As one of the last persons alive, who was present in the final negotiations in Moscow, for agreeing on the text of the Indo-Soviet Treaty of August 1971, I recall the association I then had with many Indian Communist leaders, visiting the Soviet Union. There was a constant stream of CPI leaders who visited Moscow. One rarely saw leaders from the CPI(M) there, primarily because the Soviets regarded Mao’s China as a greater enemy than the American “imperialists”. Moscow was also shaken by what was seen as a budding honeymoon between Mao and Richard Nixon, who viscerally hated India. Our Soviet Communist friends described Mao as a “Great Han Chauvinist”, vigorously asserting that he was not a “Communist” by any stretch of imagination.
The CPI received a jolt when the Soviet Union disintegrated, and had little choice but to make peace with the CPI(M) while playing second fiddle to the “bigger brother”. In the meantime, China under Deng Xiao Ping dumped all pretensions of being a ‘Communist’ state and proceeded full steam ahead in building a capitalist class. There are today more billionaires in China than in the US. Moreover, Chinese leaders and their families have amassed vast wealth, with their prodigal sons driving around Beijing in Ferraris. Yet, our Communists still refer to Chinese leaders as ‘comrades’, while talking of Marxist ‘fraternity’. During a meeting I had with a visiting Chinese delegation, one of the participants remarked that Indian Communists are guided even now by “old thinking”. But the fact is, our Communist parties have invariably backed moves for preserving and strengthening India’s unity and territorial integrity. They actively supported the unanimous 1994 Parliament Resolution declaring the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir, including PoK, as an integral part of India.
In these circumstances, I was surprised to read an article in Pakistan’s highly respected Dawn newspaper referring to some outrageous comments by a professor at the School of International Studies, in Jawaharlal Nehru University, who reputedly has Communist leanings. The report said this distinguished professor had asserted, “Everyone knows that India is illegally occupying Kashmir. Everyone accepts it.” To justify her assertion, she added, “The maps of India in foreign publications such as Time and Newsweek show a different map of Kashmir.” For good measure, she concluded, “When the whole world is talking about India’s illegal occupation of Kashmir, then we should think that pro-azaadi slogans in the valley are justified”.
What is shocking is how this JNU professor is teaching international relations to the young, untutored and impressionable students. Could she name one country in the world other than Pakistan that has claims, as she asserts, “India is illegally occupying Kashmir”? Are we to accept that India is “illegally occupying Kashmir” merely because maps published by Time and Newsweek are different from the maps we publish? The views that the distinguished professor has expressed are certainly not those of either of the mainstream Communist parties in India. They do, however, reflect the views of our worthy Maoists. Having personally known the founding fathers of the JNU, I am distressed at how far things have gone in the university from their Leftist nationalist views.
The founding VC was G Parthasarathi, a confidant of Indira Gandhi. He had earlier served as Ambassador to China, Pakistan and the UN. While a Leftist by inclination, Parthasarathi strongly believed that China had betrayed India in 1962. His successor B D Nag Chaudhary was a distinguished nuclear scientist, who was scientific adviser in the defence ministry. The next vice-chancellor, K R Narayanan, who became India’s President, was also Leftist inclined—a protégé of Professor Harold Laski. Narayanan was a strong advocate of India going nuclear after the 1962 conflict. These founding fathers would have all been saddened by what is transpiring today in the JNU.
dadpartha@gmail.com
The writer is a former diplomat