DailyOh! The cost of the 1962 India-China war, to when Rahul Gandhi was a farmer
The Chinese do not look to be in the mood for peace. How can one ascertain whether someone is looking to be in a mood for peace or not? There are various ways of doing that, but in this case, a simple look at some satellite images would help. A look at the satellite images coming from the Ladakh region shows that the Chinese have brought in bulldozers and earthmoving equipment to block the flow of the Galwan River.
Getting a bulldozer at those altitudes requires immense effort. Had the Chinese made half that effort in controlling the coronavirus outbreak, we would have been out and about and it would have been business as usual. But it's China. The lesser said about them, the better.
Amid a pandemic and in the midst of an economic slowdown, the last thing you need is a war. To be honest, it isn’t even the last thing. It is one thing that is never required.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently disclosed details of the economic impact of the 1962 Indo-China war. Actually, RBI was disclosing archival records and the economic impact of the Indo-China war tumbled out of those records. Records show Indian economy had begun to show a boom beginning 1958, but in 1962, the bust happened. The stock market fell 16 per cent and gold prices dipped by about 30 per cent. The price for 10 grams of the yellow metal touched a high of Rs 121.65 in early November 1962. It plummeted to Rs 86 on November 24 the same year. A report says when the war ended, the Indian Army suffered a loss of 1,383 soldiers. A total of 1,047 were left wounded. Wars, you know, leave a lot of casualties for warring parties, and economy is among those casualties.
The word war, our Word Of The Day, comes to English from the old German word ‘werran’ which means to confuse or to cause confusion. In Old English, its root can be traced to the word ‘were’, meaning the same. One of the tactics to win a war is to confuse your enemy. Quite like what Chinese are doing. They are talking peace, but building up a war-like situation – both at the same time.
The Oxford dictionary now defines war as “a situation in which two or more countries or groups of people fight against each other over a period of time.”
But who invented war? The Sumerians. The earliest records of war can be traced to 2700 BC because ancient Sumerians carved battle records onto stones. Now, that’s not something they should be proud of.
War, however, isn’t just fought between nations. Some people are at war with themselves also. In a philosophical way that is. Some with those around.
The world, meanwhile, is at war with coronavirus too. In Delhi, Health Minister Satyendar Jain, who is battling Covid-19, has been shifted to Saket Max Hospital from Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital. At Max, Jain will be given plasma therapy because his condition had worsened today morning. The 55-year-old leader's test result came positive on Wednesday after a second test. We pray for his speedy recovery.
Delhi and the Centre have been trying to ramp up Delhi's capacities to fight the spread. Recently, Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other AAP leaders, including Jain, to devise ways to contain the outbreak.
Delhi has been battling a shortage of hospital beds to treat patients. Now, a lot of people in Delhi who have tested positive, but have reported mild symptoms have been advised to stay at home and recover. That could change because the Ministry of Home Affairs reportedly wants five-day compulsory institutional quarantine for all positive cases.
Could this lead to a fresh 'war' between the Centre and Delhi government? You know who to ask - time.
Amid the various wars of the world, Donald Trump is at war with sanity.
In his latest, Trump, who is seeking re-election as US President, has come out with ad campaigns that use a symbol that was used by Nazis to designate political prisoners in concentration camps. The world has many disagreements but the one thing the world has an unsaid, unsigned consensus on is that everything Nazi should be said NO to.
The ad has been removed from Facebook but everything that reaches the internet stays on internet, even after being removed. The now-removed ads featured the image of an inverted red triangle with a black border and the message: “Dangerous MOBS of far-left groups are running through our streets and causing absolute mayhem. They are DESTROYING our cities and rioting – it’s absolute madness ... Please add your name IMMEDIATELY to stand with your President and his decision to declare ANTIFA a Terrorist Organisation.”
Why is the triangle so offensive?
The inverted red triangle was used by the Nazis to identify political prisoners in concentration camps during the Holocaust. The triangles were sewn on the uniforms of prisoners for quick identification. And it wasn’t Jews who were painted red. In Adolf Hitler’s time, German communists, social democrats and liberals were also arrested with their prison uniforms carrying the red triangle. Later, a red inverted triangle superimposed upon a yellow one was used to represent a Jewish political prisoner.
Now, many countries, including India, use an inverted red triangle for family planning and contraceptive services. But this red triangle has no black border. That’s a lot to remember? Maybe it is. Maybe it is not. The thing to remember today is that we forgot to wish birthday boy Rahul Gandhi.
The boy turned 50 years old today. Under normal circumstances, half a century would have been a cause for celebration but there is nothing normal about our circumstances. The Congress leader is also very angry because he believes the government has messed up the border situation. The thing about politics is that you are always supposed to say your opposition has done everything wrong, and nothing right.
But we don’t want to talk about Rahul Gandhi’s politics today because it is his birthday. The ‘humble farmer’ has come a long way in life. Don’t be surprised, Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi’s son and Indira Gandhi’s grandson was a son of the soil in 2004. When Rahul won his first Lok Sabha election, his profile on the official Lok Sabha website described his profession as ‘farmer’. That changed in 2009, during his second stint. The professional description was then changed to “strategy consultant”. The how and why of Rahul Gandhi’s farming career is not known. Maybe spending too much time with farmers during his election campaign made him feel he was one of ‘them’.
Whatever it was, whatever it is, we wish Rahul Gandhi a very happy birthday.
In the good old days, a birthday falling on Friday used to be a blessing. You could party as much as you wanted because well it was the weekend. A birthday falling on any day these days it the same as any day because you can’t party. Not like the good old days.
But there are things you can do over the weekend like watch the shadow of the Moon fall on Earth on Sunday. Yes, June 21 is when a solar eclipse will be visible on Earth. This one will be an annular one so the Moon will cover the Sun from the centre and leave a ring of fire of sorts visible to us.
If you have questions like where to watch it, what time to peep out to look at it, read this.
But before the solar eclipse, you can also watch Penguin on Amazon Prime. How is it? Read this to find out. There's also Aarya on Disney+Hotstar, featuring Sushmita Sen's grand comeback. Here's a review.
That will be all for today.
We will see you on Monday.
Stay safe.
Also read: DailyOh! The proof that Galwan Valley belongs to India, not China