JAI HO! Special Frontier Force!

 

On 15^th June 2020 at Galwan,  there were stand-off between the Chinese and Indian Soldiers and in that fight no fire arms or explosives  were used. Instead, they fought barehanded, and with sticks and rocks. The restraint to use fire arms was based on an agreement reached in 1996.

Chinese soldiers had used nail-studded rods and it was stated that some Indian soldiers had fallen off the cliff during the fight. As PLA had chosen the night time and as our Soldiers were fast asleep, the casualties were high on our side. It was a treacherous and cowardly attack by the Chinese.

In that scuffle, 20 Indian Soldiers were killed and 76 injured in the worst clash between India and China Soldiers in decades. There were casualties in China’s side, but, the details were not available.

At an altitude of 4,300 metres (14,000 feet), the critically injured were exposed to low oxygen levels and sub-zero temperatures overnight, and transportation difficulties on the steep ridge over the valley delayed search and rescue missions.

On August 29 – 30 – just more than 2 months of Galwan Episode, in a surprise move, the Indian Army turned the tables on China by occupying heights in north and south of the Pangong Tso Lake and establishing dominant position in the Spangur Gap.

Since these high altitude peaks were now under our control, China’s troops and armour, guns, and military vehicle movements  could be easily watched and counter steps could be initiated with much precision, confidence and control.

Major Credits should go to Special Frontier Force – consisting mainly of Tibetans and Nepali Gurkha Soldiers.

Special Frontier Force is nicknamed as our Ghost Army, as it was a separate Army unit independent of our Indian Armed Forces, but, duly supported by India and under our control.

 A brief note on this Dare Devil Force viz. Special Frontier Force is necessary to know its valor and victories.

 Then Mustang Base in the Northern Border Range of Tibetan Soldiers escorted the 14^th Dalai Lama to safety to India during the1959 rebellion.

After 1962 India-China War, Nehru government had raised an elite commando force called the Special Frontier Force on 14 November 1962. Tibetans who had sought refuge in India along with the Dalai Lama had joined the force initially and as their population in India had declined, Gukhas from Nepal  were also been recruited to the force.

This SFF fought valiantly in India-Pakistan War 1971, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh.

SFF played a major role – cleared the Chittagong hill tracts, and also the Kaptai dam and encircled and prevented the escape of the Pakistani 97 soldiers along with Brigade and no.2 commando Battalion – all taken prisoners.  But for ceasefire declared in the midst of success story of our Indian Army, SFF might have captured Chittagong port as well. SFF earned the name of Phantoms of Chittagong due to its role played in 1971 Pakistan War.  SFF’s skill in war in snowy mountains was in full display in Kargil war. Last year SFF was drafted to give security to Amarnath Yatra.

It was used or misused in internal security such as Operation Blue Star and Emergency by Indra Gandhi.

Now, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is really fearful of our SFF, as the SFF had already shown their striking power in capturing vantage points and their aggressive power in patrolling ‘No Man’s  Land’  which was prevented by PLA quite often.

Tibetans had not forgotten the rape of Tibet by Dragon China and Lion SFF is all ready to teach China a lesson now and forever.

 Due to China’s Naked Aggression of Tibet, our buffer state viz. Tibet was eliminated and the de facto boundary of China became contiguous to that of India, a boundary deliberately left undemarcated to enable further expansion.

Mao Zedong declared: Tibet is the palm that we shall occupy and then go after the five fingers, Lakakh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

If India had objected China for its naked aggression of Tibet in 1959, Nehru could have been hailed and the failure of Hindi, Chini Bhai Bhai due to Chinese aggression of India in 1962 could have also been averted.

China has land borders with 14 neighbours covering an estimated 22,100 kilometres. China settled border issues with Russia and Vietnam after bloody clashes – in other neighbouring countries’  cases with money, trade and guile.

China had so far settled its boundary issues with 12 out of 14 and hence China may like to settle its issue with India as well.

India had strengthened its Armed Forces – Land, Air and Sea – in many folds and the morale of our soldiers are very high with discretion to deal with any emergent situations without waiting for orders.

Many Countries are supporting India as against China and China also does not want disputes escalating into disastrous state of war. That is why China more than India keeps the door of negotiation wide open.