war on buddha

7/27/2019 War on Buddha

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A BOOK ON CHINESE AGGRESSION 1962


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WAR ON BUDDHA

Dorjee Khandu Thongdok


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WAR ON BUDDHAFirst Print: April, 2012

Price: Invaluable.

Author :

Dorjee Khandu Thongdok,

Rupa Bazar Lane,

Rupa, West Kameng Dt.,

Arunachal Pradesh.

Ph : 03782201259

Printed at :

Satyadevi Art Printers

Golnaka, Hyderabad.

Cell : 9963002465


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DEDICATION

This book is dedicated in the fond memory of my father Late Wangdi Thongdok and

mother Late Pema Wangjom Thongon who lived through the days of agony and sufferings

during the Chinese Aggression. My father was born in an average family at Rupa who lost

his parents during his childhood. He was brought up by his eldest sister late Kezang

Wangmu, W/o Late Netan Dorjee Lama [Meme Gellong] of Shergaon village who was a

Bhoti language teacher in Government Lower Primary School, Rupa. My father later joined

the Government service as a forest guard, after Chinese aggression he resigned the

government service and setup a small shop in Rupa market. He was sincere, hardworking

and has lot of vision for the development of the area. These qualities made him renowned

and prominent figure in the society and served as active member in Gram Panchayat and

Tupken Village Council before he died in 1978 at the early age of 48.


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Dedicated

to

my beloved parents

Late Wangdi Thongdok - Late Pema Wangjom


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FOREWORD

When I first read the manuscript of Mr. Dorjee Khandu Thongdoksbook War on

Buddha I was totally fascinated and elated. Earlier I have read several books on Indo-

China war, but the accent was more on war scenario, but never on the effects of war. Here

in this book Thongdok, vividly describes the untold sufferings of the fugitives in the wake

of the war, which brings tears to every tender heart. He carries us to every battle field andeulogizes the martyrs, who have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of our nation. The

citadels of sacrifice, which stand as an example and inspiration to every military man are

rightly given their right places. All the circumstances, which led to the martyrdom of our

war heroes, are discussed in depth. Besides the war heroes, the rich culture, tradition and

customs and heritage of Shertukpen and Monpa tribes of Arunachal Pradesh are given a

befitting place in his book.

He not only focused on their habits but has given a glimpse of the history of this

region. While many readers are not exactly clear on the reasons, which led to the Indo-

China war, Mr. Thongdok clearly explains the root cause of the conflict, failures on the

Indian side in the war policy and strategy, the superior combativeness of the Chinese and

the stages which predicated into a war; after prolonged research.

- Shri Y.D.Thongchi

Recipient, Sahitya Academy Award,

Indias Highest Literary Award.


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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Itwontbe fair on my part, if I dont mention the names of Shri Karma Wangchu, Ex-

MLA, Shri Tashi Khandu, Ex-MLA, Shri Netan Dorjee, Gaun Bura of Morshing village, Shri

Pema Sonam, Gaun Bura of Mandala Phudung, Shri Wang Dirgipa of Thembang village, Smt

Tenzing Pema, Shri Rahul Dam, Smt Rinchin Dema W/o Late Tsering Thongon, Shri Kesang

Nguirup Damo APCS, Subedar Dorjee Tashi of Gispu village, Lama Rinchin Tsering of

Domkha village and Shri R.K.Thongchi who have given their valuable feedback on the war.

As I began to think of all the people to whom I would like to express my appreciation for

their support, suggestions and hard work in making this book possible, the list continued to

grow. First I would like to thank my friend Mr. A L Naga Raju, who has printed this book

and made it available to the public. Then of course, I would like to thank to Mr. Rakesh

Ghosh, Mr. Satya Narayana and Mr. Chandan Thakur who toiled to type and correct and

read and reread this book, till a fine product has emanated. I am thankful to Dr. J V S

Srinivas for the strenuous efforts he has put in editing and preparing the final text.

- Dorjee Khandu Thongdok


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WAR ON BUDDHA

The almighty Sun was about to hide behind the Mountain Sungkhit-Phu in speculation

of dreadful moments to follow. The mountain Sungkhit phu is holy, as the Sherdukpen

tribes worship, and is on the guardian duty. During the month of November, the natives

give their offering in the form of a colourful ritual to please the mountain god. Basically this

is a festival of war hence a collective war dance is performed during the festivity of KhiK-

Saba to receive the blessings of the Deity. I was staring at the sun through the window of

my classroom. In the meantime, the school bell rang-tong, tong, tong.The Thumping of

footsteps could be heard on the wooden floor of the mud plastered lower Primary School of

Rupa village. Amidst the hullabaloo of the students eager to go home, our class captain

stood up with a smiling face and declared the class dismissed. I put my books, slate and

chalk into the local bag, Dawun and ran off the class along with my classmate. Soon I

reached the Kakaling (Gateway) of my village Rupa. The Kakaling is the entrance gate of atypical Shertukpen and Monpa village. The name of Rupa is given by the Assamese. It is said

that an Assamese princes was married to a Shertukpen king and her name was Rupa.

Therefore, the name of Rupa was given after her name. Originally, our village was known as

Tumpen-Lo-Me-Khar (Stone house of a man of south). Once upon a time, this region known

as the Mon-Tso was ruled by a king known as Tsawang-Gandan- Thong. The great ancestral

father of the Shertukpens, Ushu Gyaptem, over threw him out of the kingdom. In course of

time, Ushu Gyaptem established the Tukpon-Lho-Mee-Khar as the capital of his kingdom in

1500 A.D. Thik-Dzong on a hillock amid the beautiful green valley of Alpines between two

rivers namely Ziding Kho and Dinik Kho. This was in the vicinity of the Kakaling.

After walking a little distance with my school bag diagonally across my body, I came

across the four storied Gompa of my village. This Buddhist temple was built by Lama

Tenpaei Dronme in sixteenth century. Lame Tenpaei Dornme who was also known as Mera

Lama, was a renowned Monk who came from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet on the advice of his

holiness the second Dalai Lama in order to propagate Buddhism in the Mon region. Our

house was located a little down side of the Gompa called Thik-Khong means ancient village.

At a gentle pace, I reached my home. The Horse at my home named Yam Odok means big

house as this house was made by stone and mud plaster with brown mud, roofed by

capricious planks. Its plinth level was about five feet high from the ground having a raised

verandah of same height. The wooden flooring of our home was done by thick pine planks

and scants including the verandah. The steps were made of long flat stones, some

measuring more than four feet length. This was a unique structure and typical Shertukpen

dwelling house designed with indigenous architecture. Our ponies, Zorpu and Jamu tied

down by the ropes were in the stable. The mounted saddle on the back revealed me as if


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the horses were on the verge of a special mission to somewhere. When I entered into the

house, my father and mother were hurriedly packing up the luggage. Sister Anu Chandu

who was three years old only was screaming in the corner of the house. Come on, hurry

up, we are very late. Most of the villagers might have left the village by this time. put this

utensil in the Yung, the basket made by cane and bamboo, my father was hurriedly

speaking to my mother. What about the Ting? my mother asked. (Ting a box made ofbamboo and cane for keeping precious goods like gold ornaments, silver swords, turquoise,

Jed and coral necklace etc.). Oh, I will take it out from the Rapse, prayer room my father

said. And dont forget to take your gun (Mother reminded father).

Father had a single bore gun which he used to carry with him while taking a long

journey. The commotion and the tense situation in the house were confusing me. I could

not make out what is going on. I had no courage to ask either but I was getting curious, I

thought that we were getting ready to move to our winter camp at Doimara. On a second

thought it dawned on me that all the villagers go to Doimara only after our examination is

over and when the winter festival Khik-Saba concludes. So many things were happening

inside our home and I could just make speculations, when I heard my father murmuring

(by the time the Chinese attacked Bomdila, we should be able to cross the Paki-la, the Peri-

La-Pass, the highest pass at Eleven thousand feet height on the way to Assam, it is a

traditional route through Thongre Chaku Bungpu Khelong Doimara Foothills

Kamengbari Misamari - Rangapara). I could not believe my ears was I hearing the truth

.Have the Chinese invaded? But my teacher always says that Chinese and Indian are

brothers on the slogan of Hindi-Chini bhai- bhai. We even have a portrait of Chacha Nehru

and Chou En-Lai hanging on the wall in our classroom inscribing Punch-Sheel. My teacheralso told us that India and China have an agreement not to wage any war between the two

countries under the banner of Punch-Shil. Let me load this luggage on the pony; carry

Anu Chandu on your back with the help of Bima-Yo, a baby carrier cloth. Father said to

mother what about Abu Dok (my nick name). She replied he can walk on foot. I will

carry him when he gets tired. You lock the door and make sure that nothing is left behind

for those bloody Chinese father replied.

Father rode the ponies for the journey, while mother was locking the doors of our

home. In the mean time, Meme Gellong, husband of my eldest aunty, appeared along with

his mule named Kechhang. Meme Gellong who was a native of Shergaon village was a monk

by profession. After completion of his studies in Genden Namgam Latso Monastery of

Tawang, he went to Lhasa for his further studies in the Sera Monastery where he was

conferred with the master degree of Gellong. In fifties when the Peoples liberation army

annexed Tibet. Therefore, Meme Gellong was well acquainted with the behavior of the

Chinese. He was one of the monks who faced the atrocities of the Chinese during Tibet


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uprising. He said to father Ajang Khaw Wangdi , you load your ting on my Kechhang. This

mule is well experienced to escape from the war. I bought it from a Tibetan fugitive in the

year 1959 when they were fleeing from Tibet. Father acceded to his suggestion and loaded

the ting on Kechhang. A Kachingpo the village messenger arrived. He was completely

breathless. He said to father Obo Usu (village Head) says we should all flee through Rong-

goto via Shergaon. Meme Gelong promptly objected No, Rong- goto is a long passage andwill take a lot of time to reach Doimara. If the Chinese attack from Chaku side then we will

all be trapped. Better we flee through Peri-La pass which is a shorter route to Doimara,

father agreed.

Our entourage consisting of fifteen families and the respective ponies and mules began

our journey from Rupa. On the way to Thongree, we came across thousands of Indian

soldiers going towards Rupa in a single column. They were wearing Oozy coloured cotton

cloths and ammunition boots. They had helmets and the three not three rifle hanging from

their shoulders. They had a gloomy look on their face. Some of them were gasping as they

were not accustomed to such high altitudes and harsh climatic conditions. They had no

warm clothing either.

When we reached Thognree it was already dark. The entourage headed through the

darkness amidst pine and oak jungle. Nobody was talking. Only the trot of the horse hoof

and the chirping of the birds could be heard. At around midnight we reached Peri-La pass,

the elders decided to relax for a while as the entourage had scaled eleven thousand feet

through the stony tacks. We were all tired, hungry and thirsty. The firing of mortar could

be heard from Bomdila pass. The elders sensing that the Chinese were very close, called

everybody to get ready and move. When we arrived at Chaku, it was still dark. I wasmoaning with pain and exhaustion. Father lifted me and put on the saddle of Jamu and tied

me with the saddle, this was my first experience of a horse ride and initially, I was really

nervous and scary. However, after covering a few distances on the horse back, I got little

accustomed to riding. Father kept on enquiring whether I was comfortable. I replied I am

comfortable. Though the wooden saddle was very hard and was not at all easy, however, it

was better than walking on foot.

The distance from Chaku to Bompu was 10 kms. By the time we reached Bompu, it was

dawn. We could hear the crow of the cock carried by some people in a bamboo cage in the

entourage. We stopped at Bompu. Fathers friend Ajang Khaw Tsering shouted listen to me

everybody. We are all tired and our children are hungry, so quickly unload the luggage. All

the male members should fetch the firewood and set the fire. The ladies should make ready

the utensils and rice for cooking.

Accordingly Mother placed the rice pot on the fire, father took out his Thambung (a

container of local beer) and placed besides the fire, suddenly we could hear the sound of a


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vehicle. We saw a power wagon rushing down towards us in full throttle. When the vehicles

came near us we heard a man shouting frequently get lost, get lost run immediately

the Chinese reached Chaku.

A commotion broke out in our camp. Everybody was rushing here and there gathering

their belongings. The women and children were crying. Amidst all this chaos, I heard

mothers voice shout, throw away the rice, pack utensils, hurry up, bring the luggage, put

Abudok on Jamu, I will carry Anu Chandu. Somebody from the crowd shouted move

move the entourage hurriedly started to move again. The Horses present neighed

restlessly.

When we reached Khelong, the open field of Khelong was full of fugitives from Tibet,

Tawang and Bomdila. During those days, Khelong was a small Govt. establishment. There

was a Divisional Forest Office, a small hospital and a Sub-Division of the CPWD.

We saw a Helicopter hovering above us. The pilot was waving a red flag. Nobody could

understand what that signal meant. But on the ground rumours floated that the Helicopterhas come to rescue us. Hearing it I felt very happy, because we would be rescued, more

over I would be flying in the sky for the 1 st time in my life. The pilot kept waving the red

flag and flew away. The rescue never happened. Father comprehended that the flag must

have been a sort of warning to leave the place immediately. Soon we were on the move

again.

We reached Doimara. Most of the members especially ladies and children were limping

due to tedious and the restless journey. However, it was a great relief for all of us to reach

Doimara. Doimara is a second home of Shertukpens, all the Shertukpens migrate here

during winter for three months. In the camping days they go out for hunting and fishing for

their livelihood. Also they very usually go to Assam to collect betel nuts, paddy from their

fellow subjects of Assam which is prevalent from time immemorial. Two rivers, Biseri Kho

and Daman kho meet here and there is an abundance of various species of fish like silver

cup, local fish in these rivers besides the prawn.

A few hours later we heard the sound of a vehicle approaching towards us. Soon after a

military vehicle came in sight Father raised his hand seeking a lift. The driver was kind

enough. He stopped and asked us to get into the vehicle. But only the women, children and

old men were allowed to board, as the others had to pull the ponies and the mules with theluggage. During the journey a Tibetan lady vomited due to giddiness as she was travelling

by the vehicle for the 1st time. The stink made all the co-passengers uneasy and disturbed.

In the evening we reached Kamengbari. The Army one tonner stopped as it was the last

stoppage. We all got down from the vehicle. A few hours later my father and the men folk

arrived with the ponies and the mules loaded with our luggage. In Kamengbari there was a


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heavy movement of vehicles in the wake of the war. The Government had deputed a base

Superintendent to convey the refugees to Assam and we were ordered to move as soon as

possible. My father told everyone that since human life is more precious than any other

thing, so everyone should carry the minimum things required and leave the other things

behind. If good fortune prevails then we will get back all that we have left behind. My father

let loose Zorpu, Zomu and Kechhang, our faithful and beloved horses in the open field andsaid goodbye to them with a heavy heart.

The base Superintendent Mr. C.T.La at Kamengbari had requisitioned some buses for

the fugitives. We hurriedly got into the bus and started our journey towards Rangapara

through Missamari. On the way one of the buses broke down. However, since the other

buses were jam packed, the fugitives could not be lifted and had to be left behind with the

broken down bus. We reached Rangapara and the bus stopped near the Inspection

Bungalow. All of us got down from the bus. Uncle Gellong, Chewang and uncle Pema were

frantically searching for their beloved near ones. But I realized that they were in the bus

that had broken down on the way. The news of those separated families and their

whereabouts did not reach us ever since. I was glad and realized as to why my father and

uncle Tsering had accompanied us on the same bus, hiding themselves since women and

children were only allowed to board in that bus.

When we reached Rangapara from Kamengbari, it was dark. All the shops were closed.

We rushed to Rangapara junction. The platform was full of people, running around to catch

their last train. The compartments were all jam-packed, not even an inch of free space was

left in the compartments. Next to the last compartment there was a wagon. We found a few

people were playing cards inside; they were reluctant to leave the wagon and started anargument. My uncle Tsering got angry. He shouted at the crowd look everybody, the

country is in a great crisis the soldiers are dying in the war and people of the border area

are rendered homeless. The entire country is crying and these stupid persons are playing

the cards, enjoying and killing time in this wagon, while we are all tired and hungry. It

angered everybody over there. People thronged in the wagon, hauled out those four people

out of the wagon. We somehow got some space in the wagon and settled down. Soon the

bell rang and minutes later the train rolled out of the station, whistling and chugging.

The train had picked its speed. It was quite calm inside the wagon. Most of us had fallen

asleep. Suddenly a loud and worried voice woke us all. It was Meme Gellong. He was quite

worried and looking around in the wagon. His wife and children were not in the wagon.

They had failed to board the wagon during the commotion at the platform. Now everybody

was really worried and nervous. Meme Gellong started crying, I should get down now. I

should find my wife and children or else they will die. My father consoled Meme Gellong


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get down in the next station in Missamari. Meme Gellong got down at Missamari and went

in search of his family. There after his where about are not known to us.

In the morning we reached Rangia junction, from Rangia we boarded a train which was

heading for Guwahati. The construction of Saraighat Bridge over Brahmaputra River had

just completed. Our train entered the lower deck of the bridge. My father explained to

mother that the upper deck was meant for vehicles and the side railing was for the

pedestrians. My mother took out a coin from her bibing (gaunt) and threw it in the mighty

river of Brahmaputra. She closed her eyes folded her hands and prayed oh, holy

Brahmapurta, bestow us your blessing May we get back to our homeland soon. The

moment we crossed the bridge, it was joyous moment for me. The train entered Guwahati

in a gentle pace, Guwahati the biggest city in the north-east was very busy. The train

stopped at platform no 1. I was very happy to see some of the students from Bomdila High

School at the platform. As soon as they saw us, they came rushing towards us and greeted

us. They took us all to Sona Ram High School. There were no tables or benches in the

classrooms. The school was vacated to give shelter to the fugitives. The students and the

NGOs provided us meal. It was the best meal I had since I left my home. They also provided

us accommodation in the school. The necessary clothes and beddings were made available

to us. Every evening the students used to entertain the refugees in the school with colourful

programmes.

I made friends with five children of my age. Since the school was near the river, we

used to go to the river side and play in the sand. One day when we came back from the river

side we found that our parents were sad and had a very gloomy, look in their face. They

enquired as to where we went and where we were playing. Our parents scolded us. Theyreprimanded us not to go near the railway track to play near it. A Tibetan lady and her child

had been run over by a train that evening while they were crossing the railway bridge. It

was very sad news. Everybody in the camp felt sad and sorry for the lady and her child.

During our stay in Guwahati, my father went back to Kamengbari to collect his gun

which was seized by an Army Officer during escape. He also intended to find our ponies

and mules- Zorpu, Jamu and Kechhang. My father returned to the camp a few days later, we

asked him if he had seen the horses. Father frowned and told us that neither the gun nor

the horses were found. My mother asked my father if he met anybody from our village at

Rangapara and Missamari. Father replied that he met his brother Pema in Hagrajuli and

Cousin Peng Khai who narrated the happenings during their journey to Jhargaon in Assam

via Rong-Goto. Father further told mother that one group had reached Dhansiri and were

working as daily earners at Dhansiri bridge project. Another group had reached Jhargaon

safely and they had also performed the Khik-Saba Puja.


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On receiving the news that the Chinese had captured Bomdila on 18th November,

1962, the second party of the villagers packed their belongings and fled from Shergaon

through Rong-Goto, a traditional track used by the people of Shergaon to go to Doimara and

Assam. People were so panicked that they started running. The old people were carried by

the younger ones. Some old people were left behind, and they started crying. Pieces of

cloths were stacked in the bell tied around the neck of the horses so that the noise of thehorse bell could be silenced. Every one walked in hushed silence. Only whispering could be

heard. In mid way they were joined by three soldiers. One of them was wounded in the leg

by a bullet. They were also starving. The villagers then gave them food and whatever they

had. The soldiers then took another route saying that if the Chinese fire on them the

civilians would also be killed along with them.

The party crossed many tributaries of the Belsiri river. Many children had to cross the

river with the fear of drowning as the river was very deep. While crossing a log bridge a

three months old child slipped away from her mothers back and fell into the river. The

river swept her away and she was drowning. Fortunately, some of the youths jumped into

the river and rescued the little child. The party reached Chopai and halted in the deep

forest full of wild elephants and tigers. They could not sleep throughout the night due to

disturbance by wild elephants. The trumpet of the elephants could be heard from nearby

areas. Everyone was very afraid of the wild elephants. So far the people were scared of the

Chinese, but now they had the fear of wild elephants too. Everyone anxiously waited for the

dawn and wanted to reach their destination as soon as possible. Their resolve to reach

Assam made them walk for two consecutive days and finally they reached Jargaon. This

area is inhabited by the Boro people of Assam. People of Rupa have close ties, botheconomically and traditionally with the Boro people.

The peasants of Jargaon were very kind and hospitable. They provided ration

commodities to the people arriving from Rupa. They then went to a nearby grazing field

and pitched their camp. The youths fetched fire woods, the women folk fetched water and

the food was prepared for everybody. Everyone had a very sumptuous meal after almost a

week. They halted at Jargaon for three days. On the fourth day an official messenger

informed us that they have to leave Jargaon immediately and proceed to the nearest

refugee camp at Udalguri. The old women and the children were sent by train from

Hugrajuli station. The elder members went to Udalguri on foot taking along with them all

the horses. They stayed at Udalguri in huts for nearly a month. Having nothing to do, the

people sat around in groups and discussed about the war. Later they were shifted to

Dhansiri. All the heads of the household were employed in the construction of the bridge as

daily wage labourers at a rate of Rs.3.00 per day. They were also provided free ration and


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cloths by the Government. A temporary school was also opened at Dhansiri for the

children.

One day some Government Officials arrived in our camp and informed everybody that

the next day all the refugees should move to Brahmapur in Nagaon District. A bus arrived

the next day and picked up all of us to Brahmapur. We reached Brahmapur the same day; it

was a refugees camp. A series of barracks had been built with bamboo walls and thatched

roof. A room was allotted to each family.

One day a Government messenger arrived to the refugee camp with information about

the official program of the visit of the Honble Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal

Nehru. He would inaugurate the Soraighat Bridge and also visit the refugee camp. The

preparation for the VVIP visit in the Sibir began in full swing.

One evening all the heads of the families gathered in our Sibir. A discussion ensued as

to how the problems faced by the refugees in the camp should be highlighted to the Prime

Minister. The problems include no potable drinking water facility, no firewood for fuel, theissue of ration commodities to the refugees etc. Even for one kg of rice one had to wait for

weeks together. The Government was not taking proper care of the refugees. No medical

facility existed in the camp.

Since the Sibir was constructed far away from the town, there was no shop in its

vicinity. Once my mother asked me to fetch some twigs for making fire I walked a long

distance in search of the twigs. When I reached a village, a villager came running towards

me with a stick. However I ran as fast as I could back to our Sibir. All these problems were

discussed in the gathering and it was decided that we should place all these problems

before Nehruji through a speaker.

As per schedule, Nehruji arrived in the Sibir. All the refugees gathered to welcome

Nehruji. In the meeting Apa Ngerpala from Tawang expressed deep resentment towards

the facilities and the management of the Sibirs. He expressed the difficulties faced by the

refugees in the Sibir. Nehruji hearing the grievances of the refugees assured that all the

best possible efforts would be made to take care of the refugees in the Sibir.

The very next day onwards the Government Officials became very active and started

their activities as if they have been awakened from a deep slumber. The basic problems of

the Sibir were solved. Every evening, we all friends assembled at the house of Rinchin

Dorjees grandmother. She used to tell us a lot of stories and folk tales. The most interesting

story that I heard from her was that on Ling Geser Gepu, the hero of the story and the

villain was Hor Gepu. We used to term the Chinese as Hor Gepu after listening to the story.

My father was a very laborious man. It was not in his blood to stay idle. Every time he

was in search of work. One night he came very late. He seemed very depressed and


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frustrated. My mother served him meal. Father said to mother it is better to live in hell

than to live in a refugee camp. To become a refugee is itself a curse. It is better to be born as

beggar than a refugee because being a beggar at least we can beg around for food. But

nobody will give anything to us as we are physically fit. The town is very far away or else at

least we could get some work at the town. There is no land of our own where we could

grow crops. We even dont have our own house. We are homeless, landless and a refugee.How will I take care of my family? I heard my mother weeping from the bed.

When I woke up in the morning, father had already left for some work. I saw mother

praying and chanting religious prayers sitting on the bed next to me. I had nostalgia for my

own village, the lush green mountains, the fields, the rivers where I used to go with my

friends for fishing for my Gach-yam (Stone house), our school, our traditional Gompas and

our teachers. We have two milking cows. Father used to milk those cows early in the

morning. I was feeling very sad. Where must be the cows now? How is our home? How is

our village? I asked my mother Aami why did the Chinese attack us? Why do they want our

land? Dont they have land in China? When will we get back to our native village and stay in

our Gacha yam? Will I be able to go for fishing in Dinik-Kho River again? Will our school re-

open and will I be able to continue my studies? Will I ever see my village again? Mother

said nothing. She gently caressed my head and continued with her prayers. I was thinking

of my friends, relatives and all that I did in my village. What a wonderful and peaceful life

we used to have in the village. Now, here in the refugee camp, I could not wander around,

could not go fishing and had no friends to play with and had no school. All these thoughts

made me sad. I just hoped that the war will end someday and that I would be able to go

back to my village with my parents.As if Mothers prayers had been answered, a few days later a message came from a high

level official that the war was over. The Chinese had declared ceasefire and have returned

back to China. The news spread like wild fire in the camp. Now all the refugees could go

back to their respective homelands. There was a mixed reaction in the camp. People were

crying and hugging each other. Old people were thanking God with folded hands. Folk

songs and merry making could be heard everywhere. The nightmare had come to an end.

The people were impatient. They wanted to get out of the camp as soon as possible as they

had exhausted all their resources and longed to go back to their homelands and start a

fresh life again. It was really a very miserable life staying in the refugee camps. The next

day some of our villagers started very early for the journey back home. They didnt even

intend to stop at Doimara where they chose to stay for months during our winter camp.

A Nepali couple used to stay near our Sibir. He owned a jeep. He used to take father

with him to the town whenever he went to the town to fetch grocery and other items. He

must have come from the Foothills as father had a very good acquaintance with him. This


18/47

gentleman dropped us at the Ferry Ghat in his jeep, when we left the Brahmapur Refugee

camp. For the first time in my life I was going to travel by a boat. I was very happy; I could

see many large fish around the boat as it inched forward in the Brahmaputra River. People

in Assam called this big fish as Xihu. I assume that it must be a species of Dolphin.

We reached Tezpur and from there we boarded a train to Rangapara and halted at

Rangapara. Next morning father and his friends managed to get a vehicle which took us up

to Kamengbari. All the villagers who had fled from Rupa and nearby villages were coming

to Kamengbari. They intended to stay for few more months at Kamengbari till normalcy

was completely restored. It was a moment of joy for everybody. They were meeting each

other after many months. Greetings were exchanged and a lot of merry making followed.

People were also apprehensive. They were talking about our village. It reminded me of the

last day of Brahamapur Refugee Camp.

The base Superintendent at Kamengbari, who was deputed to look after the people by

the Government distributed relief cloths. He used to throw the cloths at the crowd and asalways the strong and able persons used to get the cloth. Life was slowly returning to

normalcy. One fine morning, to our surprise, our trusted Ponies, Zorpu and Jamu appeared

in Kamengbari, but Kechhang, another pony never came back.

The journey back home to Rupa from Kamengbari was very different. People were

happy as well as sad. An atmosphere of insecurity prevailed all the way. The sight of

ammunition boots, belts, burnt tanks, demolished, vehicles, mortars, helmets and rifles of

soldiers, graves of the soldiers lying here and there throughout the route made us feel sad

and filled us with deep anguish. It reminded us of the fierce battle that our brave soldiers

had fought in such harsh terrains and uncooperative climatic conditions. The splinters of

grenades, empty bullets and bullet ridden and burnt vehicles were testimony of the fierce

battle that took place in that area. Now they stood as mute spectators to the people who

were returning to their homelands. The old and elderly people prayed for the eternal peace

of all those who had laid down their life for our sake. This was my first experience of war

and its aftermath. The devastation was extensive and it was to leave a very lasting effect on

my life and memories.

We finally reached Rupa, instead of being happy, people were sad. The whole village

was in shambles. Many houses were destroyed. The field where we used to play was nowfull of litters. Ammunition Boots, Helmets and empty bullets lay all over the place. There

was an eerie silence in the whole village. The houses stood still and stare at us. The dust

ridden gully inside the village was empty. The whole village seemed very haunted. It

seemed like as if they were scolding us, so, ultimately you cowards have come back. You

left us alone and fled away. You handed us over to the enemy. You should be happy staying


19/47

in others houses. Dont you put your foot on my steps? Dont dare to set your foot inside us.

Rupa will never forgive you.

In due course of time after the war steadily discarded and village resumed to normalcy.

All the villagers got into their routine tasks. Over the period we had lost one academic

session. Our school was not reopened because our teacher has not yet turned up due to the

war phobia. The spring has already set in. It was very difficult on our part to kill the time.

So we kept on playing all around with our friends. One day one of our friends, Tsering

Thongdok prepared a plan for fishing in the small river named Dinik Kho flowing next to

the village. Though the river is small but it was a hub of local trout fishes. Its delicious to

eat if boiled with schezwan pepper, locally known as Se-ah and bamboo shoots.

Accordingly, we all assembled on the bank of river. We adopted one of the popular methods

of diverting the river known as Kho Lepa. Since the raw materials like boulders, sand and

tree leaves were easily available around It didnt take much time for the water level to

recede. As soon as the water became shallow, we could see fish rushing up stream and

down in search of the safer place to hide and it reminded me the dreadful moments of the

war which concluded very recently. Survival of the fittest Ae! What are you thinking, Dont

want to catch the fish? intercepted my friend Rinchin who was already engaged in

catching the fish. The boys were all busy to grab the best fish, then, suddenly a cracking

sound of a blast broke the silence in the downstream which drew the attention of all of us.

Tsering Thongdok appeared with blood gushing on the face and hands and fell down.

Realizing the grave situation we all rushed down to him. Around him we discovered pieces

of the splinters of grenade which injured the face and chest of Tsering. Later he died

succumbing to his injury. The news broke out in the village like a wild fire. From that dayonwards we were not allowed to go to the river for fishing.

In the bedrock of the war some funny incident occurred. In Thongre village some

Chinese soldiers noticed one of the houses in smoke. They encircled the house. One of the

Chinese went inside the house suspecting someone was inside the house. When he entered

into house he found a deaf man inside who was cooking a meal for himself. Finding no

Indian soldiers he climbed up on the wooden ladder to find any one on the second floor in

the granary. The deaf man abused the Chinese in his highest pitch of voice Get down

immediately, what are you stealing? I caution you to get down. If Mistress Karma sees you,

you will get a good whip.

Similarly, in Rahung village, a middle aged person could not flee along with fellow

villagers due to his grown up daughter who was lying on the bed suffering from paralysis. A

fellow villager entered his house to ask him to flee along. He found him inside sharping his

chopper. He said that I am helpless, I cannot flee leaving my handicapped daughter

behind. But dont worry, if the Chinese enter my house I will chop them to pieces.


20/47

A few villagers of Jigoan did not flee due to unavoidable circumstances. So, they

decided to hide in the nearby secured places in the jungle. While hiding for some days there

they ran short of ration commodities. Four of them decided to fetch the same from their

respective houses. When they reached their village they were encircled by the Chinese and

were ordered to raise their hands at gun point. Chinese ordered them to move to Bomdila

the Camp site. So, they all moved to Bomdila. The Bayonet repeatedly made them to movefast in the up hills. They ultimately reached Bomdila fully exhausted. They could hear the

beating sound of the heart. One Tibetan fellow, named Pejo, appeared before them. He

happened to be a black smith who moves from village to village for the purpose of black

smithy. So he could speak the local dialect. Therefore the Chinese deputed him as an

interpreter and he started interrogating them. At the end the Chinese understood that

these fellows were native people of the locality. Hence, the Chinese released all of them

providing some food grains which were loaded on some donkey probably left by some

Tibetan fugitive. Finally they came back to Jigoan riding their Donkey gorgeously as if they

have won the battle.

Soon Rupa regained its normalcy. The school re-opened. People went about their daily

chores. I completed my studies at the school and joined Bomdila Higher Secondary school,

where I enrolled myself in the National Cadet Crops(N.C.C.). Our N.C.C. instructor Shri

M.P.Tyagi beckoned me to the store room to get my uniforms. I went inside. He took out the

uniform from the wardrobe and issued to me. The oozy colour cloths suddenly reminded

me of my days of flight from Rupa. It reminded me of those soldiers that I had come across

on the way to Thongree. What might have happened to them? Are they still alive or they

dead in the war? The ammunition boot reminded me of my journey back to Rupa from theRefugees camp in Assam. I felt very bad. However, it also reminded of the brave soldiers.

Soon after I decided to visit all those places where the battles had taken place during the

Chinese aggression.

During the winter, the people of Rupa and its adjoining villages go to Doimara for

spending the winter there. However, this winter I decided to go to Tawang to know more

about the Chinese aggression of 1962. My friend Norbu also reconciled to my idea.

On a sunny morning, we hired a jeep and started our journey towards Tawang . The

jeep was very old and was not in a very good condition. It was a Class-V vehicle brought

from the defense auction. The driver of the Jeep was Dhan Bahadur Thapa, who was a

retired army driver. We took off our journey from Rupa Bazar line towards our destination.

As soon as I came across the Ziding-Kho River I was reminded of the battle of Lhagyala.

Lhagyala is a holy place located about five hundred meters above Morshing village. There is

a Gompa built by Khandu Drowa Zangmu, an incarnation of Goddess Dolma (Tera Devi). On

the north of the Gompa there is a stone which harbors the foot print of the hunting dog of


21/47

Gepu Kalawangpu the king of Mandel - Khang. Gepu Kalawangpu was fond of hunting.

While hunting in the jungle of Lhagyala, he lost his hunting Dog and followed the foot prints

of his dog. Then he came across a small house and found an old couple inside the house. In

the next room, he saw a beautiful girl in mediation. She was none other than Khandu

Drowa Zangmu. Enamored by her beauty, the King proposed to marry her. Hence she

became one of the Queens of Mandle Khang. On her advice Lama Katsen built the LhagyalaGompa many centuries ago. A little away from the stone, there is a secret pond called Tso-

Chang.

Beside the pond lie the war cemetery of Lieutenant Colonel B Avasthi and his party

who were killed in the battle of Lhagyala. Lieutenant Colonel B. Avasthi along with 300

solders of fourth battalion of Rajput regiment crossed the river Ziding-Kho at Rupa on

22nd November and took position on the ridge at Lhagyala the next day. The commander

was not all too happy with the strength of the solders as the Brigade Commander deployed

some of the soldiers of Rajput regiment at other places. The Rajput regiment was

positioned at Lhagyala peak to defend the enemy from advancing from Mandala Phudung.

On 23rd November morning this troop was heavily engaged by the enemy with Light

Machine Gun fire and mortar fire even though the Chinese had declared unilateral cease

fire on 20th November. The Lhagyala peak is basically a grazing ground of yaks and sheep.

Netan Dorjee, Gaon Bura of Morshing village still narrates the story of the battle of

Lhagyala. When the Gharwal Regiment stopped the Chinese advancement at Nuranang Sela

Pass for more than 48 hours, the Chinese having no other route to penetrate, diverted their

route through the Mandala ridge. The Chinese marched forward towards Lhagyala

Nyokrook ridge, sensing the advance of the Chinese troops, Colonel Awasthi and his troopshid behind the bamboo bushes in the field of Pangthang. When the Chinese finally arrived,

the Indian Army started perpetual firing from behind the bamboo bushes. This lasted for a

day and a night. Since the Chinese were in multitude, the Indian armies were outnumbered.

Col. Awasthi was captured and killed mercilessly by wrapping the bamboo around his neck

and pulling him with it. This pathetic scene was seen by a local yak grazer lad from a tree.

Both the Chinese and Indians suffered heavy casualties. The dead bodies of the Chinese

soldiers had to be stacked in the stable and kitchen of the Lhagayala Gompa and the empty

classrooms of the school and community hall of the village. Thereafter they loaded the dead

bodies on the horses and headed towards Dirang. Every horse was loaded with 2 dead

bodies. The caravan was so long that when the first horse reached Khelong the last horse

was still at Lhagayala.

Netan Dorjee also described that hundreds of Indians were also got killed while some

others got wounded. The wounded soldiers managed to escape to Shergaon village and

stayed in the local hideout. During that time some miscreants and half-crazy persons


22/47

reached Shergaon. The village was completely discarded since entire village fled away in

the wake of the war. Not a single human being and livestock were visible. When they

reached the middle of the village, they saw some smoke coming out from one of the local

houses. They all decided to go to that house. They entered into the house; one of them had a

SBBL 12 bore gun in his hand. When they entered into the house, they saw two soldiers

near the fire place. One was preparing food for both. The other one was an army officerwho was sleeping beside the fire place with a bullet injury on his leg. Probably due to his

injury he was unable to walk and they might have decided to stay back till the wound got

healed.

Initially both the soldiers were happy to find some fellow men around them who would

help them to go back home. On the contrary those people were not happy finding them in

the village. An elderly person asked his colleagues to drag them out of the house. They were

taken to the courtyard. Lest the Chinese should not notice them with Indian army and kill

all of them, the gunman of the group triggered his gun and shot at the officer from a point

blank range. Before he loaded the cartridge the co-soldier managed to escape. The ill-fated

army officer who had narrowly escaped from the bullets of the enemy has fallen ultimately

in the hands of their own countrymen. Over a period of time it was learnt that the killer was

originally from Bhutan and his name was Auchin Dakpa. He was a Vagabond.

While crossing the bridge over Ziding-Kho named Hoshier Bridge, the bridge was

named after Brigadier Hoshier Singh who was the Brigade Commander of 62nd Brigade.

While crossing the Hoshier Bridge I was reminded of the Bravery of Hoshier Singh, which

my uncle used to narrate me time and again. My uncle used to tell us the tale of Mandala

Phudung battle and the story would always start with name of the war hero BrigadierHoshier Singh. Uncle was very curious to see the Indian Army in the Army uniform. His

ambition was to become part of the Indian Army. Some of the youths from our village had

already joined in the Assam Rifles Regiment. Wherever they used to come back home on

leave, they were looking smart and handsome. So, most of the young girls of Rupa used to

fall in love with them. My uncle and colleagues were very jealous of them.

One day uncle heard about the arrival of some troops at Dinik Gisi, the river confluence

of Ziding Kho and Dinik Kho in the east of Rupa. At Dinik-Gisi, he found the tents pitched in

a row. A durbar was being held at the camp. All the soldiers were sitting on the ground and

Brigadier Hoshier Singh was addressing them. Brave soldiers, we have come here to save

our motherland; the nation is in great threat from the enemies. The time has come for us to

prove our worth and our true love for our nation. Do you remember the pledge we had

taken during the passing out parade? We pledged to never bow down before the enemy,

rather prefer to kill or be killed till the last breath. We wont let the enemy take even an

inch of the soil of our motherland. A coward dies hundred deaths, but a brave one dies only


23/47

once. Each and every bullet that shoots out from your gun should pierce the enemy chest.

You are soldiers from the land of brave kings and warriors like Virangana Rani Lakshmi

Bai, Rana Pratap Singh, Vir Shivaji, freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad

and Netaji Subash Chandra Bose. Your names will be written in Golden letters in the annals

of this war, Jai Hind. My uncle who was listening to all this came back home and was

greatly influenced. He started to walk around in the home like a soldier. Seeing him myfather laughed and told him to get the horses ready.

The Headquarter of the 62nd Brigade was in Bomdila. In the wake of the war, the

General Officer Commanding of Forth Infantry Division Major General Pathnia ordered

Brigadier Hoshier Singh to defend Sela. Later on he was withdrawn from Sela and asked to

move to Mandala Phudung to resist the advance of the Chinese advancing through Mandala

ridge.

The Army camping at Dinik-Gisi was advancing to Mandala Phudung and they required

every possible transportation for carrying the ammunitions and ration commodities. Nextmorning all the youth assembled at Dinik-Gisi with all the horses. All the ammunitions and

ration commodities were loaded on them. The Brigadier Hosier Shings party along with

the local porters and the horses crossed the Morshing river and they reached Khelong.

Khelong is a very cold place due to its high altitude. My uncle and other porters of Rupa

village had to sit around the fire set by them to get rid of coldness. A soldier rushed to them

and scolded them to put off the fire or else the enemy would locate this place. Accordingly,

they extinguished the fire. A little moment after that, they heard the firing of mortars across

the mountain from Mandala ridge side.

Next morning the party saw that not a single corn was left in the fields, due to the

shelling. Uncle put the ammunitions and rations commodities allotted to him on his horse

along with others and they proceeded towards Mandala Phudung to the north. At noon

they reached Mandala Phudung, unloaded the horses and returned back to Rupa. Later on

Brigadier Hoshiyar Singh joined his troops at Mandala Phudung.

The sun had just set behind the mountain Mount Mandala, when the Chinese troop

consisting of about 3000 men and women soldiers arrived at the Gompa which is located

on the top of the Mandala Phudung village, a Monpa village on the border of Bhutan. The

Chinese came via Mandala ridge probably, said Kejang Dondu. The inhabitants of thisvillage are farmers; however, some of them rear yak and some sheep for their livelihood.

This village is located on the left bank of Ata Ziding River.

Chinese took a little rest in the Gompa premises and started marching towards Pandok

Phu, a place located on the west of the village. Probably, they might have seen Indian army

across the river Ziding Kho at the location called Khram Jaksu.


24/47

Then the Chinese took their position at Pandukpu. Realizing the situation, the villagers

started to flee from the village. Of course, the Chinese asked them to remain in their

respective house to avoid from bullet hit on account of cross firing on the battle field. But

the villagers didnt comply with the instruction of the Chinese and took shelter in the caves

away in the jungle. By that time it was completely dark. To illuminate the enemy, the

Chinese focused the dragon light, aimed and burst on the Indian soldiers which resulted inheavy causalities of Indian soldiers. Although the Indians retaliated the Chinese sustained

less causalities comparatively. The battle lasted several hours. Probably, Indian army had

limited ammunitions; they started running away from the battle field. However Brigadier

Hoshier Singh took cover behind a rock on the bank of the river across the Ata-Ziding River

and resisted the Chinese soldiers advancing towards Mankhargur log Bridge point. But

finally he got killed. The Chinese put his dead body into a coffin made by planks collected

from the primary school and buried on the left bank of the river Ziding Kho.

The distance from Rupa to Bomdila is only 18 Km. But it took us one hour to reach

Bomdila because Bomdila is located 3500 ft above Rupa and full of U-curves enroute.

Bomdila is located at the mountain known as Thong Ja(meaning king of mountains). The

original name of Bomdila was Bomthe Lu means a mountain of thick bamboos. The altitude

of Bomdila is 9000 feet above the sea level. Hence, snow falls regularly during the winter

season. This administrative centre was established by Major R. Khatin, an Indian frontiers

administrative service officer on deputation from Indian army. He was a Naga by origin

thus he preferred to establish the Head Quarter of Kameng Frontier Division on the top of

the mountain in the year 1953. Barring Government employees there was hardly any other

inhabitants in the small township. There is a temple of the Lord Buddha which is located alittle away from the craft center run by the Government. The District head quarter has no

market except a small tea stall, where one could get tea and biscuits once in a blue moon.

There was a High School with hostel facility at the present Kameng Club building. The

political officers office was situated about two hundred meters away from the school and

the circuit house was located about three hundred meters away from the office of the

Political Officer. The houses were built either by the timber or bamboo.

During the Chinese aggression the political officer of Bomdila was K.C.Jhori, an efficient

officer. He successfully managed to evacuate civilians of the township including the

students out of the trouble water in the nick of time otherwise more civilian causalities

would have occurred in the wake of the war.

On 19th November the First Sikh light Regiment took their position near the school

building at Bomdila to stop the enemy from advancing. The enemy with small arms and

light machine guns attacked them with heavy fire. The Regiment retaliated strongly. The

cross shilling of fire lasted about three hours. Since, the enemy soldiers outnumbered the


25/47

Indians the Regiment had to face a defeat. However in this battle the enemy suffered more

causalities leaving behind two hundred fifty dead compared to 22 dead, 35 wounded and

16 missing on the Indian side.

The Chinese comprising of about seven hundred soldiers came out from the thick

forest and attacked the Indian defense position near circuit house which was successfully

pushed back. In the 2nd attempt the Chinese could over ran the Indians. In their further

advancement, the Chinese was taken by surprise when they came under repeated light

machine gun shelling hid in two tanks standing near the political office. With great effort

the Chinese could resist the Indian defiance. In the operation the Chinese sustained several

causalities as they were unaware of the sudden and unexpected resistance from Indians.

We did not stop at Bomdila since we had to cover a long distance more than 200 Km.

Luckily the weather of Bomdila was bright and beautiful. The snow clad mountain of Gangri

Tsen could be seen at a glance while crossing the Bomdila pass. The pyramid of snow is a

paradise of the mountaineers. A good number of mountaineers did scale summit in theiradventure trips. While staring at the beautiful mountain I could see Thembang village

which happened to be in the same direction as of Gangri Tsen. The village reminded me the

story of the battle of Chaku held on 21st November, 1962. The fugitives of this village got

trapped in the cross firing of Chinese versus First battalion of the Sikh Light Regiment and

the sixth battalion of eighth Gorkha Rifles of Indian troops posted at Chaku. The troops

had no tools for preparing their trenches. In the absence of the tools, they were digging the

trenches with the help of the masstins and bayonets. The men were busy in preparing their

trenches suddenly the digging noise was subdued by the sound of heavy gunfires of light

machine gun and mortars from the surrounding height. The Sikhs and Ghorkas tookposition started retaliating the attack of the enemy. Unfortunately the troops ammunition

got exhausted and they were totally assaulted by the enemy. In this battle Maj. J.S.Negi,

Captain Rajendra Singh, Subedar Nandu Rai were among those killed by the enemy. During

the battle, the villagers of Thembang, those who were fleeing from Thembang village to

save their lives got trapped. Four villagers namely Dorjee Pema, Lebi Tsering, Kukma and

Dow got killed at Chaku. These ill-fated persons, when reached Bompu realized that their

ration commodities have been left behind by mistake at Chaku without which they would

die in starvation. So, they decided to go back to Chaku to recover those commodities. When

they reached Chaku they were trapped in the cross firing and got killed leaving behind their

children. Later on the orphans of the victims were taken to refugees camps by the fellow

villagers.

Thembang is about 15 Kilometers by porter track from Bomdila and about 300 mtrs

above the Dirang Tsu. It is located on a plateau. On 16th November Maj Mani and his

company of 5 Guards reached Thembang in the evening and his battalion also reached


26/47

Thembang on next day afternoon headed by its commanding officer Lt. Col. Jai Singh. Due to

non availability of transports and mules, the Battalion could concentrate on Bomdila Dirang

road (from where the track leads to Thembang). The additional 3-inch mortars

ammunition had to be carried by unit personnel.

The Thembang village was originally a fort known as Thembang Dzone. It had two

gateways one from the north and another from the south known as Kakaling. The Chinese

which were pushed through the Luguthang-Poshingla Chhang La Thungri were split in

two sub column from Lagam.

One went south west to Chanthar and Munna Camp at 31 Kilometers on night of 17-

18th November and established road block to cut line of control between Bomdila and

Dirang. The other and probably much bigger sub-column went to Thembang and Bomdila

and established road block at Km 9 north of Bomdila. This sub column went ahead to

Rupa and broke up into three parties one going to Tenga, the second one going to Pirila

pass and Chako and the third to Phudung.The sub-column which was pushed to Thembang met a strong resistance from the fifth

battalion of the Guards Regiments at Thembang village on 17th November, 1962. According

to Atabu, a villager of Thembang who did not flee during the war was an eye witness, who

narrated the story about the Thembang battle. According to him the Chinese invaded

through Luguthang TOPGAY CAMP. Some of the grazers of Mago and the Thimbu villages

fled away while some others stayed back. The shrewd Chinese picked up two brothers

namely Kejang and Towchung form Mago village as local guides by paying inducement.

Later after the war they were arrested and put behind the bars by the Subsidiary

Intelligence Bureau (SIB) at Bomdila and handed over to the Central Reserve Police Force

(CRPF).

In view of the enemy attack the Political Officer of Bomdila deputed some political

interpreter to Thembang to vacate Thembang immediately on account of the Chinese

aggression. A platoon of Assam Rifles posted at Pangi-la gave some resistance for some

hours and burnt down their own ration store and withdrew. Later on the Chinese captured

Pangi - la and further proceeded to Poshing La and Tsang La where a Helipad is located.

Realizing the advancement of the Chinese, Three platoons of Assam Rifles positioned at

Poshing La, Tsang La and Thungri withdrew without giving any resistance. Incidentallya few Indian Air Dropper dropped ration commodities haphazardly, while those places

were already occupied by the Chinese. The Chinese Army was very happy finding ration

commodities dropped by the Indian Air Sorties. They further proceeded and reached

Lhagam and from Lhagam, the Chinese army were again guided by a person namely Dorjee

Jombu a local guide of Lhagam village and reached Thembang. By that time the Indian


27/47

Army had already taken position at Thembang village approaching from Bomdila and

Rhaong following the traditional track.

Thereafter, a fierce battle took place. Which lasted for more than one and half days as

per the report of Atabu who was an eye witness. He said, two Indian army officers took

position at Latsong a small hamlet of Thembang towards East of Thembang village. The

Latsong hamlet was strategically located at a commanding location in war point of view

and they could visualize the advancement of Chinese army from advancing from Lhagam.

The army commanders were sending signals to Bomdila defence post about the position of

the enemy so that they could be defended by the heavy mortar guns, while the others were

firing on the Chinese. Accordingly the army unit fired at the Chinese position about two

kilometers ahead of Thembang towards North of Thembang a place called Lungchur. The

Chinese army sustained several causalities including their Brigade Commander. Atabu saw

the body of the Chinese Brigade Commander carried by four palbearers decorated with

white flowers with full Military honour including blowing of bugles.

Approximately, five hundred causalities were inflected on the Chinese compared to 22

killed on Indian side. All the dead bodies of the Chinese soldiers were taken to Dirang. The

dead bodies of the Indian soldiers were recovered two months after the ceasefire.

The 5th Guard had to withdraw due to shortage of guns and ammunition. On top of that,

the Chinese outnumbered the Indians. Hence the Chinese captured Thembang on 17th

November, 1962.

The jeep was moving ahead in a gentle pace. Suddenly Dhan Bahadur stopped at the

mile stone of 9KM and informed us that this is the place where the Chinese established a

road blocked to cut the line of control between Bomdila and Dirang, the head quarter of Lt.

Infantry Division. The Chinese were successful to do so with the help of local guides, whom

they have used tactfully. As a result supply of ammunition and ration supply was totally cut

off subsequently the Chinese had positioned formidable troops in order to refrain the

Indians from clearing the blockade on 16th and 18th November.

The vehicle columns carrying Indian troops to clear the blockade were encountered by

the enemy at the block point. The shelling of automatic guns destabilized attempt of Indian

troops to clear the blockade. The tanks were also deployed but in vain. As such the 4 th

Infantry Division had to withdraw to Bomdila without giving any thought to resist theenemy

We continued our journey and reached Dirang in the evening. So we decided to stay

back in Dirang. Dirang valley is a wide and long valley with natural terraces where local

paddy is grown making a schematic beauty of its own manner. It was the Head Quarter of

the Fourth infantry Division during Chinese aggression. Major General A.S. Pathania was


28/47

holding the charge of the general officer commanding replacing Maj. Gen. Niranjan Parsad

after the fall of Tawang on 23rd October 1962. The Chinese conquered the Dirang Dyong

without any bloodshed. They were rather received by the locals, those who didnt flee.

However half of the villagers had already left the village. On arrival of the Chinese troops a

local cultural programme was organized. The Chinese lured the local people by extending

their helping hand in day to day lively hood activities as they did initially in Tibet beforethey ultimately over threw the monasterial regime. They helped the local people to fetch

firewood for fuel, in harvesting crops even building dwelling houses to influence the locals

in Maoism. They showed the documentary films on revolutionary movement of the Maos

people of China. They even hosted community feasts where all the remaining villagers were

invited. The Chinese presence resulted in no barking noise of stormy dogs as their heads

and skins were found in the river side just next day of the community feast.

Dirang is known for its warm hospitality, so, I decided to stay at my school mates

home. He is no other than Dorjee Tsering, who himself was a melodious singer and was a

great friend of Md. Rafi. Thus he used to sing Rafis songs during school functions and

charity shows.

On request of Dorjee, we decided to put up in his house which was located amid the

village and found it a similar type house we had in Thik-Khong. It was getting dark. We

placed our belongings at the corner of their house near the fire place. The flames of the fire

were endowing warmness in the room which was a mini hall. There was no one in the

room except his sister. While enquiring about his parents, Dorjee replied, they have all

gone to Buddha Gaya on a pilgrimage. He then turned to his sister and ordered: Dorma, go

and call your friends, all my bosom friends have come. You all should give them a fineDuang -Tsang as per our tradition and culture.

Duang -Tsang is a traditional way of welcoming special guests, by garlanding local scarf

called Khada accompanied by offering local wine made of Barley, Millet or Maize. It is as

strong as Vodka. Receiving the instruction, she immediately ran away to collect all her

friends. A little after we finished our supper, we found that eight young girls entered into

the house with some local Jugs of Ara and Khada . One of the girls placed a bowl made of

china clay and poured Ara into it. She garlanded the Khada on my neck and smiled and said

Tashi-Delek and did the same thing to Norbu. I gracefully accepted her honour and

thanked her, with this ritual, the Dung Tsang formally began. The girls sang folk lore and

danced in a single row making an atmosphere of joy and ecstasy vibrating the wooden

floor. The rhythm created out of the uniformly stepping of the footsteps of the young girls

on the wooden floor excited me to join them. One of the girls came out of the row and

pulled my hands to dance with them. Another girl pulled Norbu too. The spiking dancing

process continued till mid-night. I was tired and decided to sit down. When two of the girls


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sat on my lap and picked up the bowl full of Ara, the other girl pinched both the ears and

forced me to gulp the drinks. I swallowed three bowls and fell back unconscious. Suddenly,

I felt some one kissing me. With a great effort I could manage to open my eyes and found a

dog licking my mouth. I got up at once, and asked the dog. Why did the Chinese forgive

you?

The pleasure of cold weather vanishes the very thought of bath. But it makes you very

joyful if any hot water spring is around you. Yes, it was there on the way little away from

Dirang Helipad. I have not washed my body since a couple of days. Leaving behind Dhan

Baahodur in the jeep, Rinchin and I got down at the hot water spring a little downside of

the road to Tawang. When we reached the place luckily there was no one in the pond which

was surrounded by some oak trees and bushes. Taking advantage of the privacy both of us

stripped and took a dip in the pond. What a pleasure it was? The hot water spring cures

skin diseases too. In the meantime, we heard some ladies voice. Finding some ladies

approaching towards the pond, both of us jumped into the bushes as there was no time to

put on the cloths. We had no way out except to hide and seek out. A few young girls

appeared unaware of our presence though one of them pointed her finger towards the

cloth and said someone has thrown away their cloths. The other one replied, yes, the

cloth seems to be very old and worn out. Rather, I prefer to remain as a bushman than to

wear those worn out cloths Norbu whispered in my ear.

A few minutes later I heard the splashing noise out of the pond. I could not remain

without visualizing the scene; I peeped through the bushes and saw the gods own creation

with popping out eyes breathlessly. We waited in the bush quietly till the girls disappeared.

When we came back to the jeep, Dhan Bahadur was enjoying a sound sleep. I jerked

him up saying, Get up, the Chinese have attacked again. (a dialog, which has became

popular in every house hold the post war.) Dont joke like this; I cannot run away again at

this age said Dhan Bahadur while resuming the further drive.

From Dirang we reached Sapper Camp. I bought one bottle of Hercules Rum from a

shop, which I presumed would keep us warm in the chilling cold at Sela Pass. The Sapper

Camp is known for its famous battle of Nyukmadung on 17th November, 1962. The battle of

Nyukmadung was fought by the Sixty Two Infantry Brigade, who was guarding Sela till 16 th

November, 1962. After the fall of Tawang this brigade, which was entrusted to hold thedefence of Sela, was ordered to withdraw from the post to defend Dirang Dzong. Before the

commencement of the withdrawal, the Brigadier Hoshier Singh was ambushed by the

Chinese from two flanks, one from the Bhutan side and another from the Luguthang side at

Nyukmadung bridge area. The Indian soldiers got puzzled because of the unexpected

tactical move of the enemy. In the fierce battle Indians lost more than eight hundred lives

and many others wounded. Almost all the officers either got killed or captured.


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At Sange-Dzong the engine of our jeep developed a Snag. Our driver Dhan Bahadur

started working on the engine. While Norbu and I had a peg of Rum each, the driver said

that the engine was fine and we could now continue our journey. On reaching Baishaki the

snowfall greeted us. It was snowing very lightly and the cold started biting us. We had to

wipe the windshield of the jeep for every few meters manually as the wiper of the vehicle

was out of order. After a few Kilometers we found an Army jeep, which had skidded downthe slippery road while negotiating a U- turn. As a result the entire convoy of vehicles was

stuck up since long time. This reminded me the attack of the Chinese on the vehicle

columns near Sapper Camp resulting in many casualties on the Indian side during 1962

Chinese aggression.

We had to stop our jeep near the Army jeep and got down. Norbu was wearing a black

leather jacket. He went towards to the capsized jeep. Suddenly Norbu slipped and came

skidding down right back to our jeep. I walked towards him So you think you are hero.

Thank god, you had luckily skidded on the road. Had you skidded a little further, you would

shake your hand with Yamraj. We then helped the Army Jawans to pull the Jeep back on

the road, and bid farewell to them.

As we move onto higher side, the pickup of the jeep was slowing down because it was

nothing less than fourteen thousand feet altitude. So at this height the percentage of the

oxygen goes down resulting in low conversion of fuel. Similarly, I felt the engine of my body

giving similar problem. Obviously I was feeling sick of the height. On the contrary I was not

worried for that because I had a tonic which I brought at Sapper camp. I took out the bottle

at once and asked Dhan Bahadur to stop the jeep immediately. He stopped at a passing

platform where we could have an aerial view of the lower mountains below. What athrilling site it was just beneath us. I got a fantastic thought that had I been a bird, I would

have flown on the top of the clouds floating below. Suddenly some glaring object

obstructed my sight and it was nothing but the steel glass. Would you not pour a peg of

rum to me? Norbu asked me. Oh I am sorry, I was in different world, I replied. I was

shivering out of coldness and also my fingers were numb. So, I took little more time to open

the lid of the bottle and poured the rum into his glass. He took a handful of ice and the rum

and said This is the only benefit of the snow. I asked Norbu to bottom up the glass and fill

something for me too till I go and obey the natures call showing him my little finger on the

hill side of the road, carefully lest. So with great difficulty I could open my buttons. Come

on! your peg is ready how much ice do you want? An avalanche or a glacier Norbu teased

me with a smiling face. This is greatness of the liquor, see you are all smiling amidst such

adverse climatic conditions I replied to him. After taking a sip we were again on the move.

We are now reaching SelaPass said Dhan Bahadur. We got excited. We heard a lot

about the Sela Pass, its snow, the lake and the great show of bravery by Jaswant Singh and


31/47

Captain R.D. Rosario during the Chinese aggression. Now we were here, the scenic beauty

of Sela was breathtaking. The lake was surrounded by snow clad mountain peaks. We could

also see a pair of Siberian Cranes in the lake. The lake seemed like a Chinese bowl half filled

by port wine. This must have been turned to red wine during the war when captain

Rossoria of the Forth Battalion of Sikh Light Regiment gunned down several Chinese on

16th November, 1962 when he was ambushed by the enemy and killed.

Hawaldar Govind Kamble, the section commander bore the full brunt of the bursting

grenades and both his legs were blown off. Undaunted by this, the gallant commander

ordered his section to retreat while he himself took possession of the gun to stop the

advancing Chinese. He inflicted several causalities on the enemy and his gun continued

firing till it was silenced forever. He was awarded Vir Chakra posthumously for his bravery

and his sacrifices.

After the withdrawal of the Indian troops from Tawang, the Lieutenant of Gharwal

Rifles was deployed in Nuranang and Sela to establish a formidable defence at the narrowpass of Sela. Hence a powerful defense was setup to halt the advance of the Chinese Army.

The Chinese attempted to penetrate through the narrow passage but without any success.

Hence Chinese disguised in Monpa dress tried to penetrate the defense of the Indian army.

But this attempt was once again foiled by platoon commander Jem Pratap Singh. This was

followed by waves of attacks at the front and the left defence. The Chinese were

successfully defended and were forced to withdraw. Subsequently Chinese started shelling

medium light machine guns. This retaliation could not give any impact on the enemy, since

they were comparatively stronger and well equipped. Ultimately three of the Indian

soldiers namely Trilok Singh, Jaswant Singh and Gopal Singh volunteered to silence theChinese Medium Machine gun which was creating havoc for the Indian troops. They

decided to get as close as possible to the MMG and snatch it physically if required. These

three brave soldiers armed with grenades for their own self-defense, crawled ahead, Trilok

Singh provided cover fire to Jaswant and his comrade with his stand gun. When Jaswant

came as close as possible to the MMG then he started up and went to the post. At the

enemies post he came across some Chinese still holding their breath fully armed. He killed

them and holding the MMG and rushed back to the Indian post. But when he reached the

Indian post with the MMG he was hit by a bullet on his head. So Gopal Singh who himself

was badly injured dragged Jaswant and the MMG to the Indian post. It is said that this

whole incident took only fifteen minutes but these fifteen minutes of bravery changed the

entire scenario of the battle. In absence of the MMG with the enemy the Indians could hit

back the enemy with Indians LMG. The myth of the invincible Chinese was shattered. The

Indian Defense was now successfully holding its post and thwarting any attempt of the


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Chinese to advance any further. In this battle approximately three hundred Chinese were

shot to death and eight were wounded compared to two Indian soldiers killed.

Dhan Bahadur narrated this story to us. During the period of war he used to drive an

army one tonner. Traveling a little distance we came across the cemetery of Jaswant Singh.

We stopped our jeep and got down to have a glance of Jaswant bunker. It was covered with

CGI sheets. Entering into the bunker we found a bed covered with a white bed sheet. There

were coins lying here and there. The room was filled by the aroma of the burning incense

sticks, which the visitors had burned. I also took out some coins from my pocket and placed

it on the bed, and paid my homage to the photograph of Jaswant Singh placed on the bed

with flowers. Inside my mind, I was realizing that this is the hero who vanquished the

enemy single handed; probably he should be one of the soldiers whom I mate during our

escape to Assam during Chinese invasion.

We further resumed our journey towards Tawang. It was already dusk by that time. So

after traveling some distance we reached Jang. We dropped at the house of Namge Tsering,the Gaon Bura of Jang village and we decided to stay in his house over night as it was

already dark and the head light of the Jeep was not in order. He was a fine gentleman. He

gave us the best hospitality during our stay. Taking this advantage I requested him to

narrate some memories of the China war.

He stated that the original name of the village is Jang Yutha Nbu. He was sixteen years

old during the Chinese aggression. He came to know that the Chinese reached Tawang.

There was a big store of Border Road Task Force at Khirmu which was gutted in fire. That

time the villagers of Jang were harvesting Millet in their respective agricultural fields. All

the farmers left their fields and came back home and they prepared to escape sensing the

danger of war the same night. The villagers resorted to the jungles in the caves along with

all the belongings.

They could only carry the food grains since they had to carry their elderly persons and

kids, those who were unable to walk. One lama named Pem Tsering was hit by the bullet on

the head. One of his eyes was injured badly. They could see the shelling of mortar and

grenade bullets.

The Chinese were positioned at Jumba Che across the river Tawang Tsu. The Assam

Rifles posted in Jang retaliated to give resistance to shelling of mortars. The Chinese werenot seen in the daylight as they dug individual trenches for which they would carry small

crowbar and shovel.

They never cooked to avoid smoke. While the Indians, carry their ration commodities

and utensils, on their back during the war, the Chinese have a peculiar way of carrying five

fried commodities, like fried barley, soyabean, chilli powder, salt and wheat flour, in a tube


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of cloth worn diagonally across the body, mainly to reduce the weight of carrying and avoid

cooking process. During their journey they would directly eat this mixed flour recipe,

whenever they are hungry. In the night only they would come out of the trench in a platoon

consisting of 20 soldiers. A Tibetan guide was attached who would guide them and play the

role of interpreter. Finding the Chinese advancing to Jang, the Indian army engineers blew

up the bridge 4, which was the only Motarable Bridge over Tawang Tsu connecting Jangwith Tawang. As a result many Indian soldiers got trapped on the other side, those who

were either captured or got killed. Later on the Chinese re-constructed this bridge with the

help of the stones, demolishing a long Buddhist mane which was 100 mtrs long Monument

located on right bank of Tawang Tsu at the original site.

They threw all the items into the river as they had sufficient man power there by,

making it motorable once again. The Chinese cut all the communication cables to disrupt

the telecommunication between the Indian troops. They crossed the river and made

individual trenches in the nearby jungles of Jang, Yuthem Bu and Kharsu villages.

The fugitives crossed Sela and reached Kalaktang via Sela Dirang, Morshing after 10

days of tedious journey. When the villagers, came back to Jang, they found nothing in their

houses. After the war was over, they found several dogs eating the dead bodies of Assam

Rifles and Army infantry. The entire area was stinking for 3 to 4 months.

Next morning we started for Tawang. When we reached bridge 4 we found the bridge

was under renovation. We were stranded for four hours at bridge 4. A little distance

downstream, Dhan Bahadur saw some butchery. He immediately took out his carry bags

and ran down to get a few kilograms of Pork which the Nepalie s relish too much. Within no

time he rushed back to the jeep gasping in shock and informed us that those persons were

chopping human flesh. At once I could make out that someone has died and these people

would be offering hundred and eight pieces of flesh to the fishes. It is the belief of the

Monpas that the deceased attain the heavenly kingdom, when such an act as above is

performed.

Finally, the bridge got renovated and we could cross the only motorable bridge over

Tawang Tsu to reach Tawang. We reached Tawang late at night. We headed straight to the

house of Kunga, a classmate of mine. He greeted us with warm salt tea. The warmth of the

fire place was a great relief. After taking our dinner I went into a deep slumber. Suddenly Ifelt like somebody was jerking me. I opened my eyes to find Kunga standing besides my cot

with the cup of warm salt tea. He said wake up, Abudok, have this tea. Go outside and have

a view of Tawang. You will like this paradise. This was my first visit to Tawang and I had

heard a lot of tales about its beauty. I woke up, went out holding the cup of tea.


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The sight outside made me speechless. The sun rays were falling on the snow clad

mountains looking like petals. Its reflection from the snow had created a view of mixed

colours. It seemed as if the mountain peaks were painted in different colours. The Tawang

Monastery stood majestically on a hillock looked like another. The reflection of sunrays on

the golden roofs and the White walls of the stone houses and the boundary wall looked like

a ship in the ocean on high tide. This is one of the largest centres for Buddhist learning. Thesurrounding of the monastery was lush green with trees. This place is chosen by Mera

Lama Lodoe Gyatso, a learned Buddhist monk, who commissioned and built this monastery

in 1682 A.D. Legends say that while on his quest for nirvana Mera Lama went to many

places to select an ideal location for a Gompa (Buddhist Temple). Once he came here, since

it was dark he decided to halt. At night, in his dream he saw that a white horse digging this

particular hillock with its hooves. The white horse ultimately dug a pond on the hillock.

When he woke up he prayed and contemplated upon this divine sign and decided to build a

shrine.. So he constructed the monastery, Genden Namgyal Latso and named this place as

Tawang. Ta-means horse and Wang means blessing.

Kunga, my classmate and guide took us to the monastery. Approaching the monastery

we first came across a Dungjyor a temple of biff prayer wheels rotated by the hydro

power force of the flowing water. We found some Army Jawans taking bath in this chilling

water. It made me shiver from top to bottom. Yes the Jawans were now well acclimatized to

this kind of climate and they could withstand the cold. Opposite of the Dungjyor, was the

Kakaling, the entrance gate. The doors of the Kakaling were very huge, made out of wood,

which was more than 6 inches thick. The door was beautifully decorated with murals made

out of copper. We climbed a series of stone footsteps from the Kakaling to the maincompound of the monastery. In the centre stood the religious flag hoisted on a huge tall

wooden pole with a girth of approximately 3 meters and 20 meters in height. I wondered

how could such a huge pole be brought and erected here. I realized that the people of

Tawang are very religious and hard working. How many people might have come together

to just bring this pole from the jungle.

We entered the main monastery. The aroma of the Petant (a local incense stick)

welcomed us. The room was lit with many butter lamps burnt by the monks and devotees

who had visited this monastery early in the morning. A l

war on buddha

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