Author: Balbir K. Punj
Publication: The Asian Age
Date: November 1, 2007
URL: http://www.asianage.com/presentation/leftnavigation/opinion/op-ed/indian-communists'-chinese-friends.aspx
On November 1, 2007 CPI(M) general secretary
Prakash Karat "vowed" to oppose a "strategic alliance"
between India and the United States because he saw such an "alliance"
as an attempt to "counterbalance" and "encircle" China.
It is obvious that while India's concerns do not figure in Comrade Karat's
book, China's interests are central to his thinking.
In fact, Karat's thesis about America using
India to "encircle" China reveals the true nature of the patriotism
of the Marxists. Why is the comrade not concerned about the Chinese encirclement
of India? Has he read the recent media reports on the Chinese incursions into
Indian territory? Karat will refuse to read these reports, just as he and
his followers refuse to condemn China for claiming Arunachal Pradesh. The
comrades also refuse to take note of the Chinese naval build-up in the Indian
Ocean, the close relationship China has established with the Burmese regime
to try to exclude India from Burma's oil and gas fields.
The Chinese rulers are seeking to encircle
India in every way possible through their deep commitment to Pakistan, through
their entry into Bangladesh, through the Maoist uprising in Nepal and through
militant groups like the Naxalites and the tribal militancy of the Northeast.
The CPI(M)'s abject pro-Chinese stand would not have bothered us so much but
for the fact that Prakash Karat today enjoys veto power over the government
of India.
The recent directive by the Union government
asking its ministers to stay away from a felicitation ceremony of the Dalai
Lama is a clear instance of how the Marxists are using their veto power to
promote China's interests. The debate over the nuclear deal with the United
States revealed how Prakash Karat could play with the UPA government. But
the UPA government cannot be expected to shed its dependence on the Marxists.
The great danger to India's security is not
so much the encirclement of India achieved by China and the deep swathe it
has cut into India with Naxalite help. But it is the fact that China has a
fifth column in India on whose goodwill depends Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
government. It is a self confessed fifth column which the UPA cannot get rid
of.
The constant US bashing at a time when India
in its own interest is developing a strategic relationship with that country,
is also part of Karat's actions against India. It is well known that an increasing
synergy between Indian and American economies has raised India's global stature.
It is this synergy that has enabled millions of jobs to be created in India
in IT and IT enabled services (ITes). This is a two-way traffic, with Indian
companies even snapping up American companies.
This is another area where China wants to
emerge as India's competitor. The two countries are already competing in the
American market in areas like textiles, garments, pharmaceuticals, engineering
goods, sports goods and toys. The Indian economy has been on a forward thrust
because of the economic reforms. The next synergy quantum is expected from
financial reforms that India should institute.
No wonder China's fifth column in India is
opposing these reform measures and is trying to sabotage the ITeS and IT industries
by forming Communist unions in them. This fifth column has also emerged as
a strong opponent of all self-defence measures like Chhattisgarh's Salva Judum
movement to fight the Naxalites.
For decades China has been establishing a
strategic relationship with Pakistan, which helped China swallow parts of
Indian territory in the north and build roads to help Pakistan. It is well
known that China has been helping Pakistan develop its nuclear arsenal. All
these decades Pakistan has been America's best ally on this subcontinent.
In fact, an America-Pakistan-China axis has been at work since 1970. China
and the Indian Marxists had condemned India's 1998 nuclear tests, but not
Pakistan's subsequent tests. Even today China and America are cooperating
in East Asian politics. China opposes India's admission into ASEAN. But none
of these anti-India moves has attracted Marxist ire. China strongly supports
the secessionist movements in the Northeast: for instance, some Naga armed
rebels are still in China and are armed and equipped with Chinese weapons.
The port developed by China near Karachi,
Pakistan, is just one of the several links in the Chinese chain around India.
This encirclement has alerted the Indian defence
establishment so much that it has sought to strengthen its naval presence
in the Bay of Bengal and southern Indian Ocean. It is also closely watching
what China is doing on the east coast of Africa.
Despite all the evidence of China's intentions
against India, the only concern Prakash Karat has is the encirclement of China
by America. The fact is, the US and China are collaborating on a wide range
of political and strategic issues where their interests coincide. Only the
other day China and America succeeded in prevailing on Communist North Korea
to stop its nuclear proliferation programme. As a result, American experts
are now in North Korea to oversee the dismantling of that country's nuclear
reactor.
For those who are familiar with the history
of the Communist movement in India, the Marxist lobbying for China's interests
against India's should not be surprising. What else can we expect from those
who have pursued a movement inspired and controlled by and financed from abroad?
The history of the Communist Party of India
itself admits that the party was set up by people trained in Moscow. During
World War II, till the time the Soviet Union was not involved in it, the Indian
Communists condemned it as an imperialist conspiracy.
The day the Soviet Union joined the Allies,
the Indian Communists hailed it as a fight against fascism. So much so, they
were prepared to collaborate with the British government in India and oppose
Gandhi's Quit India Movement. Marxist theoreticians rejected the concept of
India as a nation and would only describe it as a confederation. They openly
supported Jinnah's demand for a theocratic Pakistan.
Indian independence was not acceptable to
the CPI, and during the Stalinist years the Communists condemned Nehru as
the "running dog of imperialism." Their attitude changed the moment
Soviet Union found it in its interest to side with nonalignment and sabotage
it from within. This history confirms what recent documents from former Soviet
archives have revealed, that the united CPI received regular financial support
and political direction from Moscow.
The Chinese attack of India in 1962 almost
coincided with the great split in the international Communist movement with
one section of the CPI coming out in support of China against their own country.
It was this faction that became the CPI(M) and true to its origin has been
supporting and promoting China's interests here.
A few years ago, when Chinese companies tried
to corner all port improvement tenders in India, and the security agencies
warned the government about the sinister Chinese design, the Marxists took
up China's cause.
All these developments and the dependence
of the UPA government on the Communists raise the question whether it is not
time for a national movement to secure the country against India's own Chinese
agents.
It's time CPI(M) is known in India as the
China Party of Marxists.
Balbir K. Punj can be contacted at bkpunj@gmail.com
