Himalayan Times (1962)

December 33, 1962

Himalayan Times

Seven

CHINESE CAME UP TO CHAKO
Plausible Clues To Peking's Motives

Tezpur, December 19

New light ib available
on the questions whioh
must be uppermost in the
minds of all Indians at
this hour: how far really
did the Chinese advance
in NEFA, how far did
they intend to come and
whether they will try to
oome again.

At Chako, seven crow-
flight miles due north of
Foothills, the withdrawing
left a notice pasted on
a wall. It was in Tibetan
and English: "Up to No-
vember 21 Chako was in
cur control and today,
December 11, we vacate
the same plaoe. If neces-
sary, we will come again."

From this notice and
from other material at my
disposal, an answer
can be gathered not only
to the lsst of the three
questions but also the first.
The Chinese came as far
south as Chako and do
farther. As reported earlier
all signs of lootiGg by the
Chinese are found only
from Chako and beyond.
There is conclusive evi-
dence to show that the
invading tide receded from
Chako, carrying away with
it all valuables that could
be plundered and put to
use.

Clues to Chinese mo-
tives—hew far did they
originally intend to ad-
vance—are naturally less
definite than the answer
to the other two qupstions.
But tbey are firm enough
to enable at least intelli-
gent guesses.

According to know,
ledgeable sources the Chi
nese realized that the
plains of Assam were far
from ig their dream
bittlefi d. First, they
would nut have been able
to maintain their tortuous
line of communication ex-
tending from the Tibetan
plateau. The Chinese may
be able to make do with
only a trickle of supplies
—but even tbey need at
least some.

Secondly, (hey would
have to face the Indian
Army on ground more
suitable to it. The Indinn
Army would have been
able to field heavy armour
artillery but the Chinese
would have, found it hard,
if not impossible, to trans-
port large numbers of
tanks and guns across
the snow-bound Himalayan
passes.

Thirdly, the aotiva
support of the loca' people
whould have been feit in

SAVINGS FORTNIGHT
AT KURSEONG

Kurseong. Dec. 16

The Sinill Savings Fort-
night commenced at Kur-
Beong today with a public
meeting held at the Gor-
kha Library Hall. Shri
K. K. Das Gupta, Second
Offioer, Kurseong presided
over the meeting. Sri 3.K.
Dutta, Assistant Regional
Director, National Savings,
Siliguri gave an intro-
ductory speeoh and Sri
B. L. Singh, District Sa-
vings Organiser, Darjeeling
explained the details of
tha Savings schemes ela-
borately. Sri Sitaram
Agarwal, Sri A.B.Fradhan
and Sri J. G. Roy spoke
about the importance of
the schemes and stres-
sed the need of Saringt
in the present emergeuoy.
Sri K.K. Das Gupta in
his Presidential address
dwelt upon the National
emergency brought about
by the Chinese aggression
a-id urged the people to
invest their savings in tha
National Defence Certifi.
cates and other small
Savings schemes.

t h e havily-populated
Brahmaputra Valley. Tha
Chinese Army, being pri*
rnarily a guerilla force0
would not have been ablo
to operate in an area
where it could have :io
local collaborators.