HAVILDAR NAREN – who escorted Dalai Lama to India dies

Naren Chandra Das, was just a Havildar in Assam Rifles in 1959. But he was the last surviving Indian security man who received and safely escorted the 14th Dalai Lama — when he arrived in India from Tibet in 1959.

The Assam Rifles jawan was posted at the Lungla post along the India-China border. He was 22 years old then and died at the age of 83. The Tibetan spiritual leader was accompanied by 20 of his cabinet members and soldiers and his family members. Having managed to hoodwink the Chinese forces in Lhasa, the Dalai Lama and his entourage had to traverse through difficult terrain, which also included the mighty Brahmaputra River.

Two weeks later, the Dalai Lama reached Lhuntse Dzong near the McMahon Line border between India and Tibet. It was from here that the spiritual leader rushed a letter to then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru seeking refuge. India quickly responded and Assam Rifles soldiers from Chuthangmu, a tiny outpost near Tawang, were tasked with escorting the Dalai Lama to safety with Naren part of it.

Naren took his last breath in his village, Lokra of Sunitpur district in Assam. The Dalai Lama met him at Guwahati in 2018. We carried a picture of Nareen in his old uniform when he saluted the Dalai Lama during his visit to Assam. Naren even traveled to Dharamshala at the invitation of the Dalai Lama and was treated well by the Tibetan Government in Exile. In a statement, the Central Tibetan Administration mourned Havildar Naren’s demise and offered its condolences.