.

 

After a stop over in Okinawa (they believed they were

in Taiwan), their journey continued. In the plane,

they received their first briefing and were given

strange sounding names such as Doug, Bob, Willy, Jack,

Rocky, Martin or Lee. Their suspicions were confirmed:

the United States of America had finally decided to

help the Tibetan cause and provide the necessary

training to help them free their country. After

Okinawa, they landed in a second island (Hawaii) and

then a city (San Francisco).

 

The next day they reached Camp Hale, a place located

100 km from Denver in Colorado that was used during

World War II for high-altitude combat training. There,

they received full commando training by the Central

Intelligence Agency.

 

When the 1962 war with China broke out, India felt

uncomfortable about the Tibetans being trained by the

CIA. Delhi was particularly disturbed by the fact that

it was organised with Pakistan knowledge. One week

before Beijing declared a ceasefire, Delhi decided to

act. On November 13, a clandestine Tibetan commando

group was raised. The Special Frontier Forces were

code-named 'Establishment 22' simply because their

first inspector general had been the commander of 22

Mountain Regiment during World War II. Today, they

still call themselves the '22s' (two-twos).

 

The force was put under the direct supervision of the

Intelligence Bureau, and later, the Research and

Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.

The first task of this entirely Tibetan force was to

guard the Himalayan borders and eventually cross into

Tibet to gather intelligence on the Chinese forces.

Delhi had learned the hard way that China was not a

'bhai' (brother) and there was no short cut to

reliable intelligence input on the Chinese in Tibet.

 

B N Mullick, Nehru's IB chief, was the main organiser

of the new regiment and Major General S S Uban of the

Indian Army, its first commander. Though aware of its

existence, the Tibetan administration in exile

dissociated itself from the venture. Violence was not

acceptable to solve the Tibetan issue. But the

commandos, trained by the CIA at Camp Yale, were the

ideal human resource for the Indian purpose. As for

the young Tibetans, they could finally dream of

fighting 'officially' along with the Indian troops

against the Communist forces and thus endeavour to

regain one day their freedom.

 

During the first years the Tibetans fulfilled their

assigned mission. But one day in 1971, they received a

message (conveyed through their Indian commander) from

Indira Gandhi: "We cannot compel you to fight a war

for us, but the fact is that General [A A K] Niazi

[Pakistani army commander in East Pakistan] is

treating the people of East Pakistan very badly. India

has to do something about it. In a way, it is similar

to the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans in

Tibet, we are facing a similar situation. It would be

appreciated if you could help us fight the war for

liberating the people of Bangladesh.'

 

For the first time, the Tibetans agreed to get

involved in a war that was not theirs: perhaps they

saw this as the ideal preparation for their ultimate

goal.

 

I have written earlier about the SSF involvement in

the Bangladesh operations, The Phantoms of Chittagong.

After their outstanding participation in the

liberation of Bangladesh, Indira Gandhi became

enamoured with the SFF. It was soon nicknamed as

Indira Fauj.

 

But their role and actions have continued to be

shrouded in mystery. Whether they served on the

Siachen glacier or in counter-terrorism operations,

the Tibetan troops never spoke. It is rumoured that in

1977, an AN12 aircraft was on constant alert at a SFF

paratrooper base with instructions to fly the prime

minister to Mauritius if her life was threatened.

Whether it is true or not, very few can say!

 

By the early 1980s, the SFF's Special Group had become

the primary counter-terrorist force in India. It was

therefore logical that Indira Gandhi was tempted to

use the '22s' for flushing the militants out of the

Golden Temple complex. Unfortunately, the military

intelligence had very little clue to the extent of the

fortifications in and around the Akal Takht. Once

Operation Bluestar was decided, the SFF were flown

from their base in Uttar Pradesh and assigned the

impossible task to isolate Akal Takht and secure its

western flank by 1 am on June 6 while the 1

Para-Commandos were to manage a foothold in the Akal

Takht itself.

 

The Bharat Rakshak web site recounts that the SFF and

1 Para-Commandos were immediately bogged down by the

heavy fire from the Akal Takht: the Tibetans 'started

with 50 men, had already 17 casualties (three dead).

With midnight approaching, casualties mounting and the

objectives far from being achieved, the situation was

desperate.'

 

What was in these young Tibetans' minds at that

precise moment? Were they still dreaming of a free

Tibet or visualising the holy Tsuglakhang Temple in

Lhasa vandalised by a so-called Liberation Army?

 

At 2 am, as the situation had not improved, the army

had no other alternative but to call for the tanks. It

was done after the clearance was obtained from Delhi.

The rest is history.

 

During the following days, the '22s' continued to

participate in the mopping up operations and it is

said that one SFF officer, serving as President Zail

Singh's bodyguard when he visited the complex, was

wounded in the arm by a sniper. The militant was

immediately killed by other commandos.

 

When Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her own

bodyguards, Rajiv Gandhi remembered his mother's army

and for a couple of months, the SFF provided security

to the new prime minister. A year later, the National

Security Guard was created by an act of Parliament,

and which replaced the Tibetan commandos. But the

training and uniform of the NSG were modelled on the

SFF.

 

Such a strange destiny: 'Establishment 22', created to

defend the Indian border (and for the Tibetans to

liberate their country) was ultimately engaged in some

of the most traumatic assignments in the history

modern India. Not only did this have nothing to do

with Tibet but these men were unable to fulfil their

own ultimate life mission: Tibet's freedom.

 

As consolation, they perhaps believed that they were

repaying their debt to India who had given refuge to

their leader. This way, they have probably created a

good karma for themselves and for the future of their

country! Who knows!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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