The Tibetans serving in ‘secretive’ Indian force

BBC : For decades, India has recruited Tibetan refugees to a covert unit dedicated to high-altitude combat. But the recent death of a soldier in the force has put the spotlight on this unit, reports the BBC's Aamir Peerzada.

A photograph of Nyima Tenzin was kept in the corner of his house, surrounded by warm light spilling from oil lamps. The hum of prayers continued in the next room, where family members, relatives and Buddhist monks were chanting.

Days earlier, the 51-year-old soldier had died in a landmine blast near Pangong Tso Lake in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, where Indian and Chinese troops have been facing off in recent months. Sources in the Indian army told the BBC that he was killed by an old mine left from the 1962 war the two countries fought.

"On 30 August, around 10:30 in the night, I got a call, saying he was injured," Tenzin's brother, Namdakh, recalled. "They did not tell me that he had died. A friend confirmed the news to me later."

Tenzin's sister lights lamps at their home in Leh

Tenzin, his family told the BBC, had been a member of the Special Frontier Force (SFF), a covert military unit largely comprising Tibetan refugees. It reportedly has about 3,500 soldiers.

Tenzin was a refugee too and he had served in the force for more than 30 years, his family said.

Little is known about the SFF, whose existence has never been officially acknowledged by Indian officials. But it's also a well-known secret, familiar to military and foreign policy experts as well as journalists who cover the region. Yet, Tenzin's death - in the last weekend of August amid rising tensions between India and China - prompted the first public acknowledgement of Tibetans' role in the Indian military.

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