Guwahati, As the escape of the 14th Dalai Lama to India from his homeland Tibet completes 65 years on Saturday, the Assam Rifles, which was entrusted along with his secure evacuation, recalled its continued affiliation with the religious chief.

The fifth battalion of the power was given the duty of bringing within the Dalai Lama and his entourage safely by means of the North East Frontier Agency, now Arunachal Pradesh, to Assam as they entered Indian territory on March 31, 1959.

“The legacy of the 5th Assam Rifles’ escort of the Dalai Lama in 1959 remains a poignant chapter in the shared history of India and Tibet, symbolising the enduring spirit of friendship, support and humanitarianism,” the paramilitary power mentioned in a press release.

It added that the bond with the Dalai Lama has continued through the years, with a physique of the troop, typically known as the ‘the Dalai Lama battalion’, visiting the chief yearly in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh to hunt his blessings.

The religious chief has additionally saved his recollections of the fifth Assam Rifles throughout his evacuation, which he recalled throughout his go to to Guwahati in April 2017, the Assam Rifles mentioned.

He additionally met havildar Naren Chandra Das throughout that go to, who was a part of the group that had escorted him until Tezpur in Assam.

As a token of appreciation, the Dalai Lama introduced his private weapons to the fifth Assam Rifles, which are actually displayed on the Assam Rifles Museum in Shillong.

The fifth Assam Rifle was deployed in Kameng Frontier Division of Arunachal Pradesh in 1958 and its posts span over a big space together with Chuthangmu, Bumla and Chuna in Kameng Frontier and Longju and Taksing in Subansiri Frontier.

The 14th Dalai Lama had escaped from Lhasa on March 17, 1959, and on March 26, his caravan reached Lhuntse Dzong – a number of days march from the McMahon Line, the border between India and Tibet.

As information of the Dalai Lama’s escape unfold, the Indian authorities responded by dispatching a contingent of fifth Assam Rifles to make sure his secure passage into the nation.

On March 31, the religious chief was obtained by the social gathering of the fifth Assam Rifles and the individuals of Monyulat on the Frontier Post of Chuthangmu in Kameng Division.

He was escorted by the paramilitary power by means of Tawang, Bomdila after which to Tezpur, from the place he proceeded additional into the nation.

Following the Dalai Lamai’s compelled exile to India, the frontier posts of Chuthangmu, Bumla and Chuna noticed a mass ingress of armed Tibetan refugees known as ‘Khampas’, and the fifth Assam Rifles thereafter escorted roughly 12,000 refugees by means of the Kameng Frontier Division.

The power additionally recalled that the Dalai Lama’s escape marked a vital second not simply in Tibetan historical past but in addition within the evolution of the Indo-Chinese relationship.

“The Chinese Government considers the Dalai Lama a separatist threat due to his advocacy for Tibetan autonomy. The entire episode of the Dalai Lama fleeing through the Indo-Tibet border to India, irked China to the extent that it moved its troops to the India-China border and claimed vast areas of Indian Territory in Kameng and Subansiri Frontier Division,” the assertion mentioned.

The border outpost of 5 Assam Rifles at Longju in Subansiri Division was later evacuated following an armed conflict with the Chinese forces in August 1959, it added.

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