China, which was humiliated by India’s brave soldiers on June 15 in the Galwan Valley, following unilateral Chinese steps to alter the status-quo, is now resorting to cheap and unjust practices in the mainland. Reportedly, the fatality count on Chinese side was much higher than that of India, and intercepts had suggested at least 43 PLA soldier deaths on the night of June 15. While Indian Army, being a highly ethical and professional institution, had almost instantly admitted to casualties, the Chinese have not done so even after a month.
What’s worse, reports now suggest that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is preventing proper funerals and burials for its fallen soldiers. A US News report has indicated that the CCP is in no mood to turn its dead soldiers of June 15 into ‘martyrs’, and as such, has even resorted to borderline harassment of the bereaved families. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs has told families of those who died in the Galwan Valley clash that they must forgo traditional burial ceremonies and cremate the soldiers’ remains and that any funeral services should be conducted remotely, not in person, a source familiar with the assessment told U.S. News.
As a matter of fact, the report also states that China considers the June 15 violent clash as no less than a big ‘blunder’, which can have far-reaching consequences for the relations of India and China, the signs of which can already be seen. As a result, it has stooped so low, that its fallen soldiers are not even being accorded the bare minimum respect they so rightfully deserve.
Reportedly, the CCP has used the threat posed by the spread of the coronavirus as a pretext to evade public ire which may be in the offing (although it has claimed victory over the virus strain). Moreover, having burials for its soldiers would mean making sombre little memorials for them, and that would reveal the number of fatalities suffered by the PLA at the hands of the Indian Army. That kind of a gamble, Xi Jinping cannot afford to take, for a revelation of the said figures, which run into multiples, will have catastrophic repercussions.
“The reality is they don’t want to create martyr soldiers,” the source told US News. “So, they have banned functions where friends and families can pay their respects for the PLA deceased.” That the Chinese are not using the violent clash at Galwan Valley as a stepping stone to fan nationalistic sentiments in the mainland, in a breakaway practise no less, shows that China has truly been shown its place by India, and that it seeks no further escalation of tensions.
Earlier, there was a huge furore on Chinese social media over the absolute indifference of the regime towards the deaths of innumerable Chinese soldiers last month. While the deaths of Indian Army soldiers were widely reported and they were given respect and proper funerals, no detail has been brought out in the public about the fate of PLA soldiers to this very day by the Chinese authorities.
China had taken censorship to new heights in the wake of last month’s clash, as it has been hiding the numbers from its own citizens ever since. The mouth-pieces of Beijing had back then claimed that releasing the numbers will lead to further animosity between the two nations. For the same, Chinese netizens were furious, and demanded respectable treatment for the fallen soldiers.
Meanwhile, family members of the slain Chinese soldiers have also taken to social media to express their absolute disgust towards the Chinese regime, which is not even recognising the deaths of its soldiers.
It must be remembered that the Chinese PLA is not a professional and ethical army, leave alone being a battle-hardened one. Nevertheless, soldiers of all countries who have fallen on behalf of their nation deserve the bare minimum respect at least. What is being seen in China, however, is a complete dismissal of the sacrifices of soldiers, and rather, mistreatment of the families who have just lost their loved ones. While memorials are still a luxury which the families can do away with, a proper burial is the least the fallen Chinese soldiers deserve. However, they are being deprived of that too, by a tyrannical Communist regime.
Pakistan too, had refused to accept the bodies of its soldiers post the Kargil war in 1999 with India. It seems, Pakistan has learnt from its patriarch – China, the art of insulting one’s own soldiers, and denying them the basic respect that they deserve. No wonder the two countries parade themselves around as “all-weather allies”.
