US Indians hold ‘Boycott China’ protest
A LARGE number of Indian-Americans chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and other patriotic slogans staged a protest against China at the iconic Times Square here, demanding an economic boycott and a diplomatic isolation of the country for its aggression against India.
Indians living in New York and New Jersey states along with the officials of the diaspora organizationFederation of Indian Associations (FIA) – raised slogans of ‘Boycott Made in China’, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Stop Chinese Aggression’ among others.
The protesters, wearing face masks in view of the coronavirus pandemic, held placards that read ‘We salute our fallen heroes’.
Members of the Tibetan and Taiwanese community also joined the protest and raised slogans against China and called for an economic boycott of the Communist giant.
They also held placards that read ‘Tibet stands with India’, ‘Stop
Chinese Abuse’, ‘Justice for human rights, minority religions, Hong Kong’, ‘China out of Tibet’, ‘China stop crimes against humanity’ and ‘Boycott Chinese Products.’
The protest titled ‘Boycott China’ was organised on Friday by community leaders Prem Bhandari and Jagdish Sewhani.
‘The India of today is different from the India of 1962. We will not tolerate the Chinese aggression and its international bullying. We will give a befitting reply to the arrogance of China,’ Bhandari, Jaipur Foot USA Chairman and a prominent social activist, told.
Bhandari said that he and the Indian community were deeply disturbed by the killing of 20 Indian soldiers during the violent clash with the Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley last month.
‘We are sending a strong message to China. The Indian community around the world is standing with its homeland,’ he said. China shares its borders with 14 nations and is fighting with 18 countries. It shows that it is a bully. Now is the time to stop this bullying and people believe India can do that, he said.
India believes in the philosophy of the ‘World is one family’ and while focusing on its self-reliance, it will also work for international peace and solidarity, he said.
Bhandari said he is planning to bring together diplomats from various nations from Australia to India on a common unifying platform against China.
President of the American India Public Affairs Committee Jagdish Sewhani said at the protest that at a time when the entire world is battling the deadly coronavirus, the ‘naked aggression’ by China against its neighbours including India has exposed the true intentions of this ‘rogue Communist regime.’