Tawang revisited

China's objection to the recent visit of the PM to Arunachal Pradesh and the forthcoming one by Dalai Lama to the Tawang monastery, makes Ranjita Biswas look back at a personal experience in 1962, and beyond Nineteen Sixty Two.

The year is forever etched especially in the memory of people of the North East. This was the year when the Chinese soldiers came down from across the border via Arunachal Pradesh, almost unhindered, until international pressure brokered a ceasefire. Had it not been so, history might have written otherwise. They were near Bomdila, just 165 km from Tezpur in the fertile Brahmaputra valley. This was also a definitive year when the idealism of 'Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai' got a beating. The 'Himalayan Blunder' broke the spirit of Jawaharlal Nehru and political commentators and biographers say that he never recovered from the blow. Defence minister V K Krishna Menon, who propped up the idea that there was no need to defend the northern borders had also to bite the dust.

Now as the India-China border 'situation' again heats up, and charges and counter charges fly across the border at Arunachal Pradesh, with the Chinese objecting to Prime Minister's visit prior to the recent election in the state and expressing unhappiness about the Dalai Lama's intending visit to Tawang in November, there is certain sense of deja vu for me. I remember the tension in our house in Shillong in the autumn of '62. Indian soldiers were caught off-guard and they were ill-equipped to counter the attack. Meanwhile, Chinese soldiers were hovering around Bomdila. My grandmother was alone, though there were good neighbours, in our ancestral house in Tezpur. Suddenly we learnt that Tezpur was ordered to be evacuated. My father made a dash to the plains to fetch my grandmother. There was no bridge over the Brahmaputra then; in fact the first one to the north bank in Amingaon side was built only after this experience as soldiers had to be 'ferried' to the north bank to tackle the Chinese .

By the time my father arrived in Tezpur by a ferry via Silghat (where there is the second bridge, Kaliabhomora, now) he encountered an eerie town. People had left in a hurry, not even bothering to lock the doors, the streets were empty; the treasury was deserted. We heard later that the coins and valuables were thrown in 'Padum Pukhuri (lotus pond) at the centre of the town (and maybe some made a lot of money). Anyway, my father found that my grandmother had already left for the south bank accompanied by neighbours . Much-relieved, he again crossed over to the south bank but was now wondering where she was in Nowgong, the nearest town. Eventually she was traced to one of our aunt's houses.

All these memories flooded my mind when I travelled to Tawang on a bitter winter day sometime back. Famous for its Golden Pagoda, Tawang has only recently caught tourists' attention but for the people of North East, Tawang is significant as a place where the Chinese had made home for a long time preparing the 1962 war.

Skirting river Jia-Bharali (which is called Kameng upstream) as we drove up, names like Bomdila, halfway to Tawang, beautiful Dirang Valley, Bumla Pass and the ever-windy Sela Pass at 14,000 ft all brought those long- lost memories of the Sino-India fracas. Our driver, a local Arunachali, was an expert at driving at this difficult terrain and his favourite pastime seemed to be listening to Hindi songs. But at such heights when he drove with one hand on the steering wheel and the other was changing cassettes at regualr intervals even my love for Hindi songs took a backseat.

The Chinese still claim that Tawang belongs to China. Beijing in any case believes that around 90,000 square kilometers of Arunachal Pradesh is a part of south Tibet and hence it belongs to China. Tawang, by the way, was under Tibetan government even after Independence, till 1951, when the Indian army took over.

China's cracking down on protesting Tibetans made the spiritual leader Dalai Lama leave the country in 1959. 'He left Lhasa on 17 March with an entourage of 20 men, including six Cabinet ministers,' BBC on 31 March, 1959, had reported describing how, after a difficult journey, mostly travelled by night , 'He finally crossed the Indian border at the Khenzimana Pass, and is now resting at the Towang [Tawang] Monastery, 50 miles inside the Indian border.'

Tawang's 400 years old Galden Namgey Lhatse (celestial paradise) monastery, more popularly known at the Golden Pagoda, thus, holds an important place in the journey of exiled Dalai Lama to India as well as for the local Aruanachalis, mainly belonging to the Monpa tribe, a good-looking tribe of Mongoloid origin, who follow Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery belongs to the Galukpa sect of Mahayana Buddhism of which the Dalai Lama is the supreme head (though the Chinese dispute it).

As visitors were almost nil in that chilly season, December end actually, the monk- in- charge could show us around with ample time in hand.

The monastery looks like a fort from afar and can house more than 700 monks. There is an interesting anecdote around the name : in local parlance it denotes 'founded by the horse' (Ta= horse: Wang= chosen). As the story goes, following wishes of the 5th Dalai Lama, Merak Lama, a monk, set out searching for a place in 1681 to construct a monastery. He did not know where he could find the place and prayed for divine guidance. One day, after prayers in a cave, he found his horse standing quietly at a spot on a hill-top. Merak Lama took it as a divine sign and selected the landmark where the Tawang monastery stands today. Local Monpa tribe helped him build the monastery; even today they are responsible for looking after the pagoda. The 6th Dali Lama was born here. The huge monastery is a complex of many buildings -dormitories, meeting hall, school for would-be lamas, community kitchen, monuments etc. And, of course, Dukkang – the temple.

Inside the temple there is a huge 30 ft gilded Buddha made of wood. Priceless tankhas (scroll-paintings) hang from the walls while butter lamps spread a warm glow. Tibetan-style carpets with dragons keep the floor cosy and colourful. Our priest-guide informed that the whole structure was built by wood brought from Tibet, piece by piece, on horseback and assembled here under strict guidance. He also showed us around the museum attached to the main hall. The ancient manuscripts must be invaluable for researchers. These and the artifacts showcase the centuries-old India-Tibet Buddhist trail.

As the Asian giants are reportedly building up forces across the border due to recent diplomatic spats, I remember what our driver told us during our journey while whistling in tune with a Kishore Kumar song: ' China? Why China? We are Indians!'