OPEN FORUM
New Delhi, 3 December 2009
China, Tibet & Maoism
TIME INDIA CHANGES POLICY
By Dr Nitish Sengupta
(Former MP and Secretary, Finance
(Revenue, Govt of India)
On the issue of the Dalai Lama’s
visit to Arunachal, Beijing
seems to have discarded all norms of decorum and decency, not to speak of
diplomatic propriety. Otherwise she should not have reminded India of 1962,
when her forces treacherously attacked Indian border guards across the
Tibet-Arunachal border, not prepared for such action, and scored a few military
victories.
China betrayed Nehru’s strong faith
in ‘Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai’, forgot
India’s role in gracefully withdrawing her garrisons from Lhasa and Gyantse in
1950 to facilitate the PLA’s taking over of Tibet and also her role in the early
1950s, when she was treated as an outcaste by western powers in her strong
advocacy of China’s entry to the United Nations and in providing escort
services to Third World gatherings such as the Bandung meet of the non-aligned
nations and in strongly advocating China’s case for admission to the UN (1955).
It is widely believed that this
betrayal caused Nehru’s cardiac stroke in 1963 and his untimely death in 1964.
From then on China went on a steady anti-India policy even to the extent of
abandoning her earlier neutral stand over Jammu & Kashmir, and shamelessly
supporting Pakistan’s case by a bland letter issued on 6 July 1962 informing New
Delhi that Beijing did not recognize India’s sovereignty over J&K. She
further informed that she was constructing a road in Ladakh to connect Tibet with
Sinkiang.
This was followed by systematic
attacks on Indian border outposts in both Ladakh and NEFA. India was found
unprepared to take on the Chinese army, fully prepared to launch attacks. The
Chinese advanced up to Bomdila on 19 November 1962, and declared unilateral
withdrawal to their borders on 21 November, not giving the Indians a chance for
a retaliatory strike.
But 1962 in a way was a blessing in
disguise for India.
She was compelled to pay attention to the defence of her northern borders and
to start equipping her Armed Forces, both equipment-wise and organisationally.
Thanks to the Indian Army’s preparedness and alertness along the Himalayan
border, China did not needle
India
again. Even in 1971, when she had promised to Pakistan
to come to her support, she did not, thanks to India’s
preparedness and its military pact with the Soviet Union, which would have
brought Moscow’s forces in support in any
eventuality caused by China’s
rash action.
But once again Beijing seems to have reverted to a phase of
jingoism. The reported border incursions are only a small part of its deeper
agenda. Not only is she hobnobbing with India’s
neighbours like Myanmar,
jingoistic elements in Sri Lanka’s
army and the Maoists in Nepal,
but is allowing articles to be published in her blogues encouraging
secessionism in India
(not contradicted by any official disclaimer). From the letters written by Pakistan’s nuclear scientist A. Q. Khan it is
clearly established that it was China
which provided it with both enriched uranium and some needed equipments in
order to build Islamabad’s nuclear capacity
obviously directed against India.
And now it transpires from Union
Home Ministry sources that much of the small arms used by the so-called Maoists
here are of Chinese origin. If this is true, New Delhi
should lodge a strong protest with Beijing.
China’s aggressive military
and diplomatic postures have to be linked up with her obvious efforts to
support and equip the so-called Maoists or Naxalites, who have made their
presence felt across India
like a dagger, from Nepal
borders through Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, West Bengal and Orissa to Andhra
Pradesh and Maharashtra. India has thus also to fight a war
within.
All this proves, if any more proof
is needed, that Beijing has embarked on a
mission to destabilize India.
And, all this at a time when both nations are clearly competing for higher
economic growth in a recession-hit world. However, China has a distinct edge largely
because she does not have to contend with the formalities of an elected
democratic system. New Delhi
should sit up and take whatever corrective steps are necessary, not allow a
repeat of 1962.
India’s Armed Forces must be provided
whatever they need to defend its borders and to deal a crushing blow to all
intruders, as the Vietnamese did to their big neighbour a few years ago. The
Naxalites must be put down firmly and the common people won over. The firmness
shown by Home Minister Chidambaram must be welcomed. Also, a ‘tit for tat’
policy of real politic is called for in reply to China’s straw-in-the-wind efforts
to provoke secessionism in our country. Importantly,
there is need for a change in our policy on Tibet
supporting Dalai Lama’s pleas for Tibet’s
autonomy and demilitarization subject to Beijing’s
overall sovereignty.
No policy is there for all time to
come. Nations need to change policies, taking into account important changes in
the situation prevailing at a particular time.
After all China also did
a volte face with regard to her policy on the status of J&K in order to
needle India and encourage Pakistan. There is nothing wrong in New
Delhi taking a stand that, in the light of her experience with the Chinese
occupation of Tibet,
systematic border violations and suppression of the Tibetan population and
their replacement by Hans, India no longer supports China’s military occupation of Tibet.
Beijing must negotiate with the Dalai Lama
and allow him and his fugitive government to return to Tibet on
honourable terms. Unfortunately, the recent US-China joint communiqué,
suggesting Chinese mediation in Indo-Pak dispute has come as a damper. It is
uncalled for and invalid. How President Obama
was tricked into signing this remains mysterious. Neither the US nor China
had any business to arrogate to Beijing
some sort of super power status. India will never accept this and its
Foreign Ministry has already reacted strongly. Kashmir
is an Indo-Pak dispute, and there is no case for any third party mediation.
Happily, there was no reference to this communiqué during Dr. Manmohan Singh’s
recent visit to Washington.
China’s support to the Maoists, wherever
they are, has been suspected all along. What is very new is the confession of
some of the ULFA leaders, now in custody, that they received lot of financial
assistance, military hardware and training in China. It is necessary that our
government confronts Beijing
with all this evidence and seek its explanation. Even the dissident groups in
Nagaland receive support from China
and openly admit it. Thus, in the face of such overwhelming evidence, India cannot afford to treat China in the
same spirit as in the good old days of ‘Hindi-Chini
Bhai-Bhai’.
We have to confront China boldly with all instances of open
encouragement to dissident elements inside India and at the same time try to
seek international support. Unfortunately, China’s economy has prospered
beyond all expectations. Significantly, the US
economy has become inter-linked with China’s economy. For 60 per cent of
China’s exports are to the US and 2/3rd of China’s foreign exchange is tucked
in the US as treasury bills. Thus, in dealing with China
one cannot expect that the US
will not come to its support. This is an unfortunate development of modern
times. But there is hope. There are other countries, European, who can come to
support India’s
stand. –INFA
(Copyright,
India News & Feature Alliance)
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