‘Mao wanted to end border dispute if a populist govt came to power in Delhi’

REVELATION Historian says the leader made the suggestion at a meeting with Naxal leaders CITING MINUTES OF THE MEETING, LI SAID THE INDIAN GROUP WAS NAMED THE DARJEELING COUNTY COMMITTEE

STUDY GROUP

ago. India should “rely on workers, farmers to solve the problem... We (The proletariat) do not rely on Gandhi, Nehru… and so on to solve the problem”, Mao said during the December 13, 1967 meeting with Naxal leaders, led by Kanu Sanyal.

“They are temporary; only heroes are workers, farmers, they are the leaders of the future.”

As the four men — Sanyal, Dipak Biswas, Khudan Mullick and Khokan Majumdar — walked down the stairs of the Great Hall of the People on that freezing morning, Mao’s words on People’s Revolution were ringing in their ears. Discussing the border conflict, Mao indicated he didn’t want the 90,000sq km of disputed land but for the “capitalist and feudal government” in India.

“...Because India was an imperialist, feudalist and bureaucrat capitalist government, thus, China had to fight for every inch of land. China had been using dilatory tactics in dealing with this issue,” Li, who is with the East China Norma University, quoted archives as saying.

Mao was talking about the eastern sector of the Indian border. “When the CPI leftists come to power and establish revolutionary people’s government, China would sign a treaty with them and return all the land south of the McMahon Line to them,” Mao said.

China’s most powerful men -premier Zhou Enlai, vice-chief of general staff of People’s Liberation Army Yang Chengwu and CPC’s internal security and intelligence in-charge Kang Sheng were present in the meeting.

Citing the minutes of the meeting, Li said the Indian group was named the Darjeeling County Committee Study Group. Naxalbari is in Darjeeling district.

As the four men — Sanyal, Dipak Biswas, Khudan Mullick and Khokan Majumdar — walked down the stairs of the Great Hall of the People on that freezing morning, Mao’s words on People’s Revolution were ringing in their ears. Discussing the border conflict, Mao indicated he didn’t want the 90,000sq km of disputed land but for the “capitalist and feudal government” in India. From September 15 to the middle of December, the men received military training at a PLA base near Beijing. “The CPI (Communist Party of India) Darjeeling County Committee dispatched trainees to China in turn,” Li said.

The Chinese embassy in Nepal advised them on the route to China. At Changping Military School on outskirts of Beijing, they were taught guerrilla war. They also learnt to manufacture ammunition and handle explosives. Mao welcomed the CPI trainees, who practised military manoeuvres in Tibet.

The Chinese leader’s opinion of India and its leaders showed a shift in his policies since 1959. According to Li, by late 1959 and early 1960, Mao viewed Nehru as a reactionary nationalist. Sanyal, according to Li, told Mao: “The revolution has its ups and downs, moving like a wave, and will have setbacks. We are confident that we will eventually be liberated if we follow the path of Chairman Mao.” Mao’s words would have a profound influence on the movement.