The Chinese army invaded
Tibet in Lhasa in the 18th century and thus became the origin of the tension between China and Tibet. The formation
of the Chushi Gangdruk Volunteer Force was announced on June 16, 1958.
"Chushi Gangdruk" is a Tibetan phrase meaning "land of four
rivers and six ranges," and refers to Amdo and Kham. The group included Tibetans from
those regions of eastern Tibet, and its main objective was to drive PRC
occupational forces out of Tibet. While central and western Tibet (Ü-Tsang)
were bound by a 17-point agreement with the People's Republic of China, the PRC
initiated land
reform in
eastern Tibet (including Amdo and Kham) and engaged in harsh reprisals against
the Tibetan land-owners there.
Under the direction of General Andruk Gonpo
Tashi, Chushi Gangdruk included 37 allied forces and 18 military commanders.
They drafted a 27-point military law governing the conduct of the volunteers.
Their headquarters were located at Tsona, then later moved to Lhagyari. After years of guerrilla war between Tibetan rebels and
the Chinese soldiers in a land that China considered to be its territory, the
friendly overture seemed suspicious enough that, on the day of the performance,
thousands of protesters surrounded the Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa to keep him
from being abducted, arrested or killed. Over the following few days, the
protests expanded into declarations of Tibetan independence and the mobilizing
of rebel troops to fight the Chinese forces. The State Oracle, the Dalai Lama’s
advisor, urged him to flee.
Key role of Chushi Gangruk was safety
and escorting His Holiness the Dalai Lama to exile. On this day, March 17, in 1959, Tibet’s
spiritual and political leader, then 23, disguised himself as a soldier and
slipped through the crowds outside the palace he’d never see again. He embarked
on a dangerous journey to asylum, crossing the Himalayas on foot with a retinue
of soldiers and cabinet members. They traveled only at night, to avoid
detection by Chinese sentries.
Even after The
Dalai Lama take asylum in India, Tibetan are facing lots problem and genocide, a
Tibetan guerrilla movement was formed in secrecy, consisting of over 2000
volunteers. This movement was named a Loe-Drik-Tsuk (popularly known as “Khampa
Guerilla”), which actively engaged in various tasks for the restoration of
Tibet’s freedom. Their work was carried out over a 14 year period, from 1960-1974..
LoMakmi conducted its
guerrilla operations from the northern Nepalese region of Mustang. In 1974, guerrilla operations ceased after the CIA, given the
realignment of Sino-American
relations initiated by President Richard Nixon, terminated its program of assistance to
the Tibetan resistance movement and the Dalai Lama, taped a message telling the Tibetans to
lay down their weapons and surrender peacefully.
