Abhijit Bhattacharyya

Commentator and Author

The Communist Party of China (CPC) is the State and vice versa. The political manifesto of the CPC — typed, distributed and discussed during annual, biennial or seasonal ‘People’s Congress’ (equivalent to Parliament) sessions — is the updated, upgraded and amended ‘State Constitution’. The all-in-one CPC denotes the absence of an opposition party, rival or competitor. The word ‘opposition’ is synonymous with ‘enemy of the CPC-state’.

Thus, the General Secretary of the CPC is automatically ex officio President of the ‘CPC-state’. One-and-the-same person, necessary and complementary to each other for complete, unitary command, control and communication — an over-centralised, dictatorial model. It includes the geographical territory of the nation-state China, known as the ‘Middle Kingdom’. Unpretentiously named the CPC, in reality, it is the ostentatious ‘Middle Kingdom’. Hence, the President heads the ‘Middle Kingdom’ as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the nation-state.

The deception is fundamental, the foundation of which was laid by the then CPC General Secretary Mao Zedong. The tradition goes on with a debilitating effect. The ‘party-state’ or the ‘state of the party’ of Han Communists under Mao (1893-1976) and now his copybook successor, Xi Jinping, goes on consolidating individual power, “absolute to the power of infinity”, over the institution; targeting neighbouring nations to make them surrender or make themselves courtier countries to present nazrana before the CPC. Especially if one is small, weak and fragile; because, by now, you know that the CPC (re)draws maps, distributes money or morsel, makes machine guns, and manages affairs on land, in air and on water.

As the CPC celebrates its centenary on July 1, 2021, expect the unexpected, unprecedented, unforeseen. Brace for an impending crisis on a date, time and place of the CPC’s choosing. Forewarned is forearmed. Take note of a few key dates: May 4, the anniversary of the Shanghai movement of 1919; March 31, the great escape of the Dalai Lama from the Communist-occupied Tibet to India in 1959; June 26, the start of the Korean war in 1950 to teach the Americans a lesson; June 15, the day Xi was born in 1953. Have you forgotten June 15, 2020, the day 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan clash?

October, too, is special for the CPC. The invasion of Tibet started in October 1950. Indian policemen were killed on Indian territory on October 21, 1959. The unprovoked invasion of India through Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh took place on October 20, 1962. The foundation day of the People’s Republic of China — October 1, 1949 — is always an important occasion to flex muscles. India, therefore, should be prepared for a moderate-to-severe turbulence, leading to loss of lives, prestige, land, and major economic and commercial shocks.

Lest you forget, 2021 marks 50 years of the visit of the redoubtable Henry Kissinger, the emissary of US President Nixon, to China in 1971. It was a top-secret ‘Mission China’, undertaken to establish contact and cultivate Chairman Mao Zedong. The Nixon-Kissinger duo, on behalf of Wall Street corporations, had eyed the vast Chinese market of (the then) 900 million. The Chinese, too, were glued to the US dollar, technology, investment and finance. Planning long-term, to penetrate deep inside enemy camp. Hence, when the affluent Americans came calling to the third world economies, in Chinese eyes, however, it was obeisance to the Han court — the US kowtowing before the ‘sons of Heaven’ in the ‘forbidden city’ of the CPC.

Today, the same US which was perceived to have had accepted the Chinese as equals in 1971, by presenting its credentials through Kissinger, appears to be “troubling the Middle Kingdom of the Yellow River”. “Cajoling, compelling, blackmailing” to stop the rise of the CPC in the world arena. What better an opportunity to settle the scores than to celebrate the CPC’s centenary, and the golden jubilee of the US visit to the Chinese court? By catching the foe on the wrong foot as the rampaging Chinese virus cripples the US deep inside its own camp!

That’s understandable, as the planned show goes on. But no! Why this sudden tremor in Nepal? Why is Kathmandu, the ideological Communist brethren of the CPC, on the boil? What till yesterday was a matter of pride for the CPC in Kathmandu is in turmoil ahead of the CPC’s centenary.

Nepal is undoubtedly important to the CPC for several reasons. Its geography juts into the heartland provinces of India, thereby giving China an incredible geopolitical advantage through an ideological comrade in the Himalayas. Kathmandu is one of the top 2021 items on the CPC’s plate.

However, despite Nepal being on the powerful Chinese political radar, India continues to be the biggest worry for China, owing to the ethnic commonality and historical fraternity transcending barriers. Plus, the Indian states adjacent to the open border of the two neighbours are intertwined since time immemorial, with or without politics. Astounding civilisational commonality overshadows all godly or man-made faultlines.

So, as the influence of the CPC over the Nepalese counterpart faced serious domestic issues, the Chinese were compelled to mobilise their heavyweight Communist comrades to camp in Kathmandu to do every possible thing to hold sway, and keep India at bay. The CPC has long been hyperactive in South Asia. After the Pakistan-penetrating CPEC project, the Ladakh transgression and the Galwan clash, the Myanmar-Bangladesh investment in defence supplies and futile venture in Bhutan (till now), Nepal just cannot be allowed to go out of the CPC’s clutches — under no circumstances in the CPC’s centenary year.

The perceived ‘Hindu Nepal’, adjacent to the Indian heartland, cannot be allowed to go away or change its political colour. It’s because, except Nepal, the CPC has no ideological base or commonality in any of the states from Indonesia to Iraq. Hence, the CPC under Xi can never be seen to be accepting defeat, weakening or break-up of the Nepal Communist Party, cruising under the perceived guidance and control of Beijing.

Friends and foes, fasten your seat belts in the CPC’s centenary year. Severe turbulence lies ahead.

Tribune News Service
Patiala, January 6

Members of the Delhi-Katra Expressway Sangharsh Committee today said they would hold a protest march here against the acquisition of land for the project. During their first press conference at the Patiala media club in the city, they said they had decided that they would not give their lands for the project, as construction of the highway would be detrimental for farmers.

Sukhdev Singh Dhillon, state president of the committee, said the expressway would be constructed for transportation of industrialists’ goods from their godowns. “The government wants to acquire lands of farmers at low rates for the benefit of the industrialists without rehabilitating the farmers. Trees will be razed along with houses. We are not allowing private surveyors to come to our villages. We are willing to talk with the government only after the farmers’ protest in Delhi comes to an end.”

The farmers said they had met several ministers and MLAs in this regard. “We also met PWD Minister Vijay Inder Singla and expressed our concerns, but we have not received any response. Now, after a number of press conferences, we will soon decide the date of the protest march in Patiala. Further steps will be decided after talks with farmers’ unions protesting at the Delhi

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 3

The local unit of the Congress today staged protests in parts of the city. They beat “thalis” and clapped to protest the increasing prices of gas, petrol, diesel and charges of water and electricity.

According to the Congress, its leaders and workers in Mani Majra, Maloya, Mauli Jagran, Bapudham Colony, Ramdarbar, Maloya Rehabilitation Colony, Dadumajra, Sectors 34, 35, 25, 26, 29, 40, 49, 20, 19 and 27, Kishangarh and Behlana village came out on roads and raised slogans against the “faulty” policies of the BJP government. They said they were supported by the local people.

City Congress president Pardeep Chhabra said by increasing the prices of the basic commodities, the BJP had left no stone unturned to leave the pockets of common people completely empty. The BJP leaders made tall promises and now they are forced to take U-turn on all false promises made to people.

“It seems the Modi-led BJP government has taken it upon themselves to completely destroy the nation. The farmers, students, labour, youth and even employees are often seen protesting on roads for their rights, but the ‘chowkidar of Ambani and Adani’ is absolutely deaf to the voice of common people,” he alleged.

“The government is only working for the benefits of a few capitalist friends of the BJP and it can be seen in the way NPAs are increasing and huge loans of these industrialist friends of Modi are being waived,” he alleged.

Senior leaders, block presidents and other office-bearers of the Chandigarh Congress took part in the protest.

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 6

Amidst a volatile security atmosphere in the sub-continent, the Army’s Western Command conducted and integrated training exercise involving all arms to fine tune its battle drills in line with its operational role along the western front.

Various units of the Ambala-based Kharga Corps, the Army’s most potent strike formation, carried out the field drill over the past few days as part of its winter training cycle.

The exercise took place even as a large number of troops, including armoured, artillery and engineer elements, continue to maintain eye-ball confrontation with the Chinese along the Line of Actual Control in the northern sector in a stand-off that has been continuing for the past about nine months. Some units from the western theatre were also moved up to eastern Ladakh.e exercise is aimed at validating evolving military concepts and offensive manoeuvres meant to inflict a swift punitive blow to the adversary while operating in a networked and informationalised domain. Tactical air support, heli-borne operations and sub-conventional warfare also feature in such exercise.

This year certain protocols enforced to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic also cast a shadow on the exercise, requiring a review and modification of standard operating procedures and drills dealing with operational, administrative and logistical aspects. Extra medical and health precautions were undertaken for the conduct of exercise, with special provisions being made for sanitization of equipment and accommodation.

Srinagar, Janaury 4

Kashmir was cut off from rest of the country on Monday as the arterial Jammu-Srinagar national highway and Mughal road were closed due to snowfall across the valley, leaving nearly 4500 vehicles stranded.

“The Jammu-Srinagar National Highway is closed due to accumulation of snow at many places, especially around Jawahar Tunnel,” an official of the traffic control department said.

He said snow clearance operations were in full swing and efforts were on to restore movement of stranded vehicles along the 260 kilometre road.  The official said nearly 4500 vehicles, mostly trucks carrying essentials to the valley, are stranded along the highway at various places.

Mughal Road, which connects the valley to Jammu division through Shopian-Rajouri axis, has been closed for several days due to heavy snowfall in the region.  The officials said south Kashmir’s Kulgam district received highest snowfall with two to three feet of snow accumulated at some places.  Anantnag district has also received heavy snowfall between one foot and two feet,  they said.  The flight operations to and from Srinagar remained suspended for second consecutive day due to poor visibility, the officials said.

The minimum temperature improved in most places in the valley due to the snowfall but still stayed below the freezing point, the officials said.

Srinagar city — the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir — recorded a low of minus 0.9 degrees Celsius — up from the previous night’s minus 1.5 degrees Celsius, they said.

The minimum temperature in Gulmarg tourist resort remained unchanged at minus 5 degrees Celsius on Sunday night compared to a night earlier.

Pahalgam tourist resort, which also serves as a base camp for the annual Amarnath yatra in south Kashmir, recorded a low of minus 6.7 degrees Celsius – plunging from minus 1.45 degrees Celsius on the previous night, the officials said.

Qazigund recorded a minimum of minus 0.3 degrees Celsius, Kupwara, in the north, minus 0.3 degrees Celsius and Kokernag, minus 1.4 degrees Celsius.

Tribune News service

New Delhi, January 5

A day after the latest round of negotiations between Government of India and the conglomerate of farm bodies failed to bear the fruit, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha announced intensifying protests against the farm laws.

Social activist Yogendra Yadav who chaired the meeting on Tuesday aimed a dig at the establishment saying it is very clear to them that Government was not serious.

“One can gauge the seriousness when a minister asked us at the last meeting whether we were serious to get all the laws repealed,” Yadav said.

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“So we have decided to intensify our protests starting with the tractor march on January 7 where farmers will get on the eastern and western expressway. It will be a dress rehearsal for our tractor march on January 26,” he added.

The farm bodies had already announced a calendar of protests before the January 4 meeting.

Further, the farm bodies have also decided to gherao members of Parliament from the ruling alliance and burn the copies of farm laws on Makar Sankranti and Lohri.