Chapters (53)
- Cover
- Title page
- Prologue
- Part One
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Part Two
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-one
- Twenty-two
- Twenty-three
- Twenty-four
- Part Three
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Author’s Note and Acknowledgements
The youngsters quietened down. The teacher from Calcutta continued, ‘After that the first ambassador of the People’s Republic of China came to India. The Chinese living in Calcutta gave him a grand reception.’
‘Pack of lies! Except for a few Communists, every Chinese participated in that reception out of fear, fear of Nehru!’
‘Oh, shut up, you!’
‘After that China was offended again because of the Dalai Lama issue,’ Ching Wan continued. ‘If the Indian government had not given Dalai Lama political asylum it would have been much better. After all, Tibet is a part of China. It is not right to say that China had captured Tibet forcibly.’
A deep silence fell over the Chinese club. The teacher was not surprised. Not only the Chinese in Assam but all the Chinese living in India did not want to discuss this strained issue. It was even more sensitive for the Chinese living in Assam because the Dalai Lama had come to India through this route.
‘Agent of Red China!’ Akao Ho whispered. His friends giggled.
‘Now he will tell us to apply for Chinese passports. I won’t. I’ll take Indian citizenship.’
‘It’s been over ten years since you applied. Have you received it? The Indian government does not trust us because we are Chinese. Everyone else gets citizenship. We are the only ones who don’t.’
‘That’s true.’
‘The teacher should be told not to say all these things. If someone comes to know there will be trouble. The situation is not good. There is no point getting into trouble for no reason.’
They started discussing the matter in whispers. Pretending not to notice the teacher went on, ‘In Calcutta alone, 8,127 people have registered themselves as foreign residents till now. Of these some have Red China passports and some have Kuomintang passports. Thousands of other Chinese people have no passports at all. No papers. Not even birth certificates. It’s the same in Assam. That is why I have come to see the school. Tomorrow, if there is any trouble who will look after us? The Red China government has sympathy for the Chinese in India. Our children can even go to China to study. After all China is our motherland. We should never forget that. I am not saying that you should hate India. I am also not telling you to harm India. I only want to say, along with India we should also keep China in mind.’
At that moment Pulok and his friends were at Mok Min’s shop, busy discussing the forthcoming football matches. Every Chinese home in Cheenapatti was preparing for the New Year. The snow-clad India-China border was slowly heating up with animosity at the same time. Hidden from the public eyes, both the countries had begun sharpening their weapons to confront each other.
Three
Three