The seemingly benign agitation by the farmers of Punjab and parts of Haryana appears to be providing highly ingenious cover to a host of sinister anti-India activities. The Leftists and the Congress have embarked upon an anti-India and pro-China agenda using the protest by farmers.
The denigration of Indian industry, the spreading of canards and the destruction of telecom infrastructure facilities while being silent on China lead to no other conclusion.
The China affair of the Communists and the Congress, of course, is an open secret. This dalliance is being perceived as increasingly and incredibly arrayed against the national interest.
Lest we forget, the grand old party ushered in the tectonic economic reforms of 1991 under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, much to the delight of the legions of cheerleaders then. But the brother-sister duo are now inscrutably swinging to the Left.
The Congress’ pro-reform, pro-markets days seem to be behind them even as the Narendra Modi government plans to showcase major reforms, whether it be abolition of Article 370, enactment of liberalisation in agriculture or the National Education Policy.
Even the optics are bearing a left halo. Addressing the media outside Rashtrapati Bhavan after his recent meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind on the farm bills, Congress’ Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi was flanked by the CPI’s D Raja and the CPM’s Sitaram Yechury.
Where were his party’s natural allies? Was this by accident or design?
In Chandigarh, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh on Monday said that 1,561 mobile towers had been “impacted” in the state during the farmers’ stir, of these, 25 had been damaged. Since Monday morning there was a disruption of power supply to 32 towers, which led to the disconnection of services of 114 more.
The state has a total of 21,306 mobile towers spread across its 22 districts. The chief minister said that the general public, including students, professionals working from home and banking services, would suffer the most if the mobile services were disrupted.
The Cellular Operators Association of India has “strongly condemned” the attacks on telecom towers and services in Punjab. ”While we respect the people’s right to protest on any issue, sabotaging the telecom network infrastructure and disrupting telecom services as a form of protest by anyone is strongly condemned,” COAI director general Lt Gen Dr SP Kochhar said in a statement.
In Karnataka, an attack by employees at Wistron’s iPhone plant at Kolar near Bengaluru, seems to be another manifestation of the Left showcasing its might just when the prime minister is wooing the world’s top companies to leave China and relocate to India. Industry body MAIT says the Wistron vandalism has the potential to dent India’s image. While the involvement of leftist unions is alleged, a Chinese media report quoting this incident has warned companies about the pitfalls of relocation.
And why won’t the Chinese be irked? As their telecom equipment sales were facing barriers worldwide, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani told US president Donald Trump during his February visit to India that Reliance Jio is the only network in the world that doesn’t use a single Chinese equipment.
The forecasts about India’s economic surge too must not have pleased many, and hence the hatred.
Ambani recently asserted that India would prove cynics wrong by becoming a $5-trillion economy, aided by the confluence of a vibrant democracy, young demography and digital transformation. Reliance is emerging as a true national champion from India, with a demonstrated knack for innovation, execution, indigenisation and financing.
All this positivity is not sweet music to the forces inimical to India and the government of the day. Hence the frenzied efforts by the disparate forces which have come together to derail India’s progress.
And all this while, on the freezing Ladakh frontier, Indian soldiers are more than holding on bravely. The stalemate that India has forced in Ladakh is being seen by defence analysts as a defeat for the Chinese Army.
The animosity isn’t going to go away any time soon, or may be ever, for China sees India as an economic, political and military competitor not just in South Asia but in the international arena.
That could give us clues to the behaviour of many an Opposition party.