Page 14 - The Indian EYE 011422

Op-ED JANUARY 14, 2022 | The Indian Eye 14

China’s growing assertiveness

around the world

Views and opinions from the top commentators in Indian media

hina is further ramping up its
border infrastructure along
Cthe LAC in Ladakh with a
new bridge across the Pangong Tso as
well as additional troop shelters, gun
positions, helipads and jetties in the
area between Finger-8 and its military
bases at Sirijap-I and II. China’s bor-
der infrastructure is already superior,
thanks to years of investment and the
fact that China enjoys the easier bit
of topography of the Tibetan plateau.
India for decades had adopted the na-
ive strategy that inaccessibility on our
side would actually deter the Chinese
from intruding across borders. It is
only in the last 15 years that the Indi-
an approach changed. And since the
Galwan clash in June 2020, the pace
of Indian border infrastructure devel-
opment has quickened. In June last
year, 63 bridges across six states and
two Union territories along the LAC
at a total cost of Rs 240 crore went
operational. Just last week, a further
24 bridges and three roads in border Indian Army soldiers unfurl the Tricolour in Galwan Valley in Ladakh on the New Year day (ANI)
states were ready for use.
New Delhi has not said much are struggling to formulate a re- occupation of Gujjars. The realities
FoCUs on Us about this, but the exchange of sweets sponse to this sort of rhetoric that change to the south of Pir Panjal —
at several points along the LAC on does not result in them being labeled Jammu division — which is heteroge-
he Chinese, as is famously New Year Day and the booming Si- “anti-Hindu.” In parts of north India, nous both in terms of religion and eth-
known, view their global out- no-Indian trade in 2021 tells its own the secularism guaranteed by consti- nicity. Apart from Gojri, Gujjars are
Tlook on the basis of hierarchy. story. tution has become so politically toxic conversant in other languages such as
Here, the US is number one, and in -- Manoj Joshi, The Quint that many politicians no longer seem Pahari, Dogri and Punjabi. For cen-
some ways no one else matters. This able to defend the right of citizens to turies, like the Hindu Gujjars in parts
becomes clear when you read the haTE sPEECh profess whatever faith they choose. of North India, Muslim Gujjars have
lengthy New Year message of Wang As a consequence, the entire po- been involved in dairy farming in
Yi, the Chinese foreign minister. In haratiya Janata Party would litical class seems increasingly com- J&K. In neighboring undivided Pun-
the current hierarchy of things, is- not be the first political party plicit in enabling hate speech. jab, Gujjar Muslims reportedly had a
sues relating to Russia occupied the Bto wink at ethno-nationalist -- Mihir Sharma, Bloomberg population of nearly 4.6 lakh in the
top slot. extremism among its followers. The 1901 census. The lens of marginaliza-
Wang’s tone with regard to the states of Uttarakhand, where the nEWEr CraCKs tion in this particular context is simi-
US was combative and defensive at town of Haridwar is located, and lar to that of Hindu Gujjars in other
the same time. As for EU, Wang con- neighboring Uttar Pradesh - from he marginalization is a con- parts of North India. In the same vein,
tinued to present their relations in a which Uttarakhand was split off two sequence of spatial and tem- there are several historically margin-
positive light, even though the EU is decades ago - are due for elections Tporal issues. In the Kashmir alized communities within the Paha-
now far more skeptical of the Chi- in coming months. The BJP, in pow- Valley, the Kashmiri-speaking society ri-speaking people, such as Lohars,
nese project. er in both states, might be tempted is homogenous in terms of language Telis and so on.
Down the list were the neigh- to think that heightened inter-reli- and ethnicity irrespective of religion. -- Luv Puri, The Telegraph (India)
bors beginning with ASEAN, fol- gious tension is a useful distraction Gujjars, with their own distinct cul-
lowed by Central Asia and Japan. from a struggling economy and the ture, stand out in the Valley. Their Every week, we look at what the top
And then came India with whom devastation caused by the Covid-19 economic integration is relatively commentators in the Indian media are
Wang claimed China had “effectively pandemic. less. The Wagay caste among Kash- talking about and bring to you a slice
managed and controlled frictions in But opposition parties have not miri-speaking Muslims deals with of their opinions and comments
certain border areas”. pushed back strongly either. They the dairy trade, the traditional pre-

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