The participation of Left leaders at an online event hosted by the Chinese embassy to commemorate the Communist Party of China’s centennial has sparked a debate, with the BJP accusing Left parties of a long history of opposing national interests and harbouring extraterritoriality sympathies.
The Left, on the other hand, defended the move, pointing out that the government is working with China on a number of problems and accusing the BJP of bringing it up to distract attention from its own failings.
The Chinese embassy announced that on July 27, an online seminar will be held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China’s establishment. Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M), D Raja of the CPI, S Senthilkumar of the DMK, and G Devarajan of the All India Forward Bloc were among those who came and spoke.
Dilip Ghosh, a BJP MP and the president of the party’s West Bengal branch, chastised the Left for attending the event at a time when India is locked in a border dispute with China.
He said he had seen communist agitations for decades and noted that they would raise slogans and carry out protests in support of Vietnam when the US had invaded it, and alleged that they also had loyalties towards Russia and China but not India.
“They also have had extraterritorial loyalties. They used to say that China”s chairman is our chairman,” Dilip Ghosh told reporters.
Hitting back, D Raja said no one should teach the communists about national interest.
“The communists were in the forefront in fighting the British as well as the Portugese. We made supreme sacrifices for the independence of the country… No one can challenge us. What was the role of the BJP, Jana Sangh or RSS in the fight for India’s independence? Now, they are raising this issue to divert attention from their failures in Parliament,” he said. D Raja also said the government itself is engaged with China on several issues.
“The government is participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, BRICS meetings and its economic cooperation with China is ongoing,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the Left parties, Dilip Ghosh said people have rejected them for these reasons and noted that they don’t have a single Lok Sabha MP or MLA from West Bengal now despite ruling it for decades till 2011.
