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Nepal-based Khampas harass Chinese

By Ajit Bhattacharjea | Hindustan Times

Khampas and other Tibetan troops “are being quietly recruited and trained in modern arms in north-east India,” according to an article appearing in the current issue of the normally non-sensational news weekly The Reporter. The article is written by George Patterson, author of The Tragic Destiny and other books and articles on Tibet. It purports to give a first-hand account of a raid by Nepal-based Khampas on a Chinese convoy in Tibet last summer.

According to Patterson, “what is not fully appreciated in the west or even in India is that China actually fears for its position in Tibet — a fact that should not be overlooked in any consideration of aggressive Chinese actions along the Sino-Indian border. It is particularly in those regions adjacent to the disputed McMahon line and NEFA that a mountainous terrain combines with the presence of the Khampas to make the Chinese position vulnerable.”

The following extracts from the article describe the Khampa movement, their “raid” and the author’s comments on the role of India and Nepal:

“Today almost the entire Khampa force in Tibet is still intact except for about 4,000 who either died or were imprisoned in 1959. It totals perhaps as many as 1,50,000 or 2,00,000 able-bodied fighting men. The majority have guns, although the shortage of ammunition remains acute. The shortest line of supply for the greatest number of Khampas is from Assam through NEFA; Khampa leaders had actually planned a supply route through Wa-long, one of the points where Chinese troops attacked the Indian Army in 1962.” The Chinese have sealed off this possibility for the time being, although they still suspect India’s intentions in Sikkim and Bhutan where they cannot possibly patrol every pass.

“But it is from Nepal that the most serious threat to their occupation of Tibet could be launched. For in northern Nepal, where great numbers of Tibetan refugees have settled, there are some 5,000 Khampa guerillas.

“It was these guerillas that I set out to meet in March, 1964, in company with two British television colleagues. The Nepalese Government put every obstacle it could in our way. Finally, however, we did manage to persuade it to permit us to take what appeared to be an innocent trip into the mountains. What it did not know was that we had already established that there were Khampa guerillas, operating not far from the permit area.”

After describing their meeting with the Khampas, Patterson gives these details of the raid: “Twenty-three men were selected to take part in this raid, including the three of us, and we all would have to leave the valley without arousing suspicion or alerting local pro-Chinese spies. The arrangements were the responsibility of the civilian underground organisation in Tibet — the Mimang Tsongdu — which would also post guards at all exits of the valley, prepare food and supply guides.”

A convoy of four green, three-ton military vehicles, each flying a red flag on its nearside mud-guard, appeared on the road. Tendar’s (the Khampa leader) shot rang out the signal for the others to fire. The driver slumped at the wheel. In the rising fusillade the second and third trucks were also stopped in their tracks and the drivers killed. The fourth driver and the other Chinese soldiers leaped out and took cover under the trucks.

“The Khampas were merciless. With rifles, hand-grenades and machine-guns they kept up a withering fire until all the Chinese except one, who made a desperate run for the boulders beneath our ridge, were dead.”

Nepal’s Position

Patterson further writes: “The 5,000 Khampas in northern Nepal are much too strong for the Nepalese army to remove. This was admitted to me by senior Minister in the Nepal Government when I returned to Kathmandu. These Khampas were being supplied with arms, some smuggled overland and some dropped from the air. Naturally, they would not identity the source of these supplies.

“So far China’s policy of courting Nepal has served to keep the mounting number and success of the Khampa raids out of the news. The Nepalese Government is desperately anxious that the strong presence and threat of the Khampas should not be a source of friction between the two countries. Should China decide at any time to heighten tension or apply pressure on the Nepalese by protesting about the presence and activities of these Khampas, Nepal would be in a precarious position.

“In India the first tentative moves have already been made to make use of the services of the redoubtable Khampas. They and other Tibetan troops are being quietly recruited and trained in modern arms in north-east India. So far this has done little more than give the Khampas a boost in their morale — for money, arms and other equipment are still only on a scale sufficient to permit them to mount nuisance raids. But India’s interest, when viewed in the light of its previous reluctance to be involved in Tibet, suggests that eventually, a more important role may be found for the Khampa tribesmen.”

Copyright © 1965 Hindustan Times

Published in Hindustan Times