India is not weak
If you look at the Picture provided here is that of undivided India which appears so different from the picture of today’s India. And you will be sorry to note that this India is not the same India that we got at the time of independence on 15th August 1947. Even after independence as China, Bangladesh and Pakistan have captured thousands of kilometers of our land and the worst part is that we have never tried to get it back seriously. We keep talking about a Greater India or Akhand Bharat on different occasions or for the sake of emotional discussions in different forums, but the cruel fact is that none of our governments have ever tried to keep India intact.
If you look at the situation closely, you will clearly see that we have disputes regarding various border issues with every neighboring country that has common borders with us. Look at the serious issues we are facing with China, Pakistan and Bangladesh which are hanging like dead snakes around our neck. Remember the unnecessary wars we fought with China in 1962, with Pakistan in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999 and I should not remind you about insulting conflicts we face with Bangladesh on various occasions. The last war with Pakistan in Kargil did not look serious because our government hides many facts from public but it was serious indeed. Then there are uncounted wars, which are going on endlessly forever which take precious lives of our soldiers have yet to take into account.
No serious efforts or plan of action
The worst part of the story is that not only any Indian government has made any serious effort to get our land back but also they are not making any serious efforts on any front apart from verbal assurance to the public. Their duty ends once they speak in public on any special occasions and go to sleep over the issue until the next infringement takes place. The politicians in power deal with these attacks or provocations so lightly and issue same rotten statements so shamelessly that make no sense. The public has started to believe that our leaders have no courage or willpower or unable to tackle the issues. Our borders are becoming increasingly unsafe but our leaders are not doing anything beyond issuing statements, which have no meanings. The list of martyrs is increasing and our land is decreasing going to enemy camp but government is not making any serious effort to safeguard our borders. The only front they fight well is in the political front, where they can go to any distance to fight with each other.
We need immediate actions
Our country needs action on borders but our government is engaged in arguments in parliament. Our politicians should act as a team without going into party politics because our nation is first rest comes later. We should keep in our mind that China is playing a big game with frequent advances in our territory and our government is doing nothing but playing it down. China is sitting over a big portion of our land in Arunachal, Sikkim, Leh & Ladakh, Kashmir and Aksai Chin. Indian governments are doing nothing to take these occupied areas back and the matter is not taken up with the Chinese government on any level whether political, diplomatic or military. Mere flag meetings are no solution in such matters. China is marching ahead under a planned strategy but our army is mere spectator because our leadership is totally inactive or incapable.
This all started right from the time we got our independence when Pakistan started encroachment in Indian Territory and the matter is going on ever since. In 1962, China attacked India and left our leadership with no clue whatsoever. China under its Prime Minister Zhou Enlai or Chou En-lai who use to shout Hindi -Chini - Bhai-Bhai at full throat entered into an Indian area without any provocation or giving the slightest of clue. That was one of the biggest setbacks, India faced after she got her independence. We lost that battle but we did not learn any lessons from that shameful defeat. We never tried to solve the problem on any level to set the matter right. Let us see why it all started-
The Conflict in between India and China
China captured Tibet in 1950 but the people of Tibet kept the fight on. In 1959, people of Tibet revolted against China and India offered asylum to Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan people, that was not taken lightly by Chinese government and disturbances started to take place on Indo-Sino borders with various encroachments and bloody incidents from Chinese army. There was another reason, the border disputes in Himalayan regions which our government thought was solved during British period and never took seriously. But that was a serious mistake on the part of our government, as the Chinese never accepted those solutions at any point of time. China made its claim on different parts of Ladakh in Kashmir region, Arunachal and Aksai-Chin. The then Prime Minister of our country Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru had multiple meetings with Chinese President Mao Tse-tung known Mao Zedong also and Premier Chou En-lai but they did not reach to any decisions whatsoever and disputes lingered on. The results came in form of war which was sudden for India but well planned by Chinese side.
The war in between two countries started by China began on October 20th 1962, continued for almost a month that ended with China handing India an unforgettable defeat. India did not use its Air force for unknown reasons that remained a cause for much criticized debate for a long time. Our Prime Minister took certain decisions which went against us and we paid a heavy penalty in form of loss of big chunk of our land. The Chinese army attacked India on different fronts. They crossed McMahon line, a line agreed to by Britain and Tibet as effective boundary in between India and China. At the same time, they took control over Rezang La a pass on the southeastern sector of Chushul Valley in the west and Twang in the east. They started operations on the 20th of October and declared a cease-fire exactly after one month on the 20th of November.
Line of Actual Control and Colombo meeting of non-aligned forces
China never heard or accepted Indian claims, despite having several top-level meetings and interventions from different quarters, China never agreed to any of the Indian proposals and declared the new border one sided where they stood at that time. For them LAC was the real border and still going ahead. China invaded traditional borders in Ladakh and Arunachal and still wanted to move ahead but after the Colombo submit which forced both countries to go back by a few meters. Six non-aligned nations namely Egypt, Burma, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Ghana and Indonesia, met in Colombo, as these countries were acceptable to India and China both on 10 December 1962 and reached to a conclusion but China refused to accept the proposal on ground level while India agreed to that. Even today, the problem stands as it stood almost four decades before. China knows India is too weak to resist.
The line of actual control is about 60 km away from Twang in Arunachal Pradesh from where China has been trying to enter into India and capture Arunachal to take full control over this Indian state. However, the stiff resistance by local people is not allowing them to succeed. But how long is a big question mark. If the government of India fails to rise to the occasion and does not take a firm step the state of Arunachal may face the same fate, Tibet faced not so long ago.
If we look at the loss of Indian side in that war, according to Indian government’s data – Almost 1400 soldiers killed, 1100 injured and 1700 missing. China arrested 4000 Indian soldiers who were released in 1963. The loss of life on the Chinese side was comparatively lesser despite the fact that China had posted 80,000 soldiers against 12,000 Indian soldiers, who fought gallantly against such a big force.
Ladakh, Aksai Chin and Twang
China considers Ladakh in Jammu & Kashmir, Aksai-Chin and Twang (also spelled as Tawang) as its own territories. Aksai Chin with its 37,000 KM2 land almost as big as Switzerland in the area is one of the main disputed areas in between China and India. The other two being Twang in Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh in J&K. Whatever the reasons of Chinese claims but one factor surely plays a big role in all these confusions that the British made the issue complicated for their own benefits during their rule in India. Chinese having control of a large part of Indian territories even carried out lot of construction and have control on many important connecting roads and passes. Chinese also consider Arunachal as southern part of Tibet, which is under their control.
Pakistan is part of problem
Pakistan handed over 4,000 KM land to China from POK the part which is under Pakistani control. China has done lot of construction in that part in collaboration of Pakistan in their mutual interest including Karakoram Highway with plan of construction of a parallel rail track in near future. Aksai Chin was once part of Jammu and Kashmir (but not in POK), is under Chinese control since 1962 and the line that separates Aksai Chin and Jammu & Kashmir is actual Line of Control now. Chinese never agreed to any agreed conditions. They always tried to capture Indian territories by hook or crook and Pakistan always supported its cause. In fact, they are trying to prove the probe right that says, “Enemy of enemy is your friend”.
China does not want to honor the agreement they signed in 1914 in Shimla known as McMahon agreement in between British, Tibet and China to ascertain the position of Tibet, later China refused to accept its conditions which were agreed upon to make an effective border that was in between India and Tibet, the McMahon Line. India has accepted it as international border but China wants more. The 890 KM long McMahon line is no more relevant since India granted asylum to Dalai Lama in 1959. China was first country in the world to recognize India as an Independent country in 1951 attacked India and its peace policies.
The two most populated countries and neighbors, could be best of friends were on loggerheads. Perhaps our policies are responsible to some extent for the position we are in today. Had it been Sardar Patel at the helm of affairs, the situation would have been different or at least he could have handled the Kashmir problem better if he was then in charge in place of Pundit Nehru, who complicated the situation beyond control.
Pakistan and POK
Pakistan played perhaps the dirtiest role in the entire matter by sending tribal Kabailis in Kashmir to control half of Kashmir now known as Pakistani Occupied Kashmir (POK). This has proved to be the cancer in between two countries. POK border meets with Pakistani Punjab, Afghanistan, China and India and considered safe havens for terrorists with open license to do whatever they want. Terrorists operate openly from POK. They have more than 100 camps to train more terrorists to use for spreading disturbance in various parts of the world. Pakistan calls it POK but the fact is they have driven Shiya Muslims and Hindus out of the area. This is an open secret that these terrorists are well supported by Pakistani secret service Inter service intelligence (ISI). Government of India knows it and has solid proofs of this fact, but never tried to destroy these camps. This is despite the fact that terrorists trained in these camps have caused heavy losses to Indian citizens in different attacks. The inactivity of Indian government is one of the factors that encourage terrorism.
Gilgit and Baltistan the so-called free Kashmir- Few disputed facts
A- In the North of Jammu & Kashmir, the area known as Gilgit and Baltistan is under the control of Pakistan because they believe that this area was never part of Maharaja Hari Singh’s Jammu & Kashmir. Pakistan refers to an agreement signed in between the Maharaja and the British government in India, which said that the area was leased to the British government for a period of 60 years in 1935. However, while referring to that particular agreement they forget that Lord Mountbatten had cancelled that agreement in July 1947 and handed the area back to Maharaja Hari Singh. Pakistan has brought people from different parts of their country to increase the population of this area, now estimated at 4 million. Gilgit and Baltistan are spread over more than 8000 KM2 with capital.
B- This so-called free Kashmir has its capital at Muzaffarabad with 8 districts and 19 subdivisions. Pakistan had ‘gifted’ 40,000 KM2 of land out of this part of the Kashmir to China in 1963, where the Chinese are developing lots of infrastructure. India had registered her protests over the action taken by Pakistan and transfer of Trans-Karakoram tract to China, but unheard by all concerned although UNO and other international organizations like Red Cross agree to the fact and address the area as POK. The other disputed area Aksai Chin, which does not come under POK is under the control of China ever since they invaded and captured it in 1962. The line that separates Jammu & Kashmir from Aksai Chin is called Line Of Control the LOC.
The Kargil War
The regular attempts of trespassing into India crossing LOC and negligence of Indian government into this serious matter, a big number of Mujahideens the illegal trespassers and Pakistani regular army men in disguise of Mujahideens supported by local warring groups gathered at Dras in Kargil sector of India. It is generally believed that this was planned by general Pervez Musharraf and ISI to capture this area in order to intimidate India. It was for a local shepherd who saw the gathering and informed our army. Later Lieutenant Kalia who tried to control the position was attacked in Batalik sector that brought matters to the knowledge to the government of India.
Operation Vijay
Initially the situation was underestimated considering the gathering of Mujahideens as usual trespassing but later when the army found out alarmingly big number of people in different areas, the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee immediately ordered army to take action against them. The operation ‘Vijay’ against Pakistani intruders and army went on for two month until the last enemy soldier was not driven out of our area. It was one of the most difficult wars fought in one of the most difficult terrains in the world, where a war was ever fought. This war brought many shortcomings to surface in our system including Bofors guns, which later shook our country for its poor quality and the cost paid for it. We paid dearly for the greed of our politicians in form of poor quality at a very highly exaggerated price for personal gains.
The war was finally ended on 26th of July 1999, the day now celebrated as ‘Kargil victory day’ every year. We won the war but lost many brave soldiers and property worth billions. If we take into account the entire data of the war, there were at least 200,000 soldiers, directly or indirectly deployed to tackle the situation although there were only 30,000 at the front at Dras in Kargil at any given point of time. This war will always be remembered for heavy losses of life of soldiers from both sides, which could well exceed 6,000 or so. The war is over but the war is still on. Pakistan will never cease to end its efforts to capture Kashmir by using its dirty tricks. The proxy war by Pakistan is on for last 65 years that is still going on.
The war in Bangladesh and after effects
India fought a war in Bangladesh along with Bangladeshi groups to liberate it from Pakistan in 1971. The Bangladesh is on world map due to efforts made by the Indian government, but due to bad planning, we never settled border issues as in cases with other neighboring countries, which account for lots of embarrassing situations for us. The fact that India has almost 4100 KM long combined border with Bangladesh in five different states namely, west Bengal, Tripura, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Assam and in most places the villages are very near to each others and to make the situation worst we have not yet done final border identification yet which make matters even more complicated. Mainly the marking work of border at some places on the Indo-Bangladesh border in Northeast and W.B. is what caused most of the troubles.
Although the claims made by both the countries confirm having a completed process of border maps and that they have settled their border related issues now, there are many places those Bangladesh claims to be within its area but the Indian government has never taken any firm steps to decide the matter once forever. The truth is both governments have been working harder on other issues including business and cultural relations with each other but they have forgotten the most crucial part of the relations that makes things sour on a later stage, the border issue. There are several factors, as Teen Bigha not yet settled fully, which become cause of bad relations in between the two most natural neighbors who speak the same languages, eat the same food and think alike.
Conclusion
If we could use a little more imagination only while dealing with our neighbors and maintain good relations to keep them as our good friends. We could have saved lot of our energy for better purpose and a lot of our money for the better development of our region. When we look at China’s progress in the last couple of decades, we certainly find our own far below compared to China despite having everything, all the assets that makes a country big. What we lack is not the resource but willpower. We can still achieve better results for our country and its citizen, the need of the hour is to work together. The most important part will be played by our countrymen who will have to see that our motherland gets a government that works.
All photos from Wikipedia