Sino-India ‘war-cry’ at the roof of the world

Indian PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping Photo/REUTERS

SALEEM SAMAD
No bullets were fired! So far, Chinese and Indian troops exchanged brickbats and hurled bullies.

Normally, India and Pakistan skirmishes trade thunderous artillery fire and weapons drawn on each other -- often inflicting civilian casualties.

Presently, both China and India claim transgression of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) over Galwan Valley in Ladakh. The valley was once a flashpoint in the 1962 Sino-India war.

An earlier Sino-India border dispute in 2017 or Doklam stand-off refers to the faceoff between the Indian Armed Forces and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over the construction of a road in Doklam near a tri-junction border area, known as Donglang, or Donglang Caochang (meaning Donglang pasture or grazing field), in Chinese.

After a month of the stand-off, both India and China withdrew their troops from the Doklam theatre.

As the Galwan valley stand-off continues, China is increasingly taking a more belligerent position. Of the flashpoints, three were in Ladakh in the Kashmir region, while another is at Nuka La Pass, which connects India’s north-eastern state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet.

The question is: Why are the two Asian giants hurtling down the path of war at the Himalayan frontiers?

When the military of the two countries are in a face-off, Xi Jinping tells PLA to “prepare for war” to thwart the coronavirus impact on national security.

The winter in Galwan Valley is brutal. Even during clear weather at any time of the year, border patrol at 15,000 feet above sea level is treacherous.

There are several theories to why this border tension exists when the world is trying to control the coronavirus that came from China.

First, China allegedly changed its claims over the Galwan Valley thrice. Now, Beijing says that the entire Galwan Valley belongs to China.

“India in recent days has illegally constructed defense facilities across the border into Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region, leaving Chinese border defense troops no other option but making necessary moves in response, and mounting the risk of escalating stand-offs and conflicts between the two sides,” blames China’s official newspaper the Global Times.

Second, China is annoyed after the Indian authority’s plan for a huge economic zone in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, offering attractive packages to shift manufacturing plants from China, when companies are worried about the second wave of Covid-19 sweeping the country.

The media report in Indian newspapers has visibly irritated the bigwigs of the Chinese Communist Party, with the strategic ambition of India to replace China’s role in the global industrial chain only expanding. Thus, the Global Times editorial has expressed its rage against the “Make in India” campaign to become the world’s next destination for brand factories.

Third, Narendra Modi’s administration last year revoked the autonomous status of the part of Kashmir under its control. Indian-administered Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority region in India and has continued to be claimed by China’s staunch ally, Pakistan.

While India and Pakistan have fought wars over Kashmir, China has always stood beside Pakistan and supported Kashmir nationals’ right to self-determination.

The fourth sore point between China and India is Tibet, a region that China says is its rightful territory. Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and the so-called Tibetan government in exile, have its headquarters in Himachal, India.

Fifth, ignoring the Sino-India relations, Narendra Modi nominated two BJP lawmakers to 'attend' swearing-in of Taiwan virtual celebration of president Tsai Ing-wen swearing-in ceremony.

Meanwhile, China is in no mood for dialogue. Beijing is blaming India, and China’s newspaper the Global Times has been publishing aggressive and anti-India rhetoric. It claims that India has “illegally constructed defense facilities across the border into Chinese territory.”

“Not since 1975 has a bullet been fired across the shared border. As a result, the theory that Sino-Indian clashes are flashes in the pan and unlikely to lead to more extensive fighting has become a widely held consensus,” Professors Sumit Ganguly and Manjeet S Pardesi wrote in the Foreign Policy.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 1 June 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, and recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. His twitter is @saleemsamad and can be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com

Mujib’s challenge was the road to democracy

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - Photo Credit: Rafiqur Rahman, Reuters

SALEEM SAMAD

How the architect of our independence paved the way for a democratic nation

Days after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned from Pakistan, after languishing in solitary confinement in Mianwali prison, the stalwart politician quickly understood the challenges ahead.

The architect of Bangladesh’s independence, by dint of political wisdom, overcame the crisis. His first task was to bag diplomatic recognitions. Except for India, Bhutan, and later the Soviet bloc, no Western country had recognized independent Bangladesh.

Mujib decided to send strong messages to the global community and international bodies that war-torn Bangladesh had stepped into democracy.

Just a day after his home-coming on January 10, 1972, Bangabandhu promulgated the “Provisional Constitution of Bangladesh Order of 1972.” The order stated that those elected in the national and provincial parliament held in December 1970 and January 1971 would be deemed as members of the Constituent Assembly of Bangladesh. On the second day, January 12, the leader took an oath of office as the prime minister of Bangladesh and formed an 11-member cabinet of ministers.

Of course, no other political leader had ever been able to drive their country to the road to democracy after a bloody war of independence. In less than three months, Sheikh Mujib held Awami League’s first Council Session on April 7, 1972.

Two days later, the Constituent Assembly held its first session at the Constituent Assembly Hall, which is now the prime minister’s office.

The Constituent Assembly merged all 403 elected members from the national and provincial assembly as Members of the Constituent Assembly. Among the 401 members, all were from Awami League, except for Surenjit Sen Gupta from NAP (Muzaffar), and independent member Manebendra Narayan Larma from the Chittagong Hill Tracts; they were in the opposition bench.

On the first day, the Constituent Assembly formed a 34-member Constitution Drafting Committee with Dr Kamal Hossain, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the chair.

Kamal Hossain wrote the draft in English and Anisuzzaman, a professor of Bangla from Chittagong University, painstakingly translated it to Bangla. Kamal Hossain was twice summoned by Bangabandhu for consultation regarding the draft constitution. On both occasions, he was accompanied by Professor Anisuzzaman.

Bangabandhu advised constitutional provisions to bifurcate religion and politics. The second was to block party law-makers from crossing the floor during voting in the parliament. Both pieces of advice were included in the first constitution and both the clauses had drawn flak from lawmakers.

The third issue regarding the citizenship was debated by independent lawmaker Manabendra Larma, for the use of the term “Bangali” to describe all Bangladeshi citizens.

He argued: “Under no definition or logic can a Chakma be a Bangali or a Bangali be a Chakma … as citizens of Bangladesh, we are all Bangladeshis, but we also have a separate ethnic identity.”

Nevertheless, the draft constitution was adopted with thunderous applause on November 4, 1972, and took effect from December 16, 1972 -- the day 93,000 marauding Pakistan troops surrendered at Dhaka -- and lawmakers decided to commemorate the day as Victory Day.

On December 17, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his cabinet colleagues took a fresh oath on the new constitution -- the four pillars of which were nationalism, democracy, socialism, and secularism. The Constituent Assembly decided to hold the first general election on March 7, 1973, to commemorate Bangabandhu’s historic fiery speech at Suhrawardy Uddyan.

After 25 years, the political battle of realizing regional autonomy against the Pakistan junta had yielded a constitution for an independent and sovereign nation.

As Mohiuddin Ahmed, a writer and political historian, described in his book “Bela Obela,” Awami League had envisioned to draft and adopt a constitution in the Constituent Assembly in the shortest time.

Finally, the “road to democracy” adopted a new path after the constitution came into effect.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune on 17 March 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, and a recipient of the Ashoka Fellow and Hellman-Hammett Award. He can be followed on Twitter @saleemsamad