The coverage of the clash between the Indian and the Chinese troops in Tawang in the LAC’s Eastern Sector dominated the Urdu Press over the week, with the border flare-up disrupting the proceedings of both Houses of Parliament as the Treasury and the Opposition benches traded fireworks. In their opinion pages, the leading Urdu dailies set out the contours of major strategic challenges being posed by a belligerent China to India.
The dailies continued to zoom in on Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, which completed 100 days covering over 2,800 kms across eight states so far while headed to its home stretch now.
Amid the call for boycotting the upcoming Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone’s film “Pathaan” over its song “Besharam Rang”, some of the dailies covered the row, spotlighting the speeches hailing freedom delivered by Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh at the Kolkata International Film Festival.
SALAR
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In its editorial on December 15, the Bengaluru-based Salar writes that the Chinese troops’ incursion across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector on December 9 is disturbing, which has further dimmed the possibility of any improvement in relations between the two neighbouring countries. China’s recurrent bids to foment trouble on the borders have also led to building of pressure on the central government over the need for taking some stern counter-measures, the daily says, referring to the trading of allegations and counter-allegations between the ruling side and the Opposition in both Houses of Parliament over the Chinese transgression. The Opposition has demanded a discussion on the issue, which has been rejected by the government.
Stating that the clash between the Indian Army and the Chinese PLA did not result in fatalities, although some soldiers were injured on both sides, the editorial says the incident highlighted another Chinese attempt to change the status quo along the LAC through aggression. This also happened days after Beijing raised objection to an India-US joint military exercise at Auli in the Uttarakhand hills, it notes. “In Parliament the Opposition has maintained that China has usurped large swathes of land in Ladakh, which the government has failed to foil. Now the Chinese incursion into India’s tactically-crucial Tawang belt has deepened such concerns. This is not the first time though that the Chinese troops have tried to transgress the Tawang sector,” it states, adding that China has been bent on capturing Tawang and keep strategic pressure on India.
The daily says behind the Chinese move to destabilise the LAC is its expansionist mindset and its resentment over India’s emergence as a global power. India has been trying to resolve the border issues through peaceful means but China perhaps considers it weakness while remaining uninterested in resolving the dispute. It is in this context that the Opposition has been urging the government to make tough moves to checkmate China, the edit adds.
URDU TIMES
Commenting on the progress of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra on the eve of its completion of 100 days, the Mumbai-based Urdu Times, in its editorial on December 15, writes that noted economist and former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan’s move to walk with Rahul highlighted the “enormous significance” of this march. Rahul’s Yatra with the avowed objective to unite the country is “not a political march”, it says. “Raghuram Rajan’s participation in the Yatra during its Rajasthan leg as it moved from Sawai Madhopur underlined how imperative it is now to unite the country,” the daily states.
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During their march, Rajan told Rahul that his Yatra for “communal harmony and unity is something that the country needs, regardless of what political party you are in” and that “You have to have internal harmony to have external security”.
The daily notes that Rajan, a renowned academic who had been the chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, had announced months before the conclusion of his stint as the RBI governor in September 2016 that he will not seek a second term in his position. The Narendra Modi government’s demonetisation move scrapping the country’s high-value notes came in November 2016. “Rajan had made it clear to the government that the demonetisation proposal would be detrimental for the country’s economy. And his warnings eventually came true,” the edit says. It adds that while Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said everyone should be “proud” of the country’s growth, Rajan has raised concerns over the slowing growth and other challenges facing the economy.
AKHBAR-E-MASHRIQ
Referring to the inauguration function of the 28th Kolkata International Film Festival attended by Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan and superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the Kolkata edition of Akhbar-e-Mashriq, in its editorial on December 17, points out that addressing the event Bachchan highlighted that questions are being raised on civil liberties and freedom of expression even as he made an appeal for demolishing the differences that divide humanity. In his address Shah Rukh also made a strong pitch for the cause of free speech while flagging the “narrowness of views” driving social media, the daily writes. He stressed on the power of cinema, saying it can counter this negative narrative and build a better world. He also called for the need to remain positive amid the prevailing atmosphere of negativity.
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Speaking on the occasion, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded that Bachchan be awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour.
In his speech, the editorial says, Bachchan while referring to the history of censorship in the Indian cinema said, “Even now, questions are being raised on civil liberties and freedom of expression”. Tracing the evolution of the Indian cinema, he mentioned the changes and shifts in its content, production and technology over the decades, from mythological films to “soclialist cinema” of Bimal Roy, Chetan Anand and Raj Kapoor, to films that depicted the angst and frustration of the “angry young man” in the 1970s and 1980s. The daily underlines that Bachchan paid glowing tributes to the three legendary filmmakers from Bengal — Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen and Ritwik Ghatak — affirming that their cinematic greatness will never be forgotten.
Noted filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, the edit notes, invoked Rabindranath Tagore’s speech that he delivered after receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature 101 years ago, in which Tagore stated that the spirit of India has always been the ideal of plurality and unity. “Bhatt urged all artists and poets to come together in this polarised world and endeavour to turn Tagore’s dream into reality,” it adds.
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