DHARAMSHALA, September 22: A tenshung (long life prayer ceremony) was today offered to the Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama at the Tsug-la Khang, the main temple in Dharamshala by members of the Special Frontier Force of the Indian army.
The SFF, more popularly known in the Tibetan community as Establishment 22, is this year commemorating 50 years since it was set up by the Indian government shortly after its debacle in the 1962 border conflict with China.
Indian and Tibetan leaders, as well as members of the elite force, were present in large numbers to offer prayers to the Dalai Lama.
According to an unofficial defence website bharat-rakshak.com. the SFF was created after the “Cabinet Secretariat had ordered the raising of an elite guerrilla force composed mainly of Tibetan refugees.”
“The first Inspector General of the SFF was a retired Indian Army Major General who was known for his unconventional thinking. Soon the SFF came to be known as ‘Establishment 22’ due to its first Inspector General, who used to be commander of 22 Mountain Regiment during World War II,” the website says.
Over the decades, SFF was deployed in the Indo-Pakistan Military Conflict of 1971, during which it lost more than 50 of its men, the Kargil war and on the Siachen glacier.
In its 50 years of service, they have received more than 100 recognitions and gallantry awards.
In their supplication, the SFF renewed its vow to fully obey and discharge the wishes and guidance from the Dalai Lama.
