He was the Political Officer of Kaming Frontier Division in the North Eastern Frontier Agency (NEFA) when His Holiness the Dalai Lama entered India at Chu Thangmo on March 31, 1959. He is the rank highest Indian who first met His Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1959. Mr. Har Mandar Singh was in Germany during the premiere of the Documentary film “A Life for Tibet – The XIV. Dalai Lama” by Friedhelm Brückner Production on June 4, 2005 in Wiesbaden (Germany) where Mr. Roland Koch, the Prime Minister of the Hesse State and Mr. Lobsang Nyandak Zayul, Minister of the Department for Information and International Relations, were chief guests and speakers. Tsewang Norbu, RFA reporter based in Germany spoke to him in this interview.
RFA: Mr. Singh, I would like to do a brief interview with you for the rfa. As I have hardly any information about you, except that you were the rank highest Indian political officer who received the Dalai Lama on the Indo-Tibetan border in 1959, I want first to ask your name and position. Further questions will evolve from your answers.
Singh: My name is Har Mandar Singh. I belonged to the Indian Administrative Service. At the time His Holiness came to India in 1959 I was the head of a Division of the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), Kaming Frontier Division and I was called Political Officer.
I had information but for a very brief period that there was a possibility that His Holiness would escape from Lhasa, entering Indian territory, probably through one of the routes coming into NEFA.
RFA: Did you expect that something would happen or did you have concrete informations on what is happening in Lhasa? Were you prepared that the Dalai Lama would come and enter India in NEFA or was it just a surprise to you and your government?
Singh: Actually, we knew that things had become very difficult in Lhasa. I am sure that our Intelligence and others had informations of the nature and type of threat and disturbances that were going on. We had some informations but I, as an Administrator, did not expect that he would reach this far into our territory and that a stage would come when he would have to seek asylum from the Government of India.
Next to my Division was Bhutan. And the Bhutanese have a very close affinity, religionwise, with the Tibetans. But being a very small country, perhaps they were not that eager to get involved in this.
RFA: When you heard about the flight of the Dalai Lama and his pending entry into Indian territory under your administration, were you worried as high Indian Political Officer that this will lead to diplomatic problems with China?
Singh: Not at all. My main concern was the safety of His Holiness. The whole prestige of my country depended on my very tiny shoulders because if – God forbade – some difficulties have come to the Dalai Lama, not only I personally but my whole country – I am sure – would have felt ashamed. And that was my concern rather than any fear of diplomatic problems.
RFA: How many days ahead did you get this information?
Singh: His Holiness entered India on 31st March 1959 and I think I had this information probably just a couple of days earlier in my District Headquarters and the border from where he was to enter was about 11 days of foot journey, there were no roads then.
RFA: Headquarters in Bomdila? Right?
Singh: Yes. My Headquarters was in Bomdila and around 7 days from Bomdila was Tawang and two days journey beyond Tawang was a place called Lumla, and from Lumla to Chu Thangmo where His Holiness entered Indian territory was another two days. He entered Chu Thangmo on 31st of March as I said earlier. And meamwhile I had already left Bomdila on horse back as soon as I got information and I had arranged to change horses on the way so that I could travel quickly day and night. And I reached Lumla on 2nd of April and the first people I met were His Holiness´s mother, sisters and his younger brother, Ngari Rinpoche.
Later on the same day, His Holiness arrived and I had the honour and distinction of receiving and escorting him to his quarters.
RFA: Were his mother and sisters disguised as men as we heard in the film when they left Lhasa?
Singh: No, no. They were in their own cloths when I met them.
RFA: What was your impression of His Holiness and his entourage when you first saw them? Did they look tired, despirited and depressed?
Singh: Actually, His Holiness is an extraordinary person. Even at the tender age of nearly 24, he had great charisma. And, he did not give the slightest impression that he was under stress or he was going through an ordeal of life time. He looked at peace with himself and he spread peace in his surroundings. And he was calm, he was more concerned about his people even at that time and he was anxious to meet his brother who was in Darjeeling.
RFA: Do you still remember the first words His Holiness said to you as a high Indian officer when you first met him on 2nd April 1959 in Lumla?
Singh: I am sorry, I do not remember those words but I am sure that there must have been a pleasant exchange of words.
RFA: In which language did you communicate?
Singh: By then he had some knowledge of English and one of the things I have noticed during our journey on foot and horse back was that he was trying all the time to further improve his knowledge of English. During the journey he kept on mentioning in English the names of objects he saw. He was very pleased when he got the right words for these objects.
RFA: In the film you said that His Holiness stayed 7 days in Bomdila in the Guest House next to your house. Why so long?
Singh: Actually when His Holiness met me in Lumla he had mentioned that he would like to take a short rest at Tawang and also at Bomdila because these were places where even Indians were not allowed without permission. So he was comparatively undisturbed in these places. I would not use the word safe because he was safe enough once he was well inside Indian territory but undisturbed. I think he wanted probably to mentally equip himself before facing the wide world outside.
RFA: The wide outside world in Tejpur?
Singh: Yes, in Tejpur. We were anxious that he should get away from Tawang as soon as possible, so in Tawang there was only a short halt of two days and then 7 days in Bomdila. And his entourage of about 80 people went down in groups slowly. And then on the 7th day we took him down to Tejpur and stopped just inside the Inner Line.
RFA: The Dalai Lama and his entourage stayed in Bomdila 7 days very close to you. Can you describe the impression you had of them?
Singh: Actually the guest house was part of my house, so he was really in my house. But we were very comfortable because he was a very non-demanding guest. He played with my young son who was an infant at that time. And he insisted that he should be allowed to play with him because that relaxed him. Although he had his own cooks, my wife also cooked for him. For that she learned how to prepare Tibetan dishes. We were very careful about exposing his food to any outside influence.
I had started in Bomdila some kind of a club where officers could meet and relax because it was a very lonely place. And I even took the liberty of taking him to the club where we all sang Indian songs for him and he felt relaxed.
RFA: About food. I do not know whether you are vegetarian. Tibetans are aweful meateaters. Was there any problem on that count?
Singh: No, I am not vegetarian, so there was no problem. We cook whatever he wanted to eat. He is not fussy and he is in that way a very very compassionately human person.
RFA: After 7 days in Bomdila where did your responsibilities end?
Singh: We travelled down with him from Bomdila and stayed the night just inside the imaginary line, called the Inner Line, which is the limit beyond which entry is controlled even for Indians. And we stayed there. Next morning we had breakfast with the officers and wives of Assam Rifles. After that he passed the Inner Line.
RFA: By what means?
Singh: He travelled by jeep and station wagon on the newly built road.
RFA: Can you tell the name of this area where your responsibilities ended?
Singh: It is at the foothills and the name of place itself was also called Foothills. Once he passed Foothills, he went to the nearest big town called Tejpur. The press from all over the world, from America, Germany and everywhere else, was already at Foothills, because the press was always very competitive and nobody wanted another person to get the story first.
EFA: How old were you at that time?
Singh: I would have to calculate (laughs), let me see. I was born in 1926, so I was 33 at that time.
RFA: Very young! You were IAS officer? That means you were quite new in the service?
Singh: Actually, I had earlier an army background and I was a captain in the army. And there was a special recruitment for the frontier areas because these were difficult areas. And I got recruited through that quota to serve in the difficult frontier areas because you needed a robust body. By 1959 I had a fare amount of service experience.
RFA: Your family background?
Singh: My parents were working for the British police in Tanzania and I was born there. But my family is from a place close to Rawalpindi in Pakistan. After the partition we migrated and we now live in Delhi.
RFA: When and where did you meet the Dalai Lama after that?
Singh: In earlier years I went and saw him once a year or once every two years. He was always so kind, overwhelmingly kind, to me and his stature is so great that I felt very embarassed with the kindness that he showed me. And so slowly I withdrew myself and I go and see him like any other person whenever he comes somewhere for a lecture tour or something. I am in the audience but I don´t go and meet him personally now.
RFA: When did you last see him?
Singh: I think this was about 5 or 6 years ago, I don´t remember exactly but I had gone to Dharamsala and I had a 15 minute appointment with him which he kept streching to 45 minutes. And people were waiting to see him and then he loaded me with gifts. It was very great kindness that he showed me.
RFA: Did your encounter with the Dalai Lama influence your life and career in anyway?
Singh: I think I have been very blessed. Last time I went to see him which I told you alreay, I was concerned about my wife´s health. He said that my wife was alright. But he was concerned about my health and told me to go and consult the Tibetan doctor in Delhi which I did. And there was something wrong with me. Similarly much earlier, he was concerned about the health of my younger son. I owe my younger son´s health also to his kindess.
RFA: This is at the personal level. Was it useful to your career or did it rather hinder your promotion for political reasons?
Singh: After His Holiness a very large number of Tibetan refugees passed through my district and I worked for them for almost a year. And I was given a high decoration by my government.
RFA: Was your service always confined to NEFA and Assam?
Singh: No, I served in several places, among others in the Central Government in Delhi. I was also the head of the Administration in Andamon and Nicobara Islands.
RFA: Finally a very personal question. My family also passed through Tawang, Bomdila and Foothills, arriving at the camp in Misamari just a few days before the Tibetan New Year, so probably between Mid-February and March. Were you in Bomdila at that time?
Singh: Which year?
RFA: 1960.
Singh: Yes, I should have been there and I must have gone and met your parents because I made it a point to go and meet the refugees passing through. One big impression I have had of those refugees is that some of them carried bullet wounds on their backs and the big impression left on me was that whenever they came in groups, in the evening they sat together and offered prayes despite their injuries. This was a very humbling experience for me that people with so much suffering could still have the courage and patience to keep in touch with their god.
RFA: Mr. Hermander Singh, thank you very much for giving me this interview.
Singh: Thank you.
