By Mukesh SharmaBeijing, Dec 15 : While Chinese media has been letting off steam over what it calls brouhaha about Taiwan calling the People’s Liberation Army weak, to the south across the eastern end of the Himalayan Cordillera a different script is being torn into.As India’s eastern neighbour and ‘garment nation’of the world marks half century of liberation, Prime Minister and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday railed at what she called terrorists and militia groups responsible for the massacre wrought 50 years ago.
The Chinese, though heavily invested in the country, however seem largely oblivious of what’s going on about 100 miles south of Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing likes to call ‘South Tibet.’
A Chinese person in the UK said he had “heard about the Bangladesh War but doesn’t know the details.” When approached by IANS, a Chinese state media employee not wishing to be named, said: I knew that Bangladesh used to be part of Pakistan, but I am largely unaware of the history.Has the Himalayan range come in the way of a better understanding of the geopolitics across this geographical barrier? No, says Pankaj Srivastava, an Indian broadcast journalist who worked for about a decade with the Hindi service of China Radio International (CRI) in Beijing.
“The Chinese are a people who avoid looking back at history.They are more into the nuances of the next mobile phone model launch or discussing what the latest IT device entails,” said Srivastava, who moved to India about two years ago.
Has the flailing popularity of humanities contributed to a lack of interest in events of the past? That seems to be one of the important reasons, says the Noida-based journalist.”The clamour for jobs has led to the youth lapping up IT, management and commerce courses, leading to history, sociology, philosophy getting a short shrift.This, he adds, has resulted in a disenchantment with the past and an obsession with the future.Though Bangladesh has thousands of Chinese employed mostly in the construction industry, few would know how the country, once called East Pakistan, achieved liberation.
“Chinese expats in Bangladesh socialise with citizens in Dhaka and Chittagong,” said Mohammad Ahtasum Haider who hails from Cumilla, which is about 100km from the capital Dhaka.Haider, who lives and works in Qatari capital Doha, has two children back home who are filled with excitement in anticipation of the celebrations.
Tahmid Haider and his younger sister Toha Haider will participate in the parade being organised in town on December 16 to commemorate 50 years of the birth of the nation.
Politics divides, but cultures unite: three neighbouring countries — India, Bangladesh and China probably epitomise this.mukesh/dpb
Futuristic Chinese give short shrift to Bangladesh’s tumultuous birth
One Chinese national living in Britain said that he heard about the Bangladesh War, but didn’t know all the details.IANS approached a Chinese state media worker who said that he knew Bangladesh was once part of Pakistan but was not aware of its history.
Is it possible to gain a deeper understanding of geopolitics at this geographic barrier by removing the Himalayan range? Pankaj Srivastava (an Indian broadcast journalist) says no.He spent about a decade working with China Radio International’s Hindi service in Beijing.
The Chinese don’t look back on history.Srivastava said that they are much more interested in the details of the next model mobile phone launch and discussing the implications of the latest IT device.Srivastava moved to India two years ago.
Is it possible that the flailing popularity and ambivalence of humanities has contributed to the lack of interest for events from the past.According to the Noida-based journalist, that is one reason.The youth have taken up management, IT and commerce courses in an attempt to find work.History, sociology and philosophy are left behind.He says that this has led to a loss of interest in the past and an obsession about the future.
Although Bangladesh is home to thousands of Chinese workers, most are involved in the construction sector.Few people would be able to tell you how East Pakistan was liberated.
Mohammad Ahtasum Haider, a Cumilla native who is approximately 100km away from Dhaka’s capital said that “Chinese expats in Bangladesh socialise” with Bangladeshi citizens.Haider lives in Qatari capital Doha and has two young children who look forward to the festivities.
Toha Haider, Tahmid Haider’s younger sister, will be part of the town parade on 16 December to mark 50 years since the founding of the country.
While politics can divide, cultures can unite.
This is what three neighboring countries, India, Bangladesh, and China, most likely, embody.
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