Noted Tibetan resistance fighter Bhusang La passed away at 80 in Dharamsala on March 25th.Born in Nyemo Disctrict in Tibet's central province of U-Tsang, Bhusang studied Tibetan medicine at the Men-Tsee Khang and in 1949 became a physician for the police department.He joined the Tibetan army in 1942 at the age of twelve, and fought for Tibetan Independence in the 1959 Uprising against the Chinese. His death closely follows the 50th anniversary of the Uprising.
In 1960 he was the sole survivor of a team parachuted into Markham district in Eastern Tibet. When he was captured, he tried to bite down on his cyanide capsule but was arrested before he could do so.
In his 18 years of imprisonment, he was continually interrogated and tortured by Chinese authorities.
Bhusang escaped to India after his release in 1978.