Losing the war, winning the peace(The Hindu) |ForumIAS

Context

The article talks about the 1962 war, which proved to be a catastrophic defeat for India

About the war

The Chinese assault on the Thagla Ridge early in the morning of October 20, 1962, which turned simmering military tensions into open war.
The way the authorities and people of Arunachal Pradesh the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) experienced the war was the most crucial element

NEFA’s struggle

When large-scale fighting erupted between China and India, it did not take long for NEFA’s civilian officials to realise their entire administration was in jeopardy.
The retreat of the Indian Army entailed that of the civilian administration. Dozens of administrative centres were evacuated, leaving most of northern NEFA unoccupied and open for Chinese occupation.
Gains in the Aksai Chin aside, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) occupied significant portions of NEFA.
Government stores, supplies, equipment, furnishings, weapons and often buildings were systematically damaged, eaten or destroyed.
On January 17, 1963 the Chinese still occupied Tawang. resumed his duties a few days later.

What was the status post-war?

India’s frontier officials were worried that it lost trust among inhabitants, as they fled leaving them vulnerable
The Raj’s eastern Himalayan frontier had barely been administered and remained poorly explored.
Gaining the loyalty of the Mishmis, Monpas or Adis was an aim in itself, if they were to become Indian citizens. Winning them over was key.

China v Indian influence

The problem was that Indian officials’ state-building per force had to contend with the PRC’s own efforts in nearby Tibet.
China too faced an uphill struggle to concretise its hold there, and it too needed border inhabitants’ cooperation.
On the contrary, the 1962 War offered China a chance to gain the upper hand in it.
There is much evidence that the PRC’s occupation of northern NEFA was a sort of public relations exercise vis-à-vis local people.
Indian officials came back to Tawang to find that no women had been molested and nothing taken without payment; houses, monasteries and possessions were intact.
The story of NEFA’s occupation suggests that, among other things, the 1962 War was China’s chance to prove to Himalayan people that it was the better state whereas a weak India could neither protect nor deliver.

Conclusion

Many inhabitants expressed both their disappointment at having been left behind and their support for Indian authorities’ return.
They made concrete demands to ensure that the disappointment would not re-occur, and that their support would be rewarded.
China had won the war on both fronts, military and political; yet this had not been enough to win people over, especially since many people had heard of repression in Tibet from refugees passing through.
The Indian state might be weaker and less efficient, but from the inhabitants’ standpoint it was less of a risk, and offered more chance for negotiation.