Naren Chandra Das, the last survivor of the small group of Indian soldiers who in 1959 escorted the Dalai Lama, fleeing Tibet, passed away at the age of 85. The ex-military regiment made it known today.
Tibet mission for Xi Jinping: “Buddhism adapts to socialist society”
by our correspondent Gianluca Modolo
Das, who died at his home in Assam last Monday, was twenty-two in 59 and had just completed training in the Assam Rifles Corps, the oldest paramilitary corps in the Indian army. It was he and six other soldiers who accompanied the Tibetan spiritual leader, who was then a young monk, on his escape from the Chinese troops, along risky Himalayan paths for thirteen days. In order not to be recognized, the Dalai Lama also wore the uniform of the company. The group’s journey ended on March 31 a
.
In an interview with a local media, Das had recently recalled that the young monk had been assigned a horse and that the soldiers who protected him were forbidden to speak to him. The Dalai Lama, who has since lived in northern India, and Das met for the first time in 2017, in an exciting meeting.
“I went to visit him in Dharamsala with all my family” Das had said “and the Dalai Lama embraced me”.
“Xi’s China is increasingly repressive: it is trying to eradicate the identity of Tibetans”
by Gianni Vernetti
.