sasi
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Consigned to the dustbin of history
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The 'unacknowledged' brave men of the Tibetan Army's Special Frontier Forces fought well in wars which werenot theirs. They remain ready to defend India. The least one can do is remember them next November 14
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For most Indians, November 14 means the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru. It is not my purpose to comment hereon the first Prime Minister of India, I just would like to mention another anniversary, an 'uncelebrated' one, occurring on the same day.
~
The second one has for longbeen kept secret: I am speaking of the creation of the Special Frontier Forces, the Tibetan Army (also known as the two-twos) which was founded a week before China's unilateral cease-fire in the 1962 conflict. There is little doubt that the two events (Nehru'sbirthday and the SSF's creation) are linked, as sycophancy prevailed in India during those days.
~
Why was the formation of the Tibetan Army initiated on October 14? BN Mullik, the then Director of the Intelligence Bureau (and one of the main culprits of the 1962 fiasco) probably wanted to please Nehru on his birthday by telling him that he 'had found a solution' to China's military superiority. The Tibetans would themselves 'liberate' Tibet!
But Mullik realised he would need help for this; and he looked towards the United States.
~
On November 19, the day Nehru sent panicky two letters to the US President, acrucial meeting to answer Nehru was held in the White House. The then Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara,the Secretary of State Dean Rusk, as well as his Assistant for Far Eastern Affairs, Averell Harriman, a most respected diplomat and politician, were present. The CIA bosses were also in attendance.
~
The declassified US archivestell us: "McNamara urged that the first move be to findout what the real situation was. If we were to put our prestige and resources at risk, we must find out the score. He proposed sending a small high-level military mission immediately to Delhi."¦McNamara again urged getting a high level mission out to Delhi, including State and Intelligence people in order to concert a plan of action with the Indians."
~
Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison in their book The CIA's Secret War in Tibet recounted: "Also mentioned (during the meeting) was the possibility of using the CIA's Tibetan guerrillas. John McCone, a wealthy and opinionated Republican chosen by Kennedy to replace CIA Director Dulles after the Bay of Pigs, was onhand to brief the president on such covert matters. Joining McCone was Des FitzGerald, the Far East chief."
~
McNamara's delegation arrived in India three days later; during their stay, the CIA officials held lengthy discussions with BN Mullik.
~
According to Convoy who quotes from David Blee, the CIA station chief in India: "The Indians were interested in the Tibet program because of its intelligence collection value"¦Mullik was particularly interested in paramilitary operations." Mullik and his deputy ML Hooja made a special request during a session with FitzGerald and Blee. "They made us promisethat our involvement would remain secret forever."
~
By the end of the Harriman mission, the CIA and IB had arrived at a division of tasks; the IB with CIA support would train a 5,000-strong tactical guerrilla force; the CIA's Far East Division would create a strategic long-range resistance movement inside Tibet and the Tibetan freedom fighters in Mustang (Nepal) would remain under the CIA's control.
~
The honeymoon with the CIA did not last long and the Tibetan Force would eventually be built with purely Indian inputs under the supervision of Maj Gen Sujan Singh Uban (The SSF became later known as 'Establishment 22' or 'Two-twos' because Uban had earlier served as commander of the 22 Mountain Brigade).
Many are not aware that the Tibetan force participated in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
~
Under the cover of the MuktiBahini, the Tibetans infiltrated East Pakistan (soon to be Bangladesh) a few weeks before the beginning of the war. They conducted raids to destroy bridges and communication lines deep inside Pakistan's eastern province. The operation was so secret that most Generals of the Indian Army's Eastern Command in Calcutta did not know about the activities of 3,000 Tibetan jawans commanded by two Tibetan Dapons (equivalent to brigadiers in the Indian Army, also known as 'Political Leaders').
~
Though Major General SS Uban, (his designation was Inspector General) wrote his memoir The Phantoms of Chittagong, he only obliquely refers to his troops as Tibetans.
~
/continue below,
~
The 'unacknowledged' brave men of the Tibetan Army's Special Frontier Forces fought well in wars which werenot theirs. They remain ready to defend India. The least one can do is remember them next November 14
~
For most Indians, November 14 means the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru. It is not my purpose to comment hereon the first Prime Minister of India, I just would like to mention another anniversary, an 'uncelebrated' one, occurring on the same day.
~
The second one has for longbeen kept secret: I am speaking of the creation of the Special Frontier Forces, the Tibetan Army (also known as the two-twos) which was founded a week before China's unilateral cease-fire in the 1962 conflict. There is little doubt that the two events (Nehru'sbirthday and the SSF's creation) are linked, as sycophancy prevailed in India during those days.
~
Why was the formation of the Tibetan Army initiated on October 14? BN Mullik, the then Director of the Intelligence Bureau (and one of the main culprits of the 1962 fiasco) probably wanted to please Nehru on his birthday by telling him that he 'had found a solution' to China's military superiority. The Tibetans would themselves 'liberate' Tibet!
But Mullik realised he would need help for this; and he looked towards the United States.
~
On November 19, the day Nehru sent panicky two letters to the US President, acrucial meeting to answer Nehru was held in the White House. The then Secretary of Defence Robert McNamara,the Secretary of State Dean Rusk, as well as his Assistant for Far Eastern Affairs, Averell Harriman, a most respected diplomat and politician, were present. The CIA bosses were also in attendance.
~
The declassified US archivestell us: "McNamara urged that the first move be to findout what the real situation was. If we were to put our prestige and resources at risk, we must find out the score. He proposed sending a small high-level military mission immediately to Delhi."¦McNamara again urged getting a high level mission out to Delhi, including State and Intelligence people in order to concert a plan of action with the Indians."
~
Kenneth Conboy and James Morrison in their book The CIA's Secret War in Tibet recounted: "Also mentioned (during the meeting) was the possibility of using the CIA's Tibetan guerrillas. John McCone, a wealthy and opinionated Republican chosen by Kennedy to replace CIA Director Dulles after the Bay of Pigs, was onhand to brief the president on such covert matters. Joining McCone was Des FitzGerald, the Far East chief."
~
McNamara's delegation arrived in India three days later; during their stay, the CIA officials held lengthy discussions with BN Mullik.
~
According to Convoy who quotes from David Blee, the CIA station chief in India: "The Indians were interested in the Tibet program because of its intelligence collection value"¦Mullik was particularly interested in paramilitary operations." Mullik and his deputy ML Hooja made a special request during a session with FitzGerald and Blee. "They made us promisethat our involvement would remain secret forever."
~
By the end of the Harriman mission, the CIA and IB had arrived at a division of tasks; the IB with CIA support would train a 5,000-strong tactical guerrilla force; the CIA's Far East Division would create a strategic long-range resistance movement inside Tibet and the Tibetan freedom fighters in Mustang (Nepal) would remain under the CIA's control.
~
The honeymoon with the CIA did not last long and the Tibetan Force would eventually be built with purely Indian inputs under the supervision of Maj Gen Sujan Singh Uban (The SSF became later known as 'Establishment 22' or 'Two-twos' because Uban had earlier served as commander of the 22 Mountain Brigade).
Many are not aware that the Tibetan force participated in the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
~
Under the cover of the MuktiBahini, the Tibetans infiltrated East Pakistan (soon to be Bangladesh) a few weeks before the beginning of the war. They conducted raids to destroy bridges and communication lines deep inside Pakistan's eastern province. The operation was so secret that most Generals of the Indian Army's Eastern Command in Calcutta did not know about the activities of 3,000 Tibetan jawans commanded by two Tibetan Dapons (equivalent to brigadiers in the Indian Army, also known as 'Political Leaders').
~
Though Major General SS Uban, (his designation was Inspector General) wrote his memoir The Phantoms of Chittagong, he only obliquely refers to his troops as Tibetans.
~
/continue below,
