Chinese incursion will affect the already dwindling border trade

My article Chinese incursion will affect the already dwindling border trade
appeared yesterday in DNA.
 
Although for centuries, the Himalayas were a natural barrier between the Tibetan plateau and the Indian subcontinent, it was also a space of exchange. It witnessed a constant flow of knowledge, traditions and goods transiting up and down from far-away places in Central Asia, China or Mongolia to the entire subcontinent.
In October 1950, China invaded Tibet and soon after the Liberation Army began occupying the high plateau; exchanges gradually stopped.

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More than reforms, it is revolution which is required

My article More than reforms, it is revolution which is required was published in DNA on December 31.
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More than reforms, it is revolution which is required
Monday, December 31, 2012
During the last few days, innumerable experts have commented on or analysed the gang rape that triggered one of the largest mass protests the capital has witnessed in recent years.
With the death of the 23-year-old woman after her doubtful transfer to a Singapore ‘specialty’ hospital, the pressure on the government is mounting.
The protesters have many demands, including removal of Neeraj Kumar, the Delhi Police Commissioner, immediate compensation for rape victims; registration of FIRs for all complaints relating to rape, sexual harassment and crimes against women and safety for women in public transport.
All this is good, but will it solve the problem?
Having lived in India for the past 40 years and closely watched the Indian society, I would like to offer a comment, which seems to me very basic.
Many have spoken of ‘fast-track’ tribunals for the rapists. This demand is an admission in itself: there is no justice in India today.
There are many reasons why it is so. To put the blame entirely on the judiciary would be wrong. As for many other issues, it appears that the system has somewhere gone berserk, and only a revolution could change the status quo.
Hundreds of examples of justice being denied can be cited, but in the end, the outcome remains the same.
The Bofors has been one of the main scandals in modern India. The then prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, was suspected to have benefitted of kickbacks from Bofors to win a bid to supply 155 mm field Howitzers for the Indian Army. Bofors AB, a Swedish firm, was the main culprit.
The scam led to the defeat of the Congress in the November 1989 general elections.
Ottavio Quattrocchi, the middleman associated with the scandal, was an Italian businessman representing the petrochemicals firm Snamprogetti in India. He was reportedly close to the Gandhi family.
The Delhi High Court quashed all proceedings in the case in June, 2002. The order was reversed by the Supreme Court in July, 2003.
In January 2006, it was found that the CBI had unfrozen the bank accounts of Quattrocchi who could flee the country. In 30 years, no justice has been rendered.
Then remember the Bhopal gas tragedy, one of the world’s worst industrial disasters. On the night of December 2, 1984, an accident at the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) pesticide plant in Bhopal exposed lakhs of people to methyl isocyanate gas.
The death toll estimates vary between 4,000 and 8,000. In an affidavit in 2006, the government admitted that the leak caused 5,58,125 injuries.
Civil and criminal cases have been pending for decades in the Bhopal District Court. In June 2010, Warren Anderson, the UCIL chairman, and seven UCIL officials were convicted of causing death by negligence and sentenced to two years imprisonment and fined about $2,000, the maximum punishment allowed by Indian law. Anderson could not be extradited and a meager compensation was paid to a few of the victims. Where is the justice?
Do you remember Harshad Mehta, the Mumbai stockbroker? He was charged with financial crimes that took place in 1992.
Cleverly exploiting loopholes in the banking system, Mehta siphoned off funds from inter-bank transactions and bought shares at a premium, triggering a rise in the Sensex. He was charged with 72 criminal offences, and more than 600 civil action suits were filed against him.
Of the criminal charges brought against him, he was only convicted of one, before his death at age 48, in 2001.
These are well-publicised cases, but there are thousands, if not lakhs, of smaller cases.
Take the case of road accidents. India has the dubious distinction of having the largest number of road casualties in the world. A government report says that in 2009, 1,25,660 people were killed in road accidents and another 5,15,458 received severe or minor injuries. It has probably increased since then.
The point is that inebriated or licenceless drivers are hardly punished and the family of the dead rarely compensated. It was reported that in Tamil Nadu, which has one of the highest number of road accidents, less than two-digit licences were withdrawn last year. No justice again.
Examples could go on.
It is unfortunate that the same thing happens for rape, sexual harassment or violence against women. More than reform, it is revolution which is required.
The street protests are perhaps a first manifestation of the ‘enough-is-enough’ popular sentiment. But the government is incapable of reading the writing on the wall.
One thing is sure, don’t expect the politicians or the judiciary to take the lead to bring more justice to the common men, it will never happen.
The author is a French-born journalist and writer

The only solution for Tibet issue

My article The only solution for Tibet issue appeared in the DNA today.

The Dalai Lama is in town. I was to travel to Bangalore when I heard that the Dalai Lama would be in the city for 2 days. Immediately, I thought I should try to have his Darshan; the easiest way was to attend his lecture on ‘science and religion’ held at the Christ University.
In recent years, each time I have attended a public discourse by the Tibetan leader, I have been astounded by his immense popularity; some observers have spoken of a ‘pop star’ phenomenon. It is not the correct definition, as he lacks the ‘ego cult’ of the pop stars; on the contrary, he has remained a ‘simple monk’.
When he arrived at the venue, despite the security measures taken by the University staff and the police, the crowds went crazy. The photographers were the worst; I always marvel at his security personnel managing to keep their cool in the melee.
The 2000-seat Auditorium which was packed to the brim suddenly went silent as he began talking. The Tibetan leader started with a small survey. He asked how many in the auditorium were less than 20-years old; very few arms went up. Then, between 20 and 25, most of the hands were up. He continued, above 60? A few honorable professors, acknowledged their seniority. Then, he lifted his arm to indicate that he was more than 70. A couple of ‘senior’ members of the faculty and the Vice-Chancellor admitted being in the last category. He started laughing and said: “the world does not belong to us, because we belong to the past century; most of the present problems (he particularly cited environmental issues) have been created during the past century by us, ‘old people’; it is up to you to now rectify these predicaments. He continued: “The 21st century belongs to you, it is your duty to change the world; do not think that your lonely voice can’t do anything; you should and can do it”.
Once again, he cited environment pollution, corruption, violence, hatred or social inequality as the main issues to ‘change’.
He insisted that change it can only happen through love, compassion and understanding of the ‘others’. He told the audience an anecdote: one day, a Cuban refugee came to see him and told him that she was a Christian and everyday she was praying that Fidel Castro should depart from this world; but in her prayer, she requested the Lord to find a place for the Leader Maximo in Paradise. It was the correct way, explained the Dalai Lama; “you should pray that even your enemy’s life ends peacefully”.
I thought to myself that it would be a good way to sort out the Tibetan issue, if all the leaders of the Communist Party of China were sent to Heaven. But with my less-compassionate mind, I immediately thought that leaders like Jiang Zemin or Li Peng would certainly continue to pull some strings from their (Marxist) Paradise.
The students were spell-bound. At last here was someone who spoke to their latent idealism and higher aspirations for a better world; and this, in simple words.
The ever-increasing popularity of the Tibetan leader in India and abroad raises the issue of the situation in his homeland. One can’t stop thinking: what would happen if the Dalai Lama was allowed to return to Tibet (even for a brief visit)? One still has in mind the riotous scenes when 3 fact-finding delegations from Dharamsala visited Tibet in 1979-1980.
Huge crowds assembled wherever they went, even in the most remote nomadic areas; they surrounded the delegates to get a close darshan of the envoys of the ‘living god’ (or more rightly, the incarnation of Avalokiteshvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion); the hair of the poor delegates were pulled to be kept as relics, their chubas (Tibetan traditional dress) were torn; local nomads ate the dust of the tyres of the envoys’ vehicles as prasad. Considering that most of the 85 Tibetans who have immolated themselves, left notes before their fatal gesture asking for their leader’s return, one can imagine what would happen in Tibet.
At the same time, the Dalai Lama is the only leader which can stop Tibet burning and China disintegrating. How many in the Politburo realize this? Perhaps, the soon-to-be President Xi Jinping does; but will he be able to take along his colleagues on the reconciliation ‘middle path’? Some probably still think in terms of using yet more force to repress the ‘restive minorities’? But has force worked since 1959? Is there then a realistic solution?
Yes, Xi Jinping, whose father Xi Zhongxun knew the Dalai Lama well in the 1950’s and early 1960’s, should personally meet the Tibetan leader in a Chinese (or Indian) embassy abroad and have a preliminary discussion with the Dalai Lama to prepare a road map to stop the immolations and bring about a genuine reconciliation between Tibet and China.
Will Xi Junior have the courage to take this step? Will he be allowed by his new Politburo? What other choice does China have?
Like the Cuban refugee, let us pray to God (or Buddha) that He supports a win-win solution for all the parties concerned. It is not an easy task, even for God.

A hero smiling and a hero burned

Another article A hero smiling and a hero burned was published by DNA.

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China’s top two obsessions — loyalty and Party

My article China’s top two obsessions — loyalty and Party appeared in the DNA yesterday.

In recent times, China has had two obsessions: stability and loyalty to the Party. China watchers know that when Beijing’s State machinery starts hammering a certain issue on the masses, it usually means that the leadership has a serious predicament.
Take the example of general Guo Boxiong, Politburo member and
vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC); he recently reiterated that the armed forces “must resolutely follow the Party’s command and remain absolutely loyal and reliable”...


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Spiritual hubs as a formula for peace

My article Spiritual hubs as a formula for peace appeared today in the DNA

News that China is planning a tourist hub, just north of the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh, has flashed in the Indian media.
According to an Indian national newspaper: “China is building a ‘golden’ tourist complex in Nyingchi prefecture in Tibet, close to the disputed areas on the India-China border”.
In fact, the ‘hub’ already exists with even a 5-star hotel, but the announcement had perhaps to do with the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the Rio+20 summit in Brazil.
Just a look at GoogleEarth, will show you the amazing developments in the Nyingchi area; regrettably, it is not merely the base camp for tourists to visit the Yarlung Tsangpo gorges, it is also Chendu Military Region’s most strategic ‘military hub’.
Another news item should have attracted the Indian media’s attention more: the encounter in London between the two Buddhist Nobel Peace Prize laureates, the Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the Burmese opposition.
Apart from the fact that both these exceptional beings have greatly suffered from totalitarian regimes, each in its own way, the two world icons have something else in common, their love for a ‘spiritual hub’, just south of the McMahon Line.
Let us recall a few important moments in Suu Kyi’s life.
In 1964, she went to Oxford where she studied for three years to earn a BA in philosophy, politics and economics. Later she got her first work experience as an assistant secretary in the United Nations Secretariat.
In 1972, her life took another turn when she met a young and brilliant British scholar, Dr. Michael Aris, whose expertise was the Tibetan Buddhism. Michael’s father was a Tibetan scholar too, so was Michael’s twin brother, Antony.
Soon after Suu Kyi and Michael married in London, they moved to Bhutan, where he worked on Pemalingpa, the famous 15th century yogi and siddha. In the early 1970’s, Aris added another topic to his study: the ‘lives’ of Tsangyang Gyatso (the Precious Ocean of Pure Melody), the Sixth Dalai Lama, born in 1643 in Monyul (today’s Tawang district of Arunachal).
Though Tsangyang Gyatso’s official biography said that he passed away in 1706, some texts said that he survived and roamed around Mongolia and the Gobi desert and had the most extraordinary adventures.
Micheal Aris researched the ‘secret’ life of the Dalai Lama.
Already Tsangyang Gyatso’s ‘first’ life was quite remarkable. His official biography said: “Though he continued to live in the Potala Palace, he roamed around Lhasa and other outlying villages, spending his days with his friends in the park behind the Potala Palace and nights in taverns in Lhasa and Shol (an area below the Potala) drinking chang (barley beer) and singing songs. He was known to be a great poet and writer. In 1706, he was invited to China and died on the way.”
Michael Aris studied both lives of the Dalai Lama. Speaking Tibetan perfectly, Michael (accompanied by his wife) traveled to Urgyeling, at the outskirts of Tawang where the Dalai Lama took birth and to Berkhar, the remote hamlet, south of Tawang where Tsangyang Gyatso’s mother lived. She herself was a descendant of Pemalingpa. The visit of the couple is still remembered in the area. Ironically (or ‘karmically’) in March 1959, Tenzin Gyatso, the present Dalai Lama entered India through the same area.
These past years must have made the Burmese leader closer to the Dalai Lama.
Did they discuss the ‘secret life of Tsangyang Gyatso when the two met in London? Perhaps!
After traveling extensively through the Himalayas and writing on India’s age-old traditions of peace and tolerance, the couple returned to London in early 1988. And then she jumped into politics!
Aung San Suu Kyi surely remembered this poem of Tsangyang Gyaltso (and thought of Michael), when she met the Dalai Lama in London.

The cuckoo bird from the land of Mon (Tawang) brings rain,
It descends from the sky
It brings blessings to the earth.
Life grows and blossoms.
When the cuckoo bird comes from Moon
My lover and I join as one
In body, heart and mind.

It made me think: why can’t the Chinese leadership opt for the Burmese model and use the Dalai Lama as an ally and an ambassador, instead of making him an enemy or a demon?
One can dream of the sea of changes this would bring in China and Tibet (and consequently in India).
First and foremost, from a ‘bully boy’, China would become a ‘normal’ State, respectable and even respected. This would completely change the image of China and ‘image’ has always been important in the Chinese psyche. The Burmese model should inspire them.
But before this, Beijing should stop claiming Tawang as theirs and concentrate on their hubs.
The author is a French-born journalist and writer
URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_spiritual-hubs-as-a-formula-for-peace_1707604-all

The myths of wild roses and Pakistani presence in Siachen

My article The myths of wild roses and Pakistani presence in Siachen appeared yesterday in the DNA.

Indians are nice people. ‘It’s time to resolve Siachen’ says Pakistan army chief Parvez Kayani and immediately voices rise all over India to say, ‘Yes, it would be so nice to finally befriend Pakistan; are we not brothers?’
The good general called for demilitarisation of the Siachen glacier and advocated peaceful coexistence with India. He solemnly stated: ‘The world knows why we are in Siachen,’ inferring that Pakistan troops are positioned on the glacier. However, there is something wrong in the general’s reasoning, for the simple reason that Pakistan has never occupied the glacier, which lies east of the Saltoro Ridge, also in India’s possession. So why should India vacate a place belonging to her and in her possession? To give ideas to the Chinese that India should also vacate Tawang?
In 1984, a certain Brigadier Pervez Musharraf tried his luck. In a ‘Kargil’ style coup, he sent troops to take over the Siachen glacier. New Delhi was compelled to retaliate and occupy the treacherous Saltoro Ridge to stop Pakistan grabbing the gate to the Shyok valley and the entire Ladakh region. Since then, Pakistan has not set foot in the area.

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French presidential elections: A lacklustre affair.

My article posted below appeared yesterday in the DNA under the title French presidential elections: A lacklustre affair.
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Emergence of atypical terrorism?

My article Emergence of atypical terrorism? appeared in DNA today.
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Hu Jintao’s Karmic connection with Tibet

My article Hu Jintao’s Karmic connection with Tibet appeared in the DNA on February 13.  
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Hats off to the government's servants

My article on the post-cyclone hard work around Pondicherry by the Government's servants appeared in DNA.
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Oh, Indian Youth, aren't you outraged yet?

My article Oh, Indian Youth, aren't you outraged yet? appeared yesterday in the DNA.
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What the Great Underground Wall of China means for India

My article on tunnels in China "What the Great Underground Wall of China means for India" appeared yesterday in The DNA.
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Why 1962 will not be repeated

My article on 1962 War was published yesterday in the DNA under the title Why 1962 will not be repeated. Click here to read.

The dangerous game of perceptional border intrusion

My article The dangerous game of perceptional border intrusion appeared in yesterday's edition of DNA.

September 20, 2011
News agencies reported that Chinese troops recently entered into Indian territory and destroyed bunkers in Chumar division of Nyoma tashil, some 300 km south of Leh, the capital of Ladakh.
A few days later, the situation seemed rather confused: while some reports said that the Chinese troops used helicopters to intrude into Indian territory, others affirmed that the choppers landed in Chinese territory, close to the LAC and later the PLA troops walked into the ‘disputed’ area to dismantle old bunkers and remove tents belonging to the ITBP.
As usual, the Indian Army first denied that anything had happened. Col Rajesh Kalia stated that he did not have any report of helicopters landing or any destruction of bunkers (later, it was stated that Chinese troops might have penetrated 200m into India by mistake).
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu also denied the intrusions. She affirmed with a straight face that China “has never taken action that jeopardises peace and tranquility in border areas,” mentioning that Delhi and Beijing have reached ‘a principled consensus’ to set up a border affairs coordination mechanism to “handle major border affairs that have a bearing on peace and tranquility in border areas.”
Well, this does not stop incursions. Last year, PLA troops had crossed over the Line of Actual Control (LAC) near Demchok, in southeastern Ladakh. Motorcycle-borne PLA personnel had driven into Gombir area on the Indian side of the LAC. At that time, they had threatened an Indian contractor and ordered him to stop constructing a ‘passenger shed’.
The Chief of Army Staff, General VK Singh, had then declared: “the ‘so-called’ intrusions took place due to perceptional differences about the LAC between India and China, an issue which is being addressed by the two countries through discussion.”
Many commentators found it regrettable that the army chief should speak of ‘so-called intrusions’. Either the ‘intrusions’ took place or they did not. Further, ‘perceptional’ meant nothing. The Chinese ‘perceive’ the entire Arunachal Pradesh as theirs. What conclusions should the army make?
Regarding Demchog, the ‘perceptions’ of both countries had been discussed in detail during the 1960 extensive border talks. At one point during the negotiations Dr S Gopal, the head of the Historical Division, remarked that Demchog was the place where the ‘perceptions’ between the two sides were the closest. The Chinese side was not far from agreeing with the historical facts presented by India. Fifty years later, the closeness of the ‘perceptions’ seems to have gone with the wind of the high plateau. It is not a healthy situation: India has to constantly deny facts.
Remember the road cutting through Aksai Chin, also in Ladakh. Delhi started complaining to Beijing about it several years after it was constructed. In one letter to Nehru in December 1959, Zhou Enlai, then Chinese premier, pointed out that the Aksai Chin was the ‘traditional route’ through which PLA units had entered Ngari region of Tibet from Sinkiang: “In the nine years since then [1950], they have been making regular and busy use of this route to bring supplies. …so many activities were carried out by the Chinese side in this area under its jurisdiction, and yet the Indian side was utterly unaware of them. This is eloquent proof that this area has indeed always been under Chinese jurisdiction and not under Indian jurisdiction.”
In other words, if India today is unable to publicly and loudly claim what belongs to her, in a few years the Chinese will say: “but you never claimed this area.”
There is worse in the Eastern Sector: in 2007, it came out that China had moved 20 km into India and occupied areas including the Sumdorong Chu valley.
One remembers that mid-1986, the PLA had built some structure at Wandung in the Sumdorong Chu valley in the northwestern part of Arunachal Pradesh. The Indian Army reacted swiftly and in August 1986, India and China had a serious eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation. After a tense week, both sides mutually agreed to withdraw their forces and create a no man’s land. Today, the Chinese seem to be back again and unfortunately India does not have the guts it had then.
Kiren Rijiju, the then MP from West Arunachal had told DNA in 2007 that the Chinese had a helipad in Sumdorong Chu Valley.
Rijiju had brandished written replies from the ministries of external affairs and defence, indicating that the government was aware of the intrusions, but was “trying to sort them out.”
The point is that China prefers to keep the LAC un-demarcated to be able harass India from time to time. Unless India put her foot down, like in 1986, the situation will continue to remain unhealthy.
The author is a French-born writer and journalist
URL of the article: http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/comment_the-dangerous-game-of-perceptional-border-intrusion_1589296-all

Beijing’s unopened secret gift package to Nepal

My article Beijing’s unopened secret gift package to Nepal appeared in DNA.

You may think that Communists are atheists. You are wrong. They have recently become great experts in religious matters, including ‘soul’ reincarnations and reestablishing Buddhist institutions.
Last year, Beijing announced some new regulations to select what they call ‘Living Buddhas’. Termed Management Measures for the Reincarnation of Living Buddhas in Tibetan Buddhism, it proclaimed that “the reincarnation of Living Buddhas shall not be interfered or dominated by any organisation or individual abroad (read the Dalai Lama) … the reincarnation of living Buddhas should fulfill the application and approval procedures.”
In other words, the Party is the only legitimate body to select the reincarnations of diseased Tibetan Lamas. Amazing! In fact, there is nothing really new in the Chinese rulers’ attitude: during the nineteenth century, the Chinese ambassadors in Lhasa knew the trick well:
‘Control the reincarnation system; you will control the country!’ The Ninth to Twelfth Dalai Lamas died mysteriously before attaining majority. Chinese-controlled puppet regents could manage the interregnum.Closer in time, a few days after criticising the Party at a public function in Shigatse in 1989 (in the presence of the then Tibet party secretary, Hu Jintao), the Panchen Lama ‘passed away’.
The Party could not accept to lose control over the courageous Lama. 

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China's economic quake shakes the west

My article China's economic quake shakes the west appeared yesterday in DNA.
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Certain analysts believe that a forthcoming economic crisis could be ten times more serious than the one triggered by the Lehman Brothers’ collapse in 2008.
The French daily Le Monde commented: “Never in the economic and financial history of the postwar, has the risk of a systematic explosion of the global economy been so high. We risk a real conflagration, if there is no last-minute wake up of the political leaders of the Western world to prevent a collision between default payment of the United States with the cascading defaults in Europe. The appalling management on both sides of the Atlantic has one thing in common: they are trying desperately to believe that we will resolve decades of fiscal laxity without difficulty. The issue is however much more serious; we need to adjust our lifestyle to our means.”
President Barack Obama was ready to offer substantial reductions of the public debt, but the powerful lobbies behind the Republicans are not interested. The Christian Science Monitor reported, “When you add up the interest payments, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense operations, active-duty military pay, and unemployment insurance, the costs in August will outweigh incoming funds for that month. Moreover, there would be nothing left for huge areas of the government including federal courts, the FBI, food stamps, Pell grants, highway projects, tax refund checks, or federal employee pay”...
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What you need to start a war now is not a trigger, but a mouse

My article What you need to start a war now is not a trigger, but a mouse appeared in today's edition of the DNA. Click on the title to read.

Tibet's new PM has large shoes to fill while walking the middle path

My article Tibet's new PM has large shoes to fill while walking the middle path on the new Tibetan Prime Minister was published by DNA sometime ago.

It takes a spoonful of muscle to help Nicolas Sarkozy go back up

My article on President Sarkozy's policy in Africa appeared in DNA. Click on the title to read.