The Chinese connection

(Seen) Marxist slogan in Kolkata in the late sixties: 'China's chairman is our chairman'.
(Unseen) Marxist belief in 2007: 'China's interest is our interest'.

The slogan, you might have seen, dotting the streets of Kolkata in the sixties. But what our communist friends really believe in, you cannot expect them to confess, out in the open.

The more things change, the more they remain the same. In the sixties, Communist ideology was at its peak, and the Marxists put China before India (they supported China in the Indo-China war). Today, the Communist ideology is past its expiry date, and officially declared dead the world over, but our desi Marxists continue to 'Marx' along and put China before India.

The Indo-US nuclear accord (commonly referred to as the 123 Agreement), is a classic example. The 123 Agreement is too complex a subject to conclusively debate about its merits and demerits in a space of a few hundred words, but the issue thoroughly exposes the two principal players involved, the Communists and the Congress Party. If the latter looks towards a leader whose punyabhumi is Italy, but who harbours ambitions of ruling our country, the former looks towards China, who harbours ambitions of ruling India by default.

Irrespective of the merits and demerits of the issue, if the 123 Agreement fails to go through, who will benefit the most? China. And if it indeed gets through, who feels threatened the most? China.

Now, who are the most strident opponents of the nuclear deal? The Marxists. Now you know why they are fighting it tooth and nail, to the extent of even threatening to bring down the UPA government at the centre.

The truth about the Marxists betrayal of the national interest is whistling in the wind. This is not the first time they have put China before India. Take their recent opposition to the joint naval exercise by India (along with the US, Japan, Australia and Singapore) in the Bay of Bengal. The Communists' fears of America's secret designs to extend its hegemony in the sub-continent, is only a bogey. The real reason is that, once again, it is China that feels most threatened by the joint naval exercise, and that's why our Comrades are seeing Red.

Sometime last year, a Chinese company had won a contract for the construction of a gas pipeline from the Godavari area in Andhra Pradesh. The company wanted to bring about 1,000 Chinese engineers to work in the project. The IB was not in favour of issuing visas to so many Chinese staffers. Also, any foreign investment from countries like China, Pakistan and Bangladesh requires special security clearance. But a top-level Communist leader, the darling of the TV media, used his clout with the Indian government and pressured it to issue the visas to 1,000 Chinese engineers. What about loss of jobs to Indian engineers? And what was the pressing need to bring them to work on a project in India, when our workforce are rated among the best in the world? When Microsoft opens an office in India, does it bring in its own team of Americans to work here?

Make no mistake. The Communist campaign is dictated by Chinese, and not the national interest.

As for the Congress' role in the nuclear discord, one gets the feeling that the Grand Old Party is back to playing its favorite game, sacrificing national interests at the altar of politics, for the sake of power.

While the secular media keeps up the charade that the Prime Minister is a honourable man with unimpeachable integrity, he went to Washington and sewed up a treaty assuring (misleading?) the American President that he had the majority support of Parliament behind him.