SEPTEMBER 22. MY JOURNEY FROM FREEDOM STRUGGLE TO ANTISLAVERY CAMPAIGN

SEPTEMBER 22–THIS DAY IN HISTORY–THE DREAM FOR FREEDOM TRANSFORMS INTO AN ORDEAL OF SLAVERY

September 22. This Day in History. My Dream for Freedom transforms into an ordeal of Slavery. My Journey to Chakrata and Beyond. On September 22, 1971, I was Taken on Strength (TOS) of Establishment No. 22, Special Frontier Force, a military organization created in response to ‘The Cold War in Asia.’ On September 22, 2019, I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan to welcome the first day of Fall Season. Today, I claim that my Dream for Freedom in Occupied Tibet transformed into an ordeal of Slavery in a nation which abolished Slavery with a presidential proclamation on September 22. On September 22, 1971, I had the freedom to reject my posting to Establishment No. 22. I was given the choice to choose or decline rendering military service in support of Freedom in Occupied Tibet. The choice to serve in Establishment No. 22 comes with risks for its military mission differs from the military mission of the Indian Army which I joined to defend India from attacks by foreign aggressors. It may appear that I am making my own choices in accepting calculated risks to my life. On September 22, 2019, I am still struggling to reconcile with the choices I made in the past. Now, I must reconcile with the reality of my Slavery while living in a country which sponsored my quest for Freedom in Occupied Tibet. On September 22, 2019, I have no hope that I may arrive at the final destination of my life. Chakrata in Uttarakhand, India represents the struggle ahead, a struggle waiting for me before I can arrive at the final destination of my life. Rudra Narasimham Rebbapragada SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE SPECIAL FRONTIER FORCE – ESTABLISHMENT NUMBER 22 – THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

September 22. This Day in History. My Quest for Freedom Traps me in Slavery. My Journey to Chakrata and Beyond. SEPTEMBER 22, THIS DAY IN HISTORY – WHAT HAPPENED TODAY Clipped from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history On this day in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issues a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which sets a date for the freedom of more than 3 million black slaves in the United States and recasts the Civil War as a fight against slavery. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, shortly after Lincoln’s inauguration as America’s 16th president, he maintained that the war was about restoring the Union and not about slavery. He avoided issuing an anti-slavery proclamation immediately, despite the urgings of abolitionists and radical Republicans, as well as his personal belief that slavery was morally repugnant. Instead, Lincoln chose to move cautiously until he could gain wide support from the public for such a measure. In July 1862, Lincoln informed his cabinet that he would issue an emancipation proclamation but that it would exempt the so-called border states, which had slaveholders but remained loyal to the Union. His cabinet persuaded him not to make the announcement until after a Union victory. Lincoln’s opportunity came following the Union win at the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. On September 22, the president announced that slaves in areas still in rebellion within 100 days would be free. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation, which declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebel states “are, and henceforward shall be free.” The proclamation also called for the recruitment and establishment of black military units among the Union forces. An estimated 180,000 African-Americans went on to serve in the army, while another 18,000 served in the navy. After the Emancipation Proclamation, backing the Confederacy was seen as favoring slavery. It became impossible for anti-slavery nations such as Great Britain and France, who had been friendly to the Confederacy, to get involved on behalf of the South. The proclamation also unified and strengthened Lincoln’s party, the Republicans, helping them stay in power for the next two decades. The proclamation was a presidential order and not a law passed by Congress, so Lincoln then pushed for an antislavery amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ensure its permanence. With the passage of the 13th Amendment in 1865, slavery was eliminated throughout America (although blacks would face another century of struggle before they truly began to gain equal rights). Lincoln’s handwritten draft of the final Emancipation Proclamation was destroyed in the Chicago Fire of 1871. Today, the original official version of the document is housed in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. 1862 Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation is announced Motivated by his growing concern for the inhumanity of slavery as well as practical political concerns, President Abraham Lincoln changes the course of the war and American history by issuing the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Announced a week after the nominal Union victory at the Battle of Antietam, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2019. MY PASSION FOR FREEDOM IN TIBET WHICH BEGAN AT CHAKRATA DOES NOT RECONCILE WITH MY SLAVERY OF TODAY. THE SCENIC BEAUTY OF CHAKRATA PLAYED NO ROLE IN THE CHOICE I MADE ON SEPTEMBER 22, 1971.

Chakrata is not the final destination of my life. It is just the beginning of a struggle that remains ahead, both in terms of time and location.