Mao Tse Tung Zindabaad

Mao Tse Tung Zindabad (Long Live Mao Zedong)

Ok, so now that I've got a bit of your attention, you'll be asking, why this as the subject of an email. After wasn't Mao that s.o.b. who was in charge of that big nation on our north called China when it attacked us in 1962? Well, yes, to both.

So where does Mao figure in this email. To understand this, we need to delve in bit into the past.

Let's wind the clock back to the years of the second world war when we were the jewel in the crown of the British Empire. The independence struggle was at it's peak. We had young freedom fighters like Jyoti Basu who were willing to give it their all to fight for the cause of the liberation of India. After all, people like him and Harkishan Singh Surjeet were patriotic Indian communists who wanted to fight British Imperialism. They raised slogans against the British, the Americans and never said a word against the Germans. All that changed in the summer of 1941 when the German Army dared to invade Mother Russia. That was an atrocity beyond imagination for the Indian communists - after all, that was the land of Lenin, Stalin and communism - where the worker never went hungry, and the party cared for one and all - and everyone was equal (oh that brings a tear to my eye)

So, it was obvious that an upstart young Bengali by the name of Subhash Chandra Bose who was getting help from the Germans and the Japanese was an immoral and a traitorous individual. In the summer of 1942, the Communist Party of India officially denounced Netaji as a traitor and a 'quisling' of the fascists and not worthy of being an Indian.

People's War, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party of India (CPI) had published a cartoon on July 19, 1942 during the World War, showing Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose as a donkey carrying on its back Tojo, the then Prime Minister of Japan.

January 10, 1943: BT Randive, the then General Secretary of the CPI, had said in the article in the People's War, that Subhash Bose was misrepresenting "anarchy and sabotage" as freedom struggle. The CPI would respond to this move of Bose by what every patriot would do in respect of "traitors" and quislings". If these "hired" Bose army sets foot on Indian soil for loot and dacoity, they would realise how the people of the country would express their rage. The article declared, "The Communist Party will rise to the occasion and give the only reply which traitors and quislings have got from honest patriots. Bose's mercenary army of liberation of rapine and plunder will feel the worth and indignation of our people if it dare rest its foot on Indian soil to enact acts of pillage and robbery."

CPI members would also regularly give information to the Police which led to arrests of many freedom fighters.

Everyone makes a mistake. After all, we are all humans. We make mistakes, we learn from them, and don't make them again. During the fight for independence, people were forced to take sides. The Congress party wasn't exactly pro-Netaji either. But even they never denounced Netaji. In any struggle, emotions come to the fore, so maybe, the CPI were just emotional when they said all those things they did not really mean. And don't get me wrong, they did apologise. It just took them a mere 64 years. 24th of January 2007, Jyoti Basu, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, now in his 90s, made a public announcement admitting that the CPI were wrong about Netaji. He stammered a few times before the words 'Netaji' left his lips, but hey, they did apologise. It's just that they apologised about their statements about Netaji. No apologies have ever been given about calling the INA - a 'hired' army of rapists and plunderers - so let's just assume that Basu actually apologised for everything.

We are all patriots.

The early years of independence were characterised by national leaders who believed in doing the right thing. India was a new born nation and all the leaders had participated in the struggle and had dreamt of a day when India would be a nation with a destiny and governed by Indians. Socialism was in the air. Everyone had socialist policies back then.

The co-operative movement, the unions, the upliftment of the common people - these were the flavours of the day. The Communist Party of India was no different. They wanted the best for the people. They wanted to rid India of any 'Imperialist' or 'Capitalist' powers. This would explain the fascination of the CPI with the Soviet and the Chinese forms of Governance. Those were probably the years when the Communist propaganda emanating from behind the iron curtain was at it's peak. Workers and the State, working with each other. All those films where the farmers and mechanics were happy and smiling and putting enough food on their table for their kids and old parents - why couldn't we have that in India?

Once the CPI realised that it was not really possible to emulate the Chinese and Soviet model in India without the use of force, the party did just that. In the immediate aftermath of independence, the CPI was responsible for militant uprising in Tripura, Telangana (Andhra Pradesh) and Kerala. The CPI also won the state of Kerala in the 1957 Elections and formed the Government. They would eventually go on and win West Bengal in 1977, but their political sphere of influence would remain limited to those two states till the 2004 elections - when they would become a part of the Central Government.

In the the 1960s, we had quite a few communists in the Parliament. Nehru's naiveity led to Chinese agression on our borders and this led to the full scale war in 1962.

In 1962, our men fought bravely in conditions where survival was difficult, let alone fight a war. There are hundreds of stories that you can read about the bravery our soldiers, but one immediately comes to mind - the story of the 'C' company of 13 Kumaon. C Coy was commanded by Major Shaitan Singh and was stationed at Chushul at an altitude of 5000 mtrs. Despite the thin air, the cold and antiquated weaponry (most were issued with the Lee Enfield .303 rifles) , morale was high. On the early morning of the 18th of November, the Chinese attack began. Wave upon wave of Chinese soldiers were sent capture the post. I will not go into the details, but let it suffice, that in the end, 109 Kumaonis were dead and only 14 survived (9 of the 14 wounded) and they had to retreat. 13 Kumaon had literally fought to the last man, last bullet. An injured Major Singh was being evacuated by his soldiers but because he was injured, he instructed them to leave him behind a big rock with some food and ammunition so that he could cover their retreat.

His bullet ridden body was found in the same location 3 months later, frozen - along with the bodies of the 109 others. The Chinese losses were more than 800 dead and wounded.

Major Shaitan Singh Bhatti was awarded the Param Veer Chakra.

At this time, Basu and Surjeet, who were in the Parliament, were actively supporting China and talking about the atrocities being committed by our army. After all, the Indian Army was busy killing the soldiers of the People's Liberation Army of China. They were also screaming that China was right in fighting the war, and we were at fault - because this was a war of Communist China against capitalist/Imperialist/Socialist India. On November 13, 1962 while replying to the discussions in the Rajya Sabha, Lal Bahadur Shastri pointed out that Jyoti Basu equated India with China during the war and called the Chinese aggression as provoked by Indian statements and “across an imaginary line called MacMohan line”.

1962 also saw the arrest of a lot of CPI members for disrupting the war effort, pro china propaganda - and worst of all, passing information to the Chinese. This also led to a split in the CPI, leading to a new splinter party called the CPI(Marxist) or the CPI-M, who were mainly Pro China. In 1964, 2 years after the war, the CPI general meeting in Tenali had a giant portrait of Chairman Mao. Slogans like 'China's chairman is our chairman' were also heard everywhere.

At the later Calcutta meeting, the portrait was not displayed and workers were requested to refrain from shouting Mao Tse Tung Zindabad. However, this igominy led to a delegate questioning why the portrait was not displayed - which was recieved by applause from the attendees.

Hey, people sometimes make mistakes twice...

By the late 1960s the CPI and the CPI-M were actively participating in the Naxalite movement (which was praised by the Communist Party of China) The MCC (Maoist Communist Centre) and the PWG(People's War Group) comprised of ex CPI and CPI-M members also took up arms. Between them, these two movements have accounted for the deaths of thousands of farmers, policemen, social workers etc. These are all terrorist groups operating inside our borders by our 'Patriotic' Communist bretheren.

Sometimes people make a few more mistakes. After all, they are human.

In 1971, the CPI's position was bit unclear. China was supporting Pakistan, but they could not be seen as Pro Pakistan by supporting China, so they just kept quiet.

The 1980s and 90s saw the exodus of industry from Bengal and Kerala due to trade unions and other policies which were anti-industry.

In 1998, India conducted a series of Nuclear tests. This led the CPI to declare that the Indian Govt was irresponsible and trying to create a nuclear arms race in Asia. The 45 tests by China since 1964 were greeted with silence by the Indian communists.

In the 2004 general elections, the CPI(M) decided to support the UPA to form a government at the centre. The reason given was that they were against the religious and other right wing parties led by the BJP. Since then, the CPI has been against any policy the government has made that involved either America or Israel. They have consistently tried to derail the deal between India and Israel for an AWACS system. The reason - Israel is Imperialist. The Chinese themselves were dealing with the Israelis to buy the same Falcon AWACS system but the deal was cancelled under American pressure, but since it was China making the deal, the CPI said nothing.

The CPI are now trying to scuttle the Nuclear energy deal between India and the USA. The reason - the deal is not good for India and that we won't be able to test and that our policy is slowly turning pro-American. But this is a bit confusing for me personally. A party that is opposed to nuclear testing because it can cause an arms race is now opposed to a treaty because it prevents India from testing? But hey, people can change their minds. The CPI is clear in it's stance though - it does not want operationalisation of the nuclear weapons. So what's the point in testing if we cannot weaponise?

The CPI has also been against our Army training the Nepalese Army, because the Nepalese Army is actively hunting down the Maoist menace in Nepal.

Last year, when the Chinese Ambassador to India proclaimed that Arunachal Pradesh was disputed territory, the CPI(M) did not say anything. All of India was outraged, but our Communists were silent. Recently, the Chinese refused a visa to an IAS officer from Arunachal Pradesh. The officer was part of a group of Indian IAS personnel on an official tour to China. Angered by this move, the Indian Govt cancelled the tour, but our Communist brethren stayed silent yet again.

The likes of Karat and others have been charming the country with debates as to why they are still supporting the government and not letting the deal go ahead, but the real reason why they are still supporting the Government appears clear. Support for the deal is large even in the Communist bastions of Bengal and Kerala. If they decide to pull the support now, and the Government falls, then the chances of the Communists ever getting elected or a majority from those states is remote.

It is possible that I have misread all the statements the Communists have been making over the years, and maybe, they are indeed true patriots. So please join me in saying Mao Tse Tung Zindabaad.

Oh, as a postscript to this : All parliamentarians have to declare assets. Somnath Chatterjee (CPI) Speaker of the Lok Sabha - Rs 5 Crores. The CAG (Comptroller Auditor General) Report about Mr Chatterjee's expenses reveal that our comrade spent US $1072 in a period of 14 days in 1998 on an official 'phoren trip' on minibar, bar, laundry and tobacco - so much for the drama of the Communists being above mere materialism and never wasting pubic money