On 90th Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama

How a Young Monk Escaped the Red Empire: The Daring Flight of the Dalai Lama in 1959?

- NORTHLINES DESK

In 1959, a 23-year-old monk dressed in a soldier's uniform walked out of his summer residence under cover of darkness. He wasn't just any monkhe was the 14th Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of Tibet, fleeing from an increasingly oppressive Chinese occupation. What unfolded was a high-stakes escape that would change the destiny of Tibet forever.

Amidst Bitter cold, gunfires echoing through the hills.

A DEADLY INVITATION

Tensions in Tibet had been simmering since China’s military entered the region in 1950. The Seventeen Point Agreement, supposedly assuring autonomy, proved toothless. The 13th Dalai Lama had once warned of threats from within and beyond. By March 1959, those fears had become a violent reality.