Name: Lobsang
(Alias: Yes)
Gender: Male
Interview Age: 78
Date of Birth: 1935
Birthplace: Karze, Kham, Tibet
Year Left Tibet: 1958
Profession: Farming
Monk/Nun: No
Political Prisoner: No
Interview No.: 6B
Date: 2013-12-23
Language: Tibetan
Location: Lugsung Samdupling Settlement, Bylakuppe, Karnataka, India
Categories: Resistance and Revolution
Keywords: Chinese army -- invasion by , Chushi Gangdrug guerrillas, CIA training, escape experiences, guerrillas in Mustang, Kham, landowners, refugee in India -- life as
Summary:
Lobsang is from the Karze region in Kham Province. His family owned land which they farmed. Lobsang was sent to Lhasa at the age of 19 to avoid being taken to China for "re-education" after the Chinese invasion. Lobsang then moved to Kalimpong, India before the Chinese occupied Lhasa. He had a keen desire to join the Chushi Gangdrug Defend Tibet Volunteer Force in Lhoka in the south of Tibet to defend his country but was turned down due to his young age.
Lobsang contacted Gyalo Thondup [His Holiness the Dalai Lama's older brother] and requested again to join the resistance army. This led to various clandestine adventures in India and then his transportation to Colorado in the United States for secret combat training. Lobsang explains about the various types of warfare training given to the group of young Tibetan men for around 9-10 months. Then he talks about being air dropped in Chara Penpa, Tibet and fighting many encounters with Chinese soldiers.
Ultimately the operation failed on account of the Chinese army's numerous air strikes and being hopelessly outnumbered. Finally, they were forced to flee and out of 13-14 men, only five of them managed to escape to India. He once again joined the fight at Mustang and then served as a wireless radio operator at Walung for nine years.
Interview Team:
- Marcella Adamski (Interviewer)
- Tenzin Yangchen (Interpreter)
- Pema Tashi (Videographer)
