SELA PASS TUNNEL
In the clatter and cacophony of the election-centric India, the opening of culturally and strategically important Sela pass tunnel was hardly noticed.This tunnel was inaugurated by Modi on 9th March,2024. Sela tunnel is a road tunnel at 3,000 metres (9,800 ft) which ensures all-weather connectivity between famous Buddhist monastery of Tawang on Chinese border in Arunachal Pradesh and the rest of India. The pass carries National Highway 13. Tawang is the second most important Buddhist monastery after Lhasa. Sela itself is situated at 13,800 feet and is always snow clad and difficult to cross during winters. The tunnel is nearly 400 m below the highest point.
I have an emotional attachment with Sela pass. During our army attachment in November-December 1975, my group of IPS probationers was taken to Tawang via this pass in the bitter cold. The army drivers of our vehicles put iron chains over the tyres to avoid the vehicle skidding off the road. The clime was steep, the visibility very low and driving very dangerous. Finally we stood at the top on Sela and then descended to Tawang. The present tunnel will make the journey short, safe and comfortable throughout the year.
India suffered at Sela one of its most humiliating defeats in the war against China in 1962. The Chinese PLA infiltrated into the south of the ridge through other routes and the Indian position was withdrawn. An Indian Army Jawan named Jaswant Singh Rawat remained at the pass fighting rearguard action, and is said to have held off the Chinese for 72 hours. He was awarded Maha Vir Chakra posthumously for his courage and devotion to duty.
Brigadier Dalvi was commanding the brigade in this sector. He has written a noticeable book ‘The Himalayan Blunder’. I read this book when it went was published in 1968. His account of the battle seems more trustworthy, than the official account given by General BM Kaul. Dalvi was taken POW in October 1962; held captive by the Chinese for seven months, he was repatriated in May 1963. Left embittered by the failings of the Indian political and military leadership, he has narrated the ground reality as he saw.
I recall his conclusion; which was something like that the fall of Sala pass was the fall of NEFA ( presently Arunachal Pradesh).
With this new tunnel and the new grit and determination of India, I hope that Sela will never suffer any Chinese or any other foreign boots on its head.
