The Tibetans who fought the 1971 war

Last updated on: January 10, 2012 21:08 IST
By Claude Arpi

Dapon Ratuk Ngawang was one of the senior leaders of the Voluntary Freedom Fighter Force in Tibet, a Tibetan guerrilla outfit which fought Chinese rule and played a key role in the Dalai Lama's escape to India in March 1959.

After the 1962 Sino-Indian border war, Ratuk Ngawang commanded the Tibetan secret regiment, known as the Special Frontier Forces, SSF, or Establishment 22, based near Dehra Dun in Uttar Pradesh.

Now 84, Ratuk Ngawag lives in the Tibetan colony of Majnu Ka Tilla in Delhi. He recently published his memoirs (in Tibetan) in which he recounts his early life in Kham province of Eastern Tibet and the escape to India as well as the Tibetan participation in the 1971 operations.

In an exclusive interview, he tells Claude Arpi about the SSF's role during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-a-war-which-was-not-theirs/20120110.htm

(The next button for page 2 of the interview is in blue to the lower right of the "tags"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Indian_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War
http://www.historynet.com/cias-secret-war-in-tibet.htm