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MUMBAI: The death of a Tibetan member of an Indian special forces unit in a mine explosion near the site of a border blast involving Chinese troops has offered a rare glimpse into a little-known group of elite warriors of great height.
Tenzin Nyima, 53, was killed and another commando was seriously injured in the blast near the shores of Lake Pangong Tso in the western Himalayas, three Indian government officials and two members of his family told Reuters.
Indian and Chinese forces came close to a direct confrontation in the area over the weekend over competing territorial claims, their governments said.
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Nyima was part of the Special Border Force (SFF), her family and three Indian government officials said.
The force recruits primarily Tibetan refugees, hundreds of thousands of whom have made India their home since the Dalai Lama fled Tibet after a failed uprising in 1959. Some are Indian nationals.
Few details are publicly known about the covert force established shortly after the India-China war in 1962. Two officials estimated its strength at more than 3,500 men.
Amitabh Mathur, a former Indian government adviser on Tibetan affairs, said that the SFF were “leading edge troops, especially in the context of mountain climbing and high-altitude warfare.
“If (SFF) were deployed, I’m not surprised. It makes sense to deploy them at high altitudes. They are tremendous climbers and commandos.”
India’s defense and interior ministries did not respond to a request for comment on the SFF.
China has long viewed the presence of large numbers of Tibetans in India as a threat to its territorial integrity. They are led by Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing denounces as a dangerous separatist.
He says he only wants genuine autonomy for his remote Himalayan homeland.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a news conference on Wednesday (September 2) that she did not know whether Tibetans were fighting for India, but called for caution.
“We strongly oppose any country, including India, supporting the secession activities of the Tibetan independence forces or providing them with assistance or physical space,” he said.
TIBETANS SEEK RECOGNITION
Within the Tibetan community, mourning over Nyima’s death has begun, video images taken by the family and shared with Reuters show.
His body was kept in a coffin covered with Indian and Tibetan flags in a refugee colony in the Choglamsar village of the Ladakh region of India.
Two grieving relatives and two Nyima neighbors told Reuters that an Indian government official who handed over the coffin told them that Nyima died “while defending India.”
The official requested that the family refrain from discussing Nyima’s 33 years of service with the SFF, said the relatives, who requested anonymity because they feared the Indian government could act against him.
The Defense Ministry and the Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to questions about the relatives’ account.
Photographs of the coffin and Tibetan mourning rituals circulated in WhatsApp groups led by Tibetan refugees in Leh, the main city of Ladakh, and in Dharamshala in northern India, the headquarters of the so-called Tibetan government in exile.
Some wanted more recognition for the service of Tibetans to India.
“We respect and love India for providing us with refuge, but it is time for the nation to recognize the crucial role our men play in the SFF,” said Lhagyari Namgyal Dolkar, a 34-year-old lawmaker in the Tibetan parliament in exile. Reuters.
“If an Indian soldier dies, the country declares him a martyr, the government pays a rich tribute. Why are Tibetan refugees not given equal respect?” said Dolkar, whose uncle fought alongside Indian soldiers against Pakistan in 1999.
A senior Indian military official said the SFF had played a pivotal role in the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to the creation of Bangladesh, as well as a quasi-war with Pakistan again in 1999 over the Kargil Heights.
The Prime Minister of the Tibetan government in exile, Lobsang Sangay, said his “government does not comment on the SFF.”
