TIBET: Wave of Rebellion

For months word has been filtering over the Himalayas that Tibet’s Red Chinese conquerors are running into increasing trouble−armed revolts, underground opposition, widespread unrest. Recently a group of exiled Tibetans, led by the Da’ai Lama’s brother, declared in a letter to India’s Prime Minister Nehru that the Chinese had bombed the provincial capital of Litang and that Tibetans “had risen in aid of their fellow countrymen.” The Indian press was skeptical of the claims and to a man ignored the letter; Indians are careful not to borrow trouble with their big Communist neighbor.

Last week, however, New Delhi’s Statesman confirmed the claims from Tibetan sources. “A wave of rebellion” has swept the provinces of eastern Tibet, reported the Statesman, and fighting is raging only 150 miles from Lhasa, Tibet’s capital. Both Chinese troops and Tibetan rebels have suffered heavy casualties. Litang has been bombed and several monasteries razed. In the north, fierce, xenophobic Khamba tribesmen are attacking Chinese convoys en route to Lhasa. The Chinese Reds, alarmed by the extent of the uprising, have appealed to the captive Dalai Lama to use his prestige to stop the fighting.