Abhijit Bhattacharyya
The writer is an advocate practising in the Supreme Court. The views expressed here are personal.
Why has China brazenly and defiantly violated India’s sovereignty and territory in connivance with military rulers of Pakistan?
If China refers to Kalapani, India too can talk of Taklakote (old Hindu mythological name of Purang), which is 20 km downhill of watershed Lipulek Pass of Sino-Indian border.
One is amazed at the lack of basic knowledge shown by no less a person than Wang Wenli, deputy director general of boundary and ocean affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry, who flaunted her new-found official knowledge on August 8. She said (perhaps camouflaging ignorance) at the “visiting Indian media delegation in Beijing”: “What if we enter Kashmir or Kalapani in Uttarakhand?”
Indeed! Why Kashmir, Kalapani or Uttarakhand, Ms Wenli? Why not enter anywhere, anytime, any day, any place of the world, with or without passport or visa? Without batting an eyelid, trample the sovereignty of any or all contiguous.
Did China not enter Kashmir, which is Indian territory, in the 1950s during the time of Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai whose “memorable stabbing” of Jawaharlal Nehru today constitutes the folklore of India’s momentously misplaced and misjudged foreign policy of “trust China”? Did not China ravage Tibet in 1950 without any sovereign rights thereon?
Nevertheless, one always thought highly of Chinese mandarins dealing with external affairs for their knowledge, erudition, wisdom, analysis, discretion and well-considered suggestions or proposals. They are supposed to be recruited through a 5,000-year-old time-tested system of centralised examination, which is known to induct the best on their test of knowledge of history, culture, philosophy, economics, geography and linguistic skills.
What happened to those unique knowledge-based Chinese mandarins of the bygone era? Have they become extinct species? Have they vanished despite existence of surplus talent in the land of the Hans?
Ms Wenli said: “Even if there is only one Indian soldier, even for a day, it is still a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity”? What kind of jingoism is this? What has China been doing in Aksai Chin/Ladakh belt since 1950s?
Why has China brazenly and defiantly violated India’s sovereignty and territory in connivance with military rulers of Pakistan? Why don’t the Chinese withdraw there from at once? Why does CPEC Kashgar-Gwadar road pass through J&K? Did China seek India’s concurrence or consent before doing what it has done? Does China really think that the term “sovereignty” is only applicable in the case of China and that all other countries are supposed to be either its tributaries or vassals? That the Chinese will throw money like morsel, and seaport after seaport will be opened to, and taken over by the Hans? Territory could be captured? Minerals could be forcibly extracted from hinterland mines by companies operated by/from Beijing? And all sovereign nations of Asia downgrade themselves to being suzerains thereby depositing their sovereignty in the debt-afflicted bank lockers at Beijing? What delusion of grandeur? Forgetting or ignoring history and “personal recreation” thereof through disinformation, misinformation, propaganda, lies, false statistics were much-favoured means and favourite hobby of lunatic Nazi Germany, the schizophrenic Soviet secret police and self-proclaimed (narcissist) socialists of a particular brand which seem to have been suitably adapted by sections of contemporary China’s Communist ideology’s capitalist establishment.
Else, how does the Government of India so accurately diagnose the Chinese ailment? The ministry of external affairs assessed the situation perfectly by saying: “That the Chinese statements do not merit a response. They are saying 101 things. This is all part of propaganda…”
Nevertheless, here is a submission from a concerned Indian citizen. Lies, damn lies and more lies do become “the truth” after a certain stage. Hence, there is need to counter it, at least through a monthly official press conference or briefing after making compilation of the accumulated bunch of 30 day lies/propaganda/disinformation/misinformation. Till that is done, or considered to be done, let this non-official, individual citizen of India try to do his bit.
For the sake of their own image, probity and credibility, let Chinese diplomats brush up their knowledge of history. Unlike the forced, illegal occupation of Tibet by China, J&K acceded to India legally. This stands stark, all the more because China’s “all-weather friend” Pakistan had resorted to violence, invasion and mayhem from its birth itself.
After the departure of the British, all 565 princely states of South Asia were ordained to join India or Pakistan. And all, being a monarchy, the decision of the king was the decision of the state. Thus, when J&K’s monarch, Hari Singh, acceded to India on October 26, 1947, he did so as “Indar Mahandar Rajrajeshwar Maharajadhiraj Hari Singhji Jammu & Kashmir Tatha Tibbet adi Deshadhipati Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir”.
One may like to widen one’s knowledge by carefully reading each and every word of the legally acceded document of Hari Singh. Wisdom may dawn, as this accession to India also had the backing of the legal document, Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir 1939. How then does a seasoned (host) Chinese diplomat act so naïve in front of the visiting Indian media? How come Ms Wenli missed the fact that whereas China is on a weak Tibet wicket, the Indian position in J&K is solid, baseless and reckless propaganda notwithstanding?
Out of the blue, Ms Wenli also glibly refers to “Kalapani”. For information of all, Kalapani has absolutely nothing to do with anything other than that it is well inside Indian territory, from where the River Kali originates. It falls under the holy Kailash-Mansarovar route on the Indian side. If China refers to Kalapani, India too can talk of Taklakote (old Hindu mythological name of Purang), which is 20 km downhill of watershed Lipulek Pass of Sino-Indian border. And Japan could raise the return of the port of Dairen (renamed Dalian) which was Tokyo’s territory since 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki.
Diplomat Wenli forgets that diplomats world over are respected for being seasoned, serious, scholarly professionals who do not babble like seasonal trapeze artistes of countryside entertainment joints. Hence, it is hereby pointed out that Kalapani came to India vide Treaty of Sigauli in November 28, 1815, after the Anglo-Nepal war wherein River Kali constitutes, and continues as, the mutually recognised and accepted India-Nepal border.
Kalapani falls en route to the Kailash Mansarovar yatra, which is conducted by the Indian MEA. Today, if China refers to Kalapani, it would definitely be an area of surprise owing to its proximity to India-Tibet-Nepal tri-junction called Tinkerla (16,200’), which gradually goes down to 15,800’ altogether a few kilometres from Lipulekh Pass. Indeed, that being an outflanking manoeuvre would require tacit assistance of Nepal. All in all, China’s Goebbelsian verbal blitzkrieg, coupled with unprecedented printed lies, reveal the new China of the 21st century. The Nazis must be turning in their grave.
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