THE DRAGON WILL NOT STOP HISSISNG

The debacle of October-November 1962 when China overran our territory in NEFA (North East Frontier Agency) disgraced us but also jolted us out of complacency born of the five principles of Panchsheel. The army retreated to the foothills to reorganize. The Ministry of Home Affaairs asked the Intelligence Bureau to set up intelligence out posts at intervals along the Mcmahon Line, a notional line drawn up by the British more than a century ago, demarcating India-China border. A large expanse on either side was to be the no-man’s land.  Armed police battalions were taken on loan from some states to give armed cover, in platoon strength, to these posts. Bihar sent its Gurkha Military Police battalion with me as the Commanding Officer. For us it was a non-family posting with free ration. We had the operational charge of the entire Subansiri Division with headquarters at Ziro. I had then asked the Director, Intelligence Bureau, how a platoon of armed police could take on the Chinese army  only to be told that we were only cannon fodder; our role was limited to keeping the IB informed  about the intrusion.

Few in the country had heard of NEFA, now Arunachal, until the Chinese aggression. The Agency was administered by the Ministry of External Affairs. The Chinese argued that India herself treated NEFA as a foreign territory and had therefore placed it under the MEA. The administration of NEFA was run through a ‘single line’ hierarchy of officials headed by the Political Officer who belonged to the newly created Indian Frontier Administrative Service. PO was the District Magistrate, Collector, Judge and Superintendent of Police all rolled into one. Under him he had Assistant Pos at the middle level and Base Superintendents at the bottom. In 1965 the area was brought under the Ministry of Home affairs and the PO was designated as Deputy Commissioner.  Entry into NEFA was restricted; you could enter only with an ‘Inner Line’ permit. In farthest north we had the McMahon Line. NEFA could thus be described in three ‘lines’. I detrained at North Lakhimpur in September 1964 and started for Ziro, hundred odd kilometers away, by jeep. My unit had already been there for some time.  My journey took nearly eight hours as roads were practically non-existent. The Border Roads Organisation were blasting away to lay new alignments.

Our outposts had the Chinese as next door neighbours. Local tribals, few in number, would carry tales from one side to the other. The Chinese refrain was how they did not look like Indians and how Indians had fled away in 1962 leaving them to their fate and that they should expect no better the next time. Luckily the threats and blandishment did not cut much ice. ‘Neighbour’s envy’ was writ large on the Chinese words and actions. During the Indo-Pak war of 1965, finding Pakistan on a losing wicket, China issued an ultimatum to India to stop the war or else. We in NEFA remained on stand-to alert for fifteen days by which time the crisis was over.

 I set out on inspection tour in November-December 1966. I may be the only IPS officer to have trekked along the Mcmahon Line for forty five days and to have inspected all my posts. Distance between two posts was expressed in terms of so many days’ march. The going was tough but then I was young and fit. There were no roads, not even tracks at places, and at places we had to monkey crawl and climb. I had with me my Gurkha bodyguards and some porters. Being hilly people Gurkhas were used to climbing up and down. Initially I found crossing cane suspension bridges over fast flowing Himalayan rivers daunting but soon got the hang of it. An army helicopter carried us to our post at Nacho and after that three days march to our company headquarters at Limeking. From there the tracks forked right and left to Taksing and Maaja. We spent one night at our post at Maaja at a height of 7500 feet.. Next morning as we were getting ready for onward journey when my platoon commander informed me that the Chinese troops about 100 strong had crossed into the no-man’s land and set up camp about a kilometer from our post, within  shouting range so to say. I decided to stay on. It now became a battle of nerves. Our standing instruction in such a situation was to stand fast but make no provoking gesture. So we watched and waited, eye ball to eye ball. It was the oft repeated Chinese tactic to test if we ran away in fear or stood our ground. After two days the Chinese went back and we resumed our onward journey.

Our next halt was Taksing a bigger place than Maaja and not desolate at all. It was the headquarters of Assistant PO. It was flat land with a Buddhist monastery, Lamas and yaks. At a height of 8500 feet it looked like an extension of the Tibetan plateau.  One of our patrolling parties had come across an empty packet of Chinmin cigarettes popular in China and an item of free army supply. Not much excitement there and we tracked back uneventfully to Nacho from where we were airlifted to Daporijo which had by then become my battalion headquarters.

I do not trust the Chinese. Their intentions are as inscrutable as their faces. They are bullies and should be dealt with as such. Our troops standing their ground at Dakolam is a befitting rebuff to them. Today it is Doklam and Pangong, tomorrow it can be some other place. The Dragon may not always spit fire but it will not stop hissing.

Sudhir Kumar Jha

Patna          19 August 2017

(Author can be contacted at  sudhirjhapatna@gmail.com)