An Ethnic Chinese hero in India

[lhuang]

This is what I mean, our countries have civilisational links, how can we NOT be good friends?

This animosity between the countries is artificial and needs to be broken down.

 

[lhuang]

Michelle Saram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

She is a brilliant example of Chindian genes

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

Really, an ethnic Chinese hero in India ? what about the untold

stories?



During the Sino-Indian war in 1962, hundreds of Chinese in Assam were sent to a detention camp in Rajasthan. Some were packed off to China. Prasun Chaudhuri narrates the dark, untold story of their tribulations

It takes us a while to find Wang Shu Shin. We go through the narrow alleys of Makum -a little town tucked deep inside upper Assam's picturesque tea country -in search of the man who, along with hundreds of others, was wronged and disowned by two warring nations. When we finally track him down in Tinsukia, seven kilometres away, he doesn't talk. Instead, he weeps.
The 88-year-old Indian Chinese, now terminally ill, has seen a side of India that few want to talk about. Earlier this week, a book called Makam, written by award winning author Rita Choudhury, broke the silence. The Assamese novel deals with the story of 1,500 Indian Chinese who were picked up from Makum and sent to a detention camp in Deoli, Rajasthan, while India and China battled in 1962.

"Although many of them had been iving in Makum for years and were married to local women, they were accused of being Chinese spies," says Choudhury. "About 1,000 people were forced to leave India." Most were deported to China, while some made their way to the West.

Today, there is little to indicate that Makum once had a thriving community of Chinese, who settled down in the area in the 1830s. The ghostly Chinatown -with its desecrated tombs, skeletal remains of a 150-year-old club and dismantled homes -stands witness to the sufferings of the tiny community .

"They picked up all the Indian Chinese early one morning in November 1962 and packed us in a cowshed," reminisces Wang Shing Tung, former Makum schoolmaster Wang Shu Shin's son, who was then seven years old. "The police said they'd jail us for `safety'. No one was allowed to carry any money, food, clothes or ornaments." Fortunes amassed over four generations -the Chinese had come as tea garden workers but some had become successful businessmen -were decimated in a single day .

It took seven days for them to reach Deoli in a heavily guarded train that didn't stop at any station, lest the "enemies" should escape. Half-cooked khichdi was served on the way , but some of the elderly Chinese couldn't take the trauma and died before they reached their destination. Those deported to China found themselves ghettoised as "capitalists" from India.

"Most of the male members of our extended family were sent to China in three batches," recalls Ho Ko Men, 72, who ran a motor garage in Makum when he was sent to Deoli. "Luckily, the antiChinese paranoia had disappeared when our turn came and we returned."

But when they reached Makum, they found that their houses had either been auctioned as "enemy property" or taken over by neighbours. The Wangs' saw mill had been sealed and its equipment damaged. On top of it, the locals had started treating them as enemies.

People called them names -`Dirty Cheenas, go home' was a common refrain -and women were harassed on the streets. Shopkeepers would keep them waiting or overcharge them. Chinese businesses were boycotted.


People called us names -`Dirty Cheenas, go home!'

Our houses were either auctioned as `enemy property' or taken over by neighbours

They packed us in a cowshed

It's a chapter in Indian history that has been kept a secret. While a senior home ministry official declines to comment, maintaining that the developments were too far back in history , Jagat Mehta, former director, China, at the external affairs ministry who later went on to become foreign secretary, admits that India may have overreacted. "But we are talking from the benefit of hindsight," he says.

"There was a general suspicion against the Chinese though they had been settled in India for a very long time.
They were unfortunately caught in the crossfire," Mehta, 88, says.

The war left the entire Indian Chinese community vulnerable, but the ones who suffered the most were those who lived in the northeast. In Calcutta, about 500-600 so-called "stateless aliens" of the 50,000-strong Chinese community were sent to Deoli.

In Assam, no one was spared. KwaiYun Li, a Canadian author of Indian Chinese origin, says children were taken out of boarding schools and put on the train to Deoli, separated from their families. Some argue that the Assamese Chinese were targeted because they were poorer and less vocal than their counterparts in Calcutta. But the more important reason was that they were from the northeast, which was closer to China.
Paul Chung, president of the Indian Chinese Association, points out that the Chinese army was approaching Assam before the war drew to a close.

Former editor B.G. Verghese points out that Sino-India ties had deteriorated after India gave asylum to the Dalai Lama. "The government panicked and wanted anyone with any Chinese links out of the northeast. It wanted to keep tabs on them."

Of course, internment camps for so called enemies were not uncommon. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour in 1941, some 1,10,000 Japanese Americans were placed in camps in the United States.
But incidents such as the American camps were well documented -and found place in several award winning films and books. In 1988, the US government even passed a law apologising for the internment.

In India, on the other hand, the treatment of the Assamese Chinese was seldom talked about. "The survivors are scared to discuss the trauma, let alone fight for legal redress," Choudhury says.

Choudhury, who started researching the subject five years ago, travelled across China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia and the US to interview more than 100 displaced people. In China, she met Mailin Ho, who was 20 years old and pregnant when she was transported to China. Her Assamese husband was sent back to Makum -and Mailin never met him again.

Mailin, whose ancestors had come to India to escape a famine at the turn of the 19th century , dreams of a last visit to her birthplace.

But the Makum of her childhood has changed beyond recognition. Most of the houses in the erstwhile Cheenapatutty -or Chinatown -are gone. A stroll through the hamlet reveals the bare structure of the China Club where the Chinese used to play Mahjong on weekends. The Chinese graveyard lies vandalised in a remote corner, with marble plaques covering the graves removed or damaged. The Chinese-medium school turned into a Hindi school after the war, but telltale Chinese characters are still inscribed on the gate.

Wang Shu Shin returned to Makum with his family in 1966, a year before the camps were wound up. The former inmates remember how they didn't have enough food during their first week in Deoli. Things improved when the Red Cross came with food packets, though the rice and flour were bug infested. The Chinese, however, were allowed to move around, grow their own vegetables and even sell them to local villagers.

But the people yearned to return home, which, for most, was Assam. Social scientist and historian Amalendu Guha, the author of Planter Raj to Swaraj, says the Chinese, originally brought in to grow tea, were well paid and had happily settled down in Assam.

When the inmates returned from the camps, they had to rebuild their lives. Ho Ko Men married an Assamese and opened a new garage in Tinsukia. Wang hu Shin started a restaurant with his wife and later a hairdressing salon. His two daughters have married out of the community, one to a Bengali and the ther to a Gurkha.

Today, there are about 500 Chinese assamese in the state. Some 250 people are in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh and Lakhimur. Some have given up their Chinese names to ward off local resentment.

Many, like Ho Ko Men, speak fluent Asamese. Ho even wears the local dress.
The family celebrates Assamese and chinese festivals, and their food is a mix. A Chinese painting in the typical Assamese middle class living room indicates his roots.

The Assamese Chinese were well assimilated even in the Sixties, but the government saw them as enemies, detaining them under the Defence of India Act, 1962. Human rights activist Sujato Bhadra describes it as a "draconian" law. The law was repealed in 1968 but the Indian Chinese in Assam never got back their property or any compensation.

"The problem with our community is that we didn't represent our case to the government," regrets Chung.

Chung now hopes to unite the Indian Chinese scattered across India and abroad. "After all we have a distinct identity in our unique Sino-Indian culture, reflected in our love for Hindi songs and culinary innovations such as chicken Manchurian and chilly chicken," he says.

Chinese who were interned in Deoli and later migrated to Canada have formed a group too. A member went to a village in China where some Indian Chinese now live. "He ate at a Hakka-Indian restaurant, visited a home where there was an altar for Krishna, and enjoyed a party where many Chinese wore saris and sang Bollywood or Assamese songs," says Kwai-Yun Li.

A few tentative steps were also taken on April 11 when Makum was the centre of discussion at Choudhury's Guwahati book launch. In the audience was 66year-old Alan Wang, another Deoli inmate. "My mother and I were released from the camp, but all male members were packed off to China. We never met or spoke again. Hope they are alive, somewhere on the earth."

For the Assamese Chinese, though, the dark history is a closed chapter that few want to rake up again. "Let bygones be bygones," says Ho Ko Men with a deep sigh.

The Indian Chinese Association: MAKUM - India's Shame

The sad and pathetic part was when a bunch of Indians warned the Iranians on this forum to "be grateful to India, and not to piss off a billion+ Indians." Ironic how Indians themselves managed to piss off 40% of the ENTIRE world's population...

 

[jagjitnatt]

The sad and pathetic part was when a bunch of Indians warned the Iranians on this forum to "be grateful to India, and not to piss off a billion+ Indians." Ironic how Indians themselves managed to piss off 40% of the ENTIRE world's population...

Just when someone started talking sense...

 

[ARCHON]

Just when someone started talking sense...

Dont bother.. these guys are competing for the Best troll Awards 2010. Lets get back to the topic.

 

[SinoIndusFriendship]

This is what I mean, our countries have civilisational links, how can we NOT be good friends?

This animosity between the countries is artificial and needs to be broken down.

I really doubt you are Chinese, in either case you don't have enough interaction with Indians (no this forum is not enough ).

It is them that slaughter us. It is Indians that backstabbed us. It is Indians that stole our land and continue to commit ethnic cleansing of Mongoloids. It is Indians that continually lie about what happen.

And most importantly it is the Hindutvas that REFUSE to settle amicably and to ACCEPT PEACE OFFERED BY CHINESE.



Ironic, how they made their "fame" around the globe as one of the most despised peoples by their intolerant actions and sheer arrogance and utter discrimination of blacks-whites-orientals.



I too want peace and harmony. It takes two hand to clap -- our hand is reaching out, while theirs remain tucked deep in their pockets. They are responsible for their actions, and they are reaping for their actions.

 

[nakodo]

I really doubt you are Chinese,

you prolly doubt anything good about India. Like China, Pakistan, US or any other country there are good and bad things about India. What you choose to believe is your own independent decision. Don't let your brain fetter your thinking.

PEACE OFFERED BY CHINESE.

Peace is never offered. It is arrived at by parties as equals.

Ironic, how they made their "fame" around the globe as one of the most despised peoples by their intolerant actions and sheer arrogance and utter discrimination of blacks-whites-orientals.

Your bias. Your hate. Your problem.

I too want peace and harmony. It takes two hand to clap -- our hand is reaching out, while theirs remain tucked deep in their pockets. They are responsible for their actions, and they are reaping for their actions.

Not all cultures base their friendships around hand shakes. Look up namaskar and you will find out that it makes little sense to reach out with a hand when you can feel just as honored keeping them to yourself.

 

[thebrownguy]

I really doubt you are Chinese, in either case you don't have enough interaction with Indians (no this forum is not enough ).

It is them that slaughter us. It is Indians that backstabbed us. It is Indians that stole our land and continue to commit ethnic cleansing of Mongoloids. It is Indians that continually lie about what happen.

And most importantly it is the Hindutvas that REFUSE to settle amicably and to ACCEPT PEACE OFFERED BY CHINESE.



Ironic, how they made their "fame" around the globe as one of the most despised peoples by their intolerant actions and sheer arrogance and utter discrimination of blacks-whites-orientals.



I too want peace and harmony. It takes two hand to clap -- our hand is reaching out, while theirs remain tucked deep in their pockets. They are responsible for their actions, and they are reaping for their actions.

I highly doubt you are chinese. I bet you are a Pakistani behind a Chinese flag. Words like "Bharat", i doubt if they are used by chinese. And on what basis are you suspecting him of not being chinese, wannane Chinese guy? Just because he does not troll on threads which are related to India? Or ae u trying to tell us that every Chinese person has nothing but hate for India. Get a life man.
Buddy, I feel your identity crisis is not good for your health. MAy god help you get out of it.

 

[nakodo]

I highly doubt you are chinese. I bet you are a Pakistani behind a Chinese flag. Words like "Bharat", i doubt if they are used by chinese. And on what basis are you suspecting him of not being chinese, wannane Chinese guy? Just because he does not troll on threads which are related to India? Or ae u trying to tell us that every Chinese person has nothing but hate for India. Get a life man.
Buddy, I feel your identity crisis is not good for your health. MAy god help you get out of it.

Hiding behind Chinese flags is the poor man's idea of stealth. Leave him be.

 

[jagjitnatt]

Hiding behind Chinese flags is the poor man's idea of stealth. Leave him be.

He's using 5 gen stealth technology.

 

[notsuperstitious]

Don't be. `

---------- Post added at 01:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:39 PM ----------



URL/relevant post please.

Was there in the first post too

the buddha soliloques

 

[gogbot]

This is what I mean, our countries have civilisational links, how can we NOT be good friends?

This animosity between the countries is artificial and needs to be broken down.

finally some one with perspective.

As has been said by a few intellectuals.

India and China , ( or the various kingdoms and empires that fell and rose in the two regions).

Co-existed for thousands of years. The silk road stands as symbol of relations that once were.Indian and Chinese empires led the world for many centuries in economic , military and scientific achievements.

India and China had relatively little modern political contact before the 1950s. However, both countries have had extensive and close historical cultural contact since the first century, especially with the transmission of Buddhism from India to China. Trade relations via the Silk Road acted as economic contact between the two regions.
China and India have also had some contact before the transmission of Buddhism. References to a people called the Chinas, now believed to be the Chinese, are found in ancient Indian literature. The Indian epic Mahabharata (c. 5th century BC) contains references to "China", which may have been referring to the Qin state which later became the Qin Dynasty. Chanakya (c. 350-283 BC), the prime minister of the Maurya Empire and a professor at Takshashila University, refers to Chinese silk as "cinamsuka" (Chinese silk dress) and "cinapatta" (Chinese silk bundle) in his Arthashastra.
In the Records of the Grand Historian, Zhang Qian (d. 113 BC) and Sima Qian (145-90 BC) make references to "Shendu", which may have been referring to the Indus Valley (the Sindh province in modern Pakistan), originally known as "Sindhu" in Sanskrit. When Yunnan was annexed by the Han Dynasty in the first century, Chinese authorities reported an Indian "Shendu" community living there

British Indian troops , were responsible for keeping the supply rout to China though Burma open , in the face of Imperial Japanese troops.

Even after Independence and the end of the Civil war in China.
India-China relations were carrier forward with good spirt.

Jawaharlal Nehru based his vision of "resurgent Asia" on friendship between the two largest states of Asia; his vision of an internationalist foreign policy governed by the ethics of the Panchsheel, which he initially believed was shared by China, came to grief when it became clear that the two countries had a conflict of interest in Tibet, which had traditionally served as a geographical and political buffer zone, and where India believed it had inherited special privileges from the British Raj.

However, the initial focus of the leaders of both the nations was not the foreign policy, but the internal development of their respective states. When they did concentrate on the foreign policies, their concern wasn’t one another, but rather the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the alliance systems which dominated by the two superpowers.

1950s
On October 1, 1949 the People’s Liberation Army defeated the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) of China in a civil war and established the People's Republic of China. On August 15, 1947, India became an independent dominion under British Commonwealth and became a federal, democratic republic after its constitution came into effect on January 26, 1950. Mao Zedong, the Commander of the Liberation Army and the Chairman of the Communist Party of China viewed Tibet as an integral part of the Chinese State. Mao was determined to bring Tibet under direct administrative and military control of People’s Republic of China and saw Indian concern over Tibet as a manifestation of the Indian Government's interference in the internal affairs of the People’s Republic of China. The PRC sought to reassert control over Tibet and to end Lamaism (Tibetan Buddhism) and feudalism, which it did by force of arms in 1950. To avoid antagonizing the People's Republic of China, Nehru informed Chinese leaders that India had neither political nor territorial ambitions, nor did it seek special privileges in Tibet, but that traditional trading rights must continue. With Indian support, Tibetan delegates signed an agreement in May 1951 recognizing PRC sovereignty but guaranteeing that the existing political and social system of Tibet would continue. Direct negotiations between India and the PRC commenced in an atmosphere improved by India's mediation efforts in ending the Korean War (1950–1953).

Meanwhile, India was the 16th state to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and did so on April 1, 1950.
In April 1954, India and the PRC signed an eight-year agreement on Tibet that set forth the basis of their relationship in the form of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence (or Panch Shila). Although critics called the Panch Shila naive, Nehru calculated that in the absence of either the wherewithal or a policy for defense of the Himalayan region, India's best guarantee of security was to establish a psychological buffer zone in place of the lost physical buffer of Tibet. Thus the catch phrase of India's diplomacy with China in the 1950s was Hindi-Chini bhai-bhai, which means, in Hindi, "Indians and Chinese are brothers". Up until 1959, despite border skirmishes and discrepancies between Indian and Chinese maps, Chinese leaders amicably had assured India that there was no territorial controversy on the border though there is some evidence that India avoided bringing up the border issue in high level meetings.

In 1954, India published new maps that included the Aksai Chin region within the boundaries of India (maps published at the time of India's independence did not clearly indicate whether the region was in India or Tibet).When an Indian reconnaissance party discovered a completed Chinese road running through the Aksai Chin region of the Ladakh District of Jammu and Kashmir, border clashes and Indian protests became more frequent and serious. In January 1959, PRC premier Zhou Enlai wrote to Nehru, rejecting Nehru's contention that the border was based on treaty and custom and pointing out that no government in China had accepted as legal the McMahon Line, which in the 1914 Simla Convention defined the eastern section of the border between India and Tibet. The Dalai Lama, spiritual and temporal head of the Tibetan people, sought sanctuary in Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh, in March 1959, and thousands of Tibetan refugees settled in northwestern India, particularly in Himachal Pradesh. The People's Republic of China accused India of expansionism and imperialism in Tibet and throughout the Himalayan region. China claimed 104,000 km² of territory over which India's maps showed clear sovereignty, and demanded "rectification" of the entire border.
Zhou proposed that China relinquish its claim to most of India's northeast in exchange for India's abandonment of its claim to Aksai Chin. The Indian government, constrained by domestic public opinion, rejected the idea of a settlement based on uncompensated loss of territory as being humiliating and unequal.

And of course we know what happened then .

And since then relations have been bumpy.

Neither of them want to fight but neither can loose face over the territory dispute.

And until the dispute is settled , it hang as a flash point in the relations.

Relations have improved over the years , but neither side trusts another.

 

[Prometheus]

It is them that slaughter us. It is Indians that backstabbed us. It is Indians that stole our land and continue to commit ethnic cleansing of Mongoloids. It is Indians that continually lie about what happen.

And most importantly it is the Hindutvas that REFUSE to settle amicably and to ACCEPT PEACE OFFERED BY CHINESE.



Ironic, how they made their "fame" around the globe as one of the most despised peoples by their intolerant actions and sheer arrogance and utter discrimination of blacks-whites-orientals.



I too want peace and harmony. It takes two hand to clap -- our hand is reaching out, while theirs remain tucked deep in their pockets. They are responsible for their actions, and they are reaping for their actions.

you dont seem to be from China

 

[ARCHON]

you dont seem to be from China

Of course he is not. Cant you see the first flag under his name?? are u okay???

 

[Prometheus]

Of course he is not. Cant you see the first flag under his name?? are u okay???

drunk