Assam Rifles veteran Naren Chandra Das, who had “received and escorted” the 14th Dalai Lama – Tenzin Gyatso – into India in 1959, has passed away.
At the outset of the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled Tibet with the help of CIA’s Special Activities Division, crossing into India on March 30 1959, reaching Tezpur in Assam on April 18.
The Dalai Lama (then 22), after fleeing Tibet, was then escorted safely to Indian soil by a seven-member team of Assam Rifles soldiers.
Naren Chandra Das (then 23 years old) was among the seven Assam Rifles soldiers, who escorted the Dalai Lama into India.
Also read: Assam: Unsurveyed inhabited areas of BTR to be mapped using drones
Naren Chandra Das breathed his last at the age of 83 on Tuesday.
Former Assam Rifles Havildar Naren Chandra Das hailed from Lokra near Tezpur in Sonitpur district of Assam.
Das was last survivor among the seven Assam Rifles jawans who escorted Dalai Lama into India.
Naren Chandra Das and Dalai Lama had an emotional meeting in April 2018 in Guwahati.
Also read: Go beyond reservations: Meghalaya CM tells tribal youths of Northeast
The Dalai Lama’s escape to India marked a crucial moment, not just in Tibetan history, but also in the evolution of Indo-Chinese relationship.
