MILITARY-BORDER ACTIVITIES, TROOP MOVEMENTS POLITICAL-COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES, SUBVERSIVE

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210057-1
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
R
Document Page Count: 
4
Document Creation Date: 
December 14, 2016
Document Release Date: 
January 9, 2002
Sequence Number: 
57
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
March 4, 1953
Content Type: 
REPORT
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PDF icon CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210057-1.pdf277.15 KB
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Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210057-1 Of REPORT NO INFORMATION FROM FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO. Napel; Tibet; Sikkim; Bhutan; India; China DATE OF 25X1A Military - Border activities, troop movements Political - Communist activities, subversive PUBLISHED Daily newspapers WHERE PUBLISHED Pakistan DATE PUBLISHED 4 Aug - 25 Oct 1952 CONFIDENTIAL $0V 3 0 IS54 14AAA (F'DD 1 1 F . ATTECTIND I. NATIO..C ODr.N31 OF THE UNITED STATES. NITNIN TNCN(ANINO Al TITLE IS. SECTIONS 131 AIIO TIN. 01 INC U.S. COD.. AS ..ENO ED. ITS TNEN5NISSION ON NEON. LOTION OP ITS CONTENTS TO ON RECEIPT NT AN U.UTN0.11[D PERSON IS uvrunme uo4 tygz DATE DIST.MA191953 SUPPLEMENT TO REPORT NO. CHINF.E AND NEPALESE COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES ALONG THE INDIAN BORDER, AUGUST - OCTOBER 1952 fomment: The following information has been taken from Pakistani Urdu newspapers for ther period 4 August - 25 O^-- tober 1952. It deals with Chinese C^--^n 3t military activ- ities in Tibet and along the border areas of Afghanistan. Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sikkim, and Tibet. It also deals with Communist activities in Nepal. Numbers in parentheses refer to appended sources-7 Chinese Communist Intentions in the Himalayan Region A Darjeeling dispatch appearing in the 31 August issue of Tameer, and Urdu daily newspaper published in Rawalpindi, revealed a plan regarding Chinese Communist preparations tq occupy Bhutan, Nepal, and Sikkim) after bringing the Himalayan border region between India and Afghanistan into the Communist sphere of influence. It stated that reliable clues pointing to a Communist scheme for the Himalayan region had been collected by an unidenti- fied Chinese source fhereafter referred to as "the scurce_7, which had com- plete knowledge of events going on in the western Himalayan area. The source is reported by Tameer to have claimed that the Communists have shaped a de- tailed plan whereby they could expand their influence into Bhutan and Sikkim, and also into Nepal and Afghanistan, and then seize all these countries, An- other ramification of the plan concerned the seizure of :ndi.z, the paper said. According to the source, the paper said, the Chinese Communists have de- cided to send 200,000-troops into Tibet so that they could completely over- whelm the Himalayan borders of India. As soon as the Communists bring these t.:oops into Tibet, Tameer continued, they plan to tell India that they have deployed their military i orces out of Gyangtse and Baong and are maintaining them along the bolder to protect the mails. Then, after gaining power in the 25X1A coi!~Li1 d'i~~ Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210057-1 Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210057-1 CONFIDENTIAL 25X1A frontier districts of India, the paper said, the Communists would endeavor to expand along the Himalayen region from Afghanistan to Bhutan. This has been considered the first step in the Communist enterprise to bring this "prize group of countries" within the scope of Greater Asia, Tameer stated. In giving the source's account of conditions in Tibet under the Commu- nists, Tameer stated that the Chinese Communist army seized Tibet a year ago but so far has been unable to occupy Tibet properly or adequately, and the essential strength of the Communist elements in Tibet remains in their weapons. These elements completely, direct the Dalai Lama and act as sentinels over him, the paper continued. Either through the ambitious motives or the strong in- fluence of the Chinese Communists, the Dalai Lama has not yet been sufficiently groomed to assume the chairmanship of the military and administrative committee set up by the Communists, Tameer asserted. The am.?-cr _:s reported to have stated that there was a great deal of friction between the Tibetans and the Chinese in Lhasa, according to Tameer. Several causes were cited for the bad relations. The Tibetans were opposed to the Chinese because of enmity based on historic and ethnic reasons, on existing shortages of food and other commodities, and on the humility which existed be- tween the conquered and the conqueror, the paper said. The source added that so far, Tibetan officials have rendered assistance to the Communists through fear and terror, and the time is approaching when the etandard of revolution will be raised against the Communists, Tameer con- tinued. Two top-level ministers of the Dalai Lama resigned from their posts in preference to taking orders from the Chinese, the paper said. Still quoting the source, the newspaper noted that the Chinese Communists have put off the idea of planting soldiers along the length and breadth of Tibet until the highway from Lhasa to Natu La (Natu Pass) has been improved and large quantities of food and drinking supplies have been obtained from Calcutta and Shanghai. It went on to say that Communist troops were beginning to construct cantonments along the borders of Tibet and on a certain mountain near the Indian border. Tamee concluded that the source was unable to obtain definite information on whether or not the Chinese Communists, in their plan, had considered estab- lishing an air service between Lhasa ant. Peiping, but that Chinese airplanes were known to be making daily flights in northwest Tibet. (1) Meanwhile, according to Kalimpong dispatch in the 28 August issue of Maghrabi Pakistan, an Urdu daily n.:::,N-r- or Lahore, tuc Indian government has learned that Chinese Communist troops, accompanied by masons and builders, arrived at a distance of only $ miles from the border of Sikkim and are con- structing barracks and roads to establish a strong outpost at Champithang. It Nras reported by the same paper that Chinese troops were in control of the highway leading from Sikkim to Tibet and that all movement on the highway at night was forbidden.(2) Another Kalimpong dispatch in the 29 August issue of 2 eer reported on activities of Chinpse troops near the Lucian border and stated that some elements of the Chinese occupation army in Tibet arrived at the foot of Natu La, a Himalaya ps.as between Tibet and India, 5 miles from Chuntazg in Sikkim. CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00 Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809AO00700210057-1 GO dFI E NTIAL . 25X1A The paper, further reported. that tho quasi-Tibetan government under Chi- nese Communist rule mowed troops of young soldiers out of Lhasa and stationed them along 200 miles of frontier in different areas which were friendly to them. It was, also reported by Tameer that reinforcements arrived for, troops posted along the northern border of Bhutan.(3) The 28 August issue of Maghrabi Paki.etan carried a Sikkim government announcement that the export of cluch from Sikkim to Tibet would be prohibited and that for the time being, persons traveling from Sikkim to Tibet would be permitted to take only 10 seers' fo-ne seer equals 2 pounds/ weight in cloth. (2) Communist Activities in Nepal fReports on. Communist activities in Nepal between 4 and 11 August were indicated by a statement by Koirala against the Communists, vhnee Ylcts 1AMd been disclosed by a number of Arrectz. Tiler were noted as follows2 On 13 August, Tameer reported that B. P. Koirala, president of the Nepal Congress, revealed that the Communists of India, Nepal, and Tibet had devised a plan to create dissension and chaos in Nepal.. (4) It is inferred by Tameer that Koirala, in his comments was criticizing the Communists in general and that he was also referring to a report about the Nepalese government appearing earlier in the 4 August issued of Nawa-i-wa t an Urdu daily newspaper of Lahore, which stated that, the Nepal government ar- rested 14 persons on a charge of smuggling arms from Tibet. It was stated by the paper that the men confessed that Dr K. I. Singh, the insurgent leader, had sent them on their mission and that Dr Singh was in Tibet. The newspaper also pointed out that a map found in their possession revealed that the rebel band had a complete plan for establishing a separate government in the northern part of Nepal. (5) In making further identification of the men and their mission, the 10 Au- gust issue of Shahbaz, an Urdu daily newspaper of Peshawar, quoted a Katmandu report which revealed that the 14 men were Communist leaders of Nepal and that they had been arrested while attempting to penetrate Nepal from Tibet. The report in Shahbaz stated that important papers were found in the men's possession, in which there were evident signs that an intricate plct existed for effecting an armed revolution in Nepal.(6) It was later learned, according to the 29 Septewbe. issue of Shahbaz, that the 14 Communists working for Dr Singh were links in a chain making for tighter relations with the Communists in Tibet. The paper went on to say that the weak- ened Nepalese government was unable to cope with several Communist revolts which developed in Nepal in the past.(7) jommunist activities elsewhere in Nepal noted during the period of this report were as'follows;7 Nawa-i-wagt of 4 August stated that no information concerning the general situation in Nepal was available from official sources, but that cumulative re- porte from unofficial sources indicated that the situation was rapidly getting worse. (5) haghrabi Pakistan's 24 September issue mentioned a "confirmed" Kalimpong dispatc w 1c revealed that the activities of the Kisan Sabba (Peasant Party) and other Communist groups were swiftly increasing in the eastern districts of Nepal. (8) CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2002/08/06: Cl Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210057-1 CONFIEKtL. 25X1A The paper stated that the alarmed authorities had reportedly summoned additional troops i'ito Jhapa and other eastern districts and had given orders to stiffen the administration in that area. (8) On 29 September, Shahbaz reno;-ted that informed Fourcas revealed that - there was a vigorous increase in Communist activity in the border districts of India adjoining Nepal and Tibet and that this constituted an immediate threat to India. The sources described Communist activity as considerable in the western part of Nepal, near the northern border of Uttar Pradesh, the paper said. It was believed by the sources, according to Shahbaz that the Nepalese communists had established contact with Dr K. I. Singh, who wcs known to be on the border between Nepal and Tibet, awaiting an opportunity for an armed attack on Nepal. The paper added that Nepalese and Indian government circles declared that it was extremely difficult to detect or seize Communists in the hill districts. In Nepal, it was reported by Shahbaz that the Jhapa and Morang districts were centers of Communist activity. Nepalese Communists were being trained as spies in the Jogbani and Biratnagar districts of Nepal and afterwards were sent to India, Pakistan, ana other areas to spread dissension and chaos, according to the paper. In India, it was reported by Shahbaz that a great deal of Communist ac- tivity was flourishing in Bihar. Communists were being trained as spies in the districts of Katihar and Purnea in northern Bihar, the paper concluded. (7) On 25 October, Nawa-i-wagt reported another statement by Koirala regard- ing Communism in Nepal. Koirala stated, according to the paper, that the threat of Communism in Nepal was hardly unexpected, because the Communists had been vigorously spreading their activities throughout Nepal, with the *ill dis- tricts as centers, and in pursuing their objectives, they were operating guer- rilla forces and stockpiling arms.(9) Koirala further stated that there were 16 passes between Nepal and Tibet, 12 of which were inadequately defended and four of which were entirely unpro- tected, the paper said. Koirals, expressed his belief that Dr Singh, would soon return to Nepal by means of these passes, the paper asserted. wawa-l-wagt added that the present Nepalese government continued to con- tribute to the threat of Communism and that at present, disorganization pre- vailed in the western part of Nepal. (9) 1. Rawalpindi, Tameer, 31 Aug 52 2. Lahore, Maghrabi Pakistan, 28 Aug 52 3. Ravalpirdi, Tameer, 29 Aug 52 4. Ibid., 13 Aug 52 5. Lahore, Nava-i-wagt, 4 Aug 52 6. Peshawar, Shnhbaz, 10 Aug 52 7. Ibid., 29 Sep 52 8. Lahore, Maghrabi Pakistan, 24 Sep 52 9. Lahore, Nava-i-vagt, 25 Oct 52 r CONFIDENTIAL Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210057-1