(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, DEC 31 - Naren Chandra Das, the last survivor of the small group of Indian soldiers who escorted the Dalai Lama in 1959, has disappeared at the age of 85, fleeing from Tibet. The ex-military regiment made it known today. Das, who died at his home in Assam last Monday, in 59 was twenty-two and had just completed training in the Assam Rifles, the oldest paramilitary corps in the Indian army.
It was he and six other soldiers who accompanied the Tibetan spiritual leader, who was then a young monk, on his escape from the Chinese troops, for thirteen days along risky Himalayan paths.
In order not to be recognized, the future Dalai Lama also wore the uniform of the company. The group's journey ended on March 31 in Lumla.
In an interview with a local media, Das had recently recalled that the young monk had been assigned a horse and that the soldiers who protected him were forbidden to speak to him.
The Dalai Lama, who has since lived in northern India, and Das met for the first time in 2017, in an exciting meeting.
"I went to visit him in Dharamsala with all my family" Das had said "and the Dalai Lama embraced me".
(HANDLE).