Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-12-02

ing each other In coming pa
triotic slogans.
New Defense Minister
Even in recent days things have
moved more slowly than antici-
pated. The new Defense Minis
ter, Y. B. Chavan, arrived in
Delhi to take charge of his post
only days after his formal NOM
nation. The 81 member Ma
tional Defense Council, originally
framed to set top defense policy,
took Is days to assemble its first
meeting. Parliament was asked to
vote only 5000 million to step up
defense expenditure.
The catastrophe at Sela Pass
In NEFA. where an Indian divi-
sion was surrounded, and the fall
Of Bombila with only q 1000 foot
mountain pass between the Chi
nese and the Brahmaputra Valley
in Assam, jolted India as nothing
else had.
Almost overnight people here
began to grasp the harsh impli-
cation Of q massive war with O
powerful neighbor.
With the appointment Of a new
army chief of staff and a shake
UP at the top Of the defense min
istry, coupled with the confusion
abroad over the lists of arms need
ed from the United States and
England, a realization has come
Of the need to completely reno
vate. II not rebuilt, midas de-
tense administration.
The rapid Chinese advances also
have ended some Of the lingering
doubts from many Of midas
leaders, including Mr.. Nehru, to
see really massive military aid
from the West. Now there Is talk
of the need for a tactical air force
instead Of merely automatic rifles.
Communists Arrested
Another change has been the
treatment Of the Communists,
especially those known to have
favored China in the past. Short
ly after the fall Of Bombila, 400
we're rounded up throughout the
sub-continent, roughly 10 times
those arrested In Marashtra State
two weeks ago.
Thousands Of young men and
woman have been parading and
learning rifle training the past
few weeks. But until the youths
Of threatened Tezpur were told
they might have to fire, nobody
really thought they would actually
ever be physically faced with
Chinese soldiers to shoot at. Then
few days ago the first Territorial
Army unit, whose training had
mainly been confined to parades
twice a week and some summer
bivouacs, were ordered from Orissa
State to the front for rear-guard
action.
Newspaper reports from Tezpur
describing the ejaculation of its
residents (since cancelled), gave
the first picture Of what the war
could mean to civilians.
Few could read without an in
ward shudder, the words of one
Tezpur man who told the press
that everytime army trucks APP
preached from the north he
looked at them closely for "they
might be our trucks but they
might also be filled with Chi
neSe."
Negotiations Rejected
BY the time the sudden cease
fire order came, Indian public
opinion had crystallized into a
violent rejection of any sort of
negotiations with the Chinese.
Prime Minister Nehru is COM
mitted to negotiations If the
status quo of September 8 is re-
stored. He may have difficulty
reaching any agreement satisfac-
tory to the Indian people short
of forcing the Chinese out Of all
territory they have occupied since
1856. including Ladakh which is
the prize the Chinese have really
been after.
Yesterday, Mr.. Nehru sent a
note to Picking. stating that he
would not agree to a cease-fire II
it meant yielding Indian territory.
He still pressed for the September
8 line.
Today there is no lack Of de-
termination to resist force with
force by the Indian public, a fact
which should impress Peking. The
next stage will be TO create the
kind Of public feeling needed to
prepare midas people fully for
Peking's future manouevers In
what will be long and frustrat-
ing war.
AS Prime Minister Nehru told
his audience Of children last week,
Freedom is ours so long as we
are prepared TO fight and sacri-
flee everything for 1t. The mo-
ment We lose this feeling. free
dom will slip through out fingers"