Lessons from China

 

The Chinese Communist Party is celebrating the centenary of its foundation.  The word ‘Communist’ stands out like a grotesque phantom because China is a capitalist empire today and has nothing to do with communism. It has emerged as the only viable rival to the United States of America as a global superpower. It has gone one step too many ahead of Uncle Sam in oppressing large sections of people like in Tibet and Hong Kong. In spite of all that, India can learn some lessons from China.

The use of science and technology for the maximum benefit of its people is the first lesson that India should learn from China. Take just one example: the high-speed railways. China started construction of high-speed railway only in 2007. In about a decade it developed 37,900 km of high-speed rails, more than two-thirds of the entire world’s share in that transport medium. The country also has bullet trains that run at the speed of 600 km/hour.

Eradication of poverty is another matter that deserves India’s attention. After 1978, 80 crore people were raised up from miserable poverty in China. By 2020, poverty was eradicated totally. 30 lakh party workers were involved in the process of eliminating poverty. India’s RSS can perhaps think of putting away their lathis and taking up some real developmental works for sabka vikaas.

India can learn a lot more. We are still obsessed with our millions of gods and their wellbeing. We are ready to spend crores of rupees on constructing a temple while millions of our people are grappling with wretched living conditions in the time of a global pandemic. We are more interested in imposing our own food habits, dress habits, conventions about who should love whom and hate whom, while our counterparts in China are interested in exploring the outer spaces and the heavenly bodies there. China keeps creating marvels like stunning bridges and flyovers and tourist centres. India keeps lynching hapless people on streets, rewriting textbooks, and driving a trident into the little breathing space between religious communities.

I know this sounds like some moral science lesson. So let me wind up. I am impelled to offer one more lesson before I do scoot from this preaching. China is open to changes, open to new lessons. It has dumped a lot of sacred conventions that Maoism and Marxist-Leninism had put on hallowed pedestals. India can learn a bit of that openness to changing reality. India should let go the ghosts of the past. India should say a loud YES to the ever-shifting new reality. Rama and Krishna had their days. Let them take rest now. We should focus on that little child who walks down its slum lane in search of human dignity that may take the shape of bread sometimes.