On Thursday, China celebrated 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). On this occasion, The Daily Guardian talked to Gautam Bambawale, former Indian Ambassador to China, Pakistan and Bhutan, who spent 15 years of his 34-year diplomatic career dealing with China. He served as the Indian Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2018. He had previously served as the Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan. Excerpts:

Q: It’s the 100th anniversary of the CCP and mega celebrations have been planned by them across the country. Should they really be celebrating?

A: If we look at the history of the Chinese Communist Party, it was founded on 1 July 1921 and they came to power through a civil war over with the nationalists on 1 October 1949. That time, China was a poor and backward country; now after 70 plus years, China is the second largest economy of the world, the living standards of people there have improved tremendously; so there is some reason from the Chinese perspective to celebrate.

Q: What do you think is CCP’s real report card in the past 100 years? Shouldn’t the party be remembered for its suppressions, be it in Tibet or the Cultural Revolution massacres or the Vietnam War?

A: It did happen under the watch of the CCP. Mao Zedong himself unleashed the Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and as a result of the policies of the Communist Party, almost 20 million Chinese are estimated to have died in that period. There is also suppression and repression in Tibet and Xinjiang, Today, Hong Kong is going through a very difficult time. On the economics side, China has done well under the party; where freedom of people is concerned, where freedom to practice religion and one’s own culture is concerned, the record has been quite bad.

Q: We hardly get to know what is happening in China since the media there is state controlled, but there have been reports of protests in several parts of China in some media portals. You having held office in Beijing, can you help us understand the real ground situation there?

A: With CCP, it’s a one-party system; there are no other parties; no periodic elections like we have in democratic countries like India. It’s the Communist party which rules with an iron fist. One aspect of that iron fist is complete control over media over what is conveyed in newspapers, magazines, television and radio to the people of China. CCP has complete control; they play their own tunes, sing their own praises, thus it is difficult to understand what’s happening in China today. Of course, the situation is slightly different depending on the difference is social media; though social media is also fully controlled in China by the Communist party, sometimes something gets out which gives you an indication about the mood of the people in China, and the concerns of the people in China. It is difficult to understand, but with social media today, we are able to see through the iron curtains to some extent.

Q: What do you think the CCP is trying to do in East Turkestan with the Uyghurs?

A: The Uyghurs are Muslims and there is problem in what is called Xinjiang province of China towards East Turkistan. There is very little doubt that there are a large number of local Uyghurs who are in internment camps, who are in prison etc. There is crackdown and repression which is taking place. Some Western media have been able to report on it. Chinese iron curtains have descended and very little is known about what is happening there, though we do know that there is heavy hand that is being used in Xinjiang. 

Q: How do you think India’s response to China has been at the LAC? What is your assessment of the situation?

A: The strategic India-China standoff at the LAC is a very serious situation and not similar to all the other border standoffs that we had like, one in 2013, 2014, even in 2017 when we had Doklam crisis. This is different because of the fact that the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army, has brought in several divisions of their soldiers and troops along with tanks and artillery and heavy armor weapons etc. This is not only a military affair, there is a military angle to it, but it goes far beyond that, the Chinese are trying to show that they are the biggest power in Asia and other countries, including India, should just understand the situation and accept it.

In 1980, the size of economies of India and China was roughly the same and now, China’s economy is five times bigger than India. It’s not merely economic size or GDP; this also reflects in their military preparedness, in technology, in science, in education and so on… So there is a huge asymmetry or gap between India and China and that is the main factor that has enabled the Chinese to do what they are doing in East Ladakh. Our military responses have been very brave and we, to a certain extent, blocked the Chinese military from moving forward. But in the long term, I am afraid, India needs to look really carefully at itself, we need to reduce this asymmetry in economy, technology, military etc with China for which we need to look at the domestic level. We need to grow the economy at a much faster pace, at least 8-9 percent per annum, and reduce the asymmetry with China. It is something that is going to test India’s nerve, India’s determination, but with the right policies, India is capable of achieving high levels of economic growth and in the long term, we can reduce this asymmetry between the two.

Q: Please tell us about Xi Jinping. What do you think he is trying to do?

A: Xi Jinping has accumulated most of the power in the Chinese system; he’s now more in the mold of Mao Zedong than in the mold of more recent leaders, when there was very easy and clear cut transfer of powers like from Jiang Zemin to Hu Jintao and from Hu Jintao to Xi Jinping himself. So, he has accumulated a lot of powers in his hands, but what he has done with that power is he has not only decentralised political power, but also economic power. Why has China succeeded economically; why is it the second largest economy in the world next to the United States? There had been great decentralisation of economic decision making and economic power. Decentralising power may have a negative impact on China’s growth; we have to wait and see how this decentralisation of economic power in the hands of the party and state-owned enterprises, and public sector undertakings plays out. People like Jack Ma are themselves a product of change in China. This decentralisation is going back to the old ways of behaving and doing things and may be negative and detrimental to China’s growth.

Q: Is China finding it difficult to control resentment in Hong Kong, Tibet, East Turkestan or southern Mongolia, or has the CCP been completely successful in suppressing these voices?

A: These are all aspects of China aggressiveness, its assertiveness not only outside China, be it in its neighborhood like in the border with India or in the South China Sea, but within China’s periphery too in Xinjiang, in Hong Kong etc. In China, within the Communist party, the challenge to the leader comes from within the party itself; so the next few years, we have to watch China carefully to see whether there is any possibility of a challenge coming from within the party to the leadership of Xi Jinping. I think there’s a possibility that may happen, especially because many other people in the party have either faced a crackdown or put into jail for corruption charges etc. Whether Xi Jinping is able to maintain his control over the Communist Party or some other leader rises to challenge his leadership and challenge him is something that is in the realm of a future scenario.

On the day CCP celebrates its 100 years of founding, Uyghur Congress President Dolkun Isa appeared for a special broadcast “Real CCP Report Card” narrating horrific stories from Xinjiang.

Q: Tell us about the reality of the Chinese Communist Party that everyone must know.

A: Well, today is CCP 100 years, but it is the mourning day for Tibetians, Mongolia, and Chinese civilians. Since they came into power in 1949, the China’s Communist Party has continually committed crimes. Although much has changed in China for Tibet, for the Mongolian people, nothing has changed for the better. Through systematic discrimination of language, culture, religion, the CCP has continually attempted to erode the identity of all these people. Today, China and the Chinese government have pointed to the economic growth as a vindication for the CCP and the past century but, rights, and the freedom of the people living under this regime, have been suppressed significantly. CCP is the world’s most powerful criminal organization supported by the state. It is responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people, including Chinese people Tibetan widows. In the last 100 years, not only has the CCP committed genocide against Uyghurs and the cultural aspirations in Tibet, and Mongolian people, destroyed democracy in Hong Kong and threatened the national sovereignty of Iran, but also today CCP is threatening global democracy, human rights and international human rights system and international law. So that’s why I would like to say CCP crimes must be held accountable by the international justice system.

Q: Could you shed some more light on the ethnic cleansing that is being witnessed here. And if you could give us these gory details of the genocide, that is happening in Xinjiang at the hands of the CCP?

A: Today is the 21st-century, but the Chinese Communist Party Chinese government committed genocide against the Uyghurs. Most of them are suffering in the concentration camps. And were subject to forced labour and forced sterilisation and family separation. More than 1 million illegal children are separated from the family and in name of indoctrination are targeting the identity and changing names and showing loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party and Xi Jinping. The religious persecution is unbelievable.

Even what you see, what you eat, what you drink, what you talk about everything, is determined by the CCP government. I could hardly get access to my parents, and my family members. I got the very heartbreaking news of my mother who died in a concentration camp. My younger brother is sentenced to life.

Q: How long have you been in exile and currently, where do you inhabit? You think the CCP is targeting your family because you are speaking out against them at the international forum?

A: I’m living in exile since 1994, more than 27 years. For 27 years, I have never seen my family members. I’m living in Germany since 1996 for more than 25 years. I’m a German citizen, but the Chinese government never allows us to go abroad. Because of my activism, my family is paying such a price, you know. CCP is the biggest criminal organization.

Q: The Chinese Communist Party is obviously forcing the minority communities across Mainland China to toe the party line and therefore, it is going good and picking out officials from Xingjian as well as honouring them for quote-unquote “battling separatism” and “encouraging” loyalty to the CCP.

A: From time to time, the CCP and Xi Jinping try to get information, and campaign to try, cheat and confuse the internationally, but it is too late today. Today it is very clear that Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party are committing crimes, they commit genocide and crimes against humanity.

Q: What do you think needs to be done at the international level to hold China and the CCP accountable, keeping in mind that several other international communities and developed nations, the European Union nations, United States, Australia, they›ve all come out in support of the minorities living there?

A: CCP must be held accountable by the international justice system but, unfortunately, China is not a member of the International Criminal Court. That’s why it is not fighting, and the International Court for Justice should get approved by the UN Security Council. Today, quite a lot of western countries invest and continue to do business in China. I told you already that China’s government points to this economic growth as an indication of the success of the CCP. That’s why all business must be stopped with China. China and CCP must be held accountable as they commit crimes and all human beings, particularly democratic nations, should stand together, set up a coalition, and speak in one voice against the CCP. The Chinese government has also manipulated the UN system and has a monopoly there.

INDIA FACES HUGE THREAT FROM CHINA: TIBETAN ACTIVIST TENZIN TSUNDUE

As China celebrates 100 years of the CCP, Tibetan activist Tenzin Tsundue spoke exclusively to NewsX and shared his opinion on the freedom movement of the Tibetans against Chinese oppression.

Speaking about his experience of protesting against the Chinese in New Delhi, he said, “This morning, I, along with 12 other activists from Tibetan Group Congress, protested outside the Chinese embassy here in Delhi. We all are under detention. Even now, as I speak, I am standing outside the police station. This protest is against the Chinese Communist Party, which celebrates its 100th year of existence. Here is a case where this entire history of 100 years of the CCP is riddled with public execution, destruction of culture, language and people.”

Underlining that India is facing a huge threat on both security and economic fronts from China, he urged Indians to strongly respond to Chinese threats. “China has become a threat to world peace, yet nobody speaks directly about it because of high dependency on Chinese supply chains. It is time to start a collective international campaign against China whose tyrannical government has single-headedly organised the largest genocide in the world,” he added.

Asked about the overture of the current Tibetan president Penpa Tsering, who’s in exile and has spoken about holding a dialogue with the Chinese authorities for a permanent resolution, Tenzin said, “This is an expression of finding a solution through dialogue and seeking autonomy. I feel the Tibet government-in-exile needs to rethink its policies and start its campaign for true independence of Tibet. We all need to stand in unity against China for freedom and justice.”

CHINA CONTINUES TO LOOT TIBET’S RICH HERITAGE: TIBETAN MP LHAGYARI DOLKAR

Namgyal Dolkar, MP of Tibetan Parliament in Exile, joined NewsX for a conversation as China celebrates 100 years of CCP and spoke about Chinese oppression against Tibetans.

“The Chinese have called the violent exilation a peaceful liberation today. China claims that they brought developments to Tibet through infrastructure investment, but the fact is they still continue to loot Tibet of its natural resources for its own economic prosperity and mass Chinese immigration into Tibet territory. They have exploited Tibetan strategic locations to focus on India. After all the false promises, we now know that China remains the biggest threat to Tibetan political system, culture, Buddhism religion and so on.” She further cautioned the world against signing any bilateral agreements with China as it doesn’t uphold it. She said, “Tibet regrets the signing of bilateral 17 points agreement with China as they are not sticking by it.”

Fifty years after Tibet, Hong Kong has succumbed to its fate against the Chinese might. There is no freedom of speech and pro-democracy protesters are being silenced. The world is witnessing this all from the sidelines, without doing anything to ameliorate the situation. Talking about solutions, Namgyal said, “It’s not only about the threat which the Chinese government led by Xi Jinping places on occupied territories like Tibet, but actually it is also about the threat to free and democratic countries like India. Many times we hear about Chinese territorial acquisition and how they are barging into Indian territory. So, India and world should remain conscious of Chinese moves.”

Ricky Kej, internationally-recognised music composer, best known for his Grammy award winning music performances, is back with a new album, which is an ode to earth. He recently joined NewsX for an exclusive conversation as part of NewsX India A-List series. In the exclusive interview, he spoke to us about his new album named divine tides, idea behind it, his collaborations, theme of his song and much more.

Talking about his lockdown schedule, he said, “Yes, I have spent most of my lockdown in the studio recording new music because in 2019, I did over seventy concerts in 13 countries. So, it’s been a huge for me to actually sit down in the same place for almost 16 months, but I have used that time very productively, doing a couple of online concerts and recording this new album.”

When asked for his comments on his collaboration with Stewart Copeland, Ricky shared, “Stewart has been an idol of mine. Everybody knows him as being the drummer and the band founder of the band ‘The Police’, he sold 75 million copies all over the world, won 5 Grammys but very few people know that he has actually composed music for Oscar winning Hollywood movies like ‘Wall Street’ which is one of my all-time favourite movies. Also, he writes for orchestras, being a drummer, writing for orchestras and operas that are pretty amazing. In 2016 I had a brief collaboration with him where I collaborated with him on one song but we did not get to interact much, I just sent him the music, he recorded on it and he sent it back to me. During the lockdown while I was creating him particular album, I musted up the courage to actually ask him collaborate on the whole album and I sent him the music, he loved it and then he decided to go ahead and collaborate. So, it wasn’t difficult collaborating or being on two different continents because I have been doing that a lot but, in this case, it is a little more difficult because he of time zones, so I had to change my sleep timings completely just to sync with him to interact more.”

When asked about the significance and idea behind ‘Divine Tides’ along with his experience, he expressed, “You may know the only kind of music I make right now is about the environment and sustainability and this is an extension of that. This album is basically a tribute to magnificence of the natural world, the current situation, to resilience of the human species and to show how strong we are together in diversity. This is the basic underline theme of this album.” He added, “Album is releasing on 21^st of July. The window into the releasing of whole album would be released on 7^th of July. So, we are really excited about this release. We have 8 music videos, shot all around the world.”

Speaking about the challenges he faced along the way, he shared, “I started this album as a follow-up to my Grammy winning album in 2015, i.e., ‘Winds of Samsara’. I have been for 5-6 years collecting a lot of thoughts and ideas but never recorded them because of intense travelling and touring schedules and concerts. Pandemic itself was an opportunity to sit down and concentrate on this album, work with Stewart Copeland for 7-8 months to record and finalise it with the music videos.” Adding more on the way of launch he announced “We are not going to have a physical launch to keep things safe but virtual launch is as powerful as it has advantage that world is your playground and you can get many people to come. However, disadvantage is not able to talk face to face.”

On a concluding note, Ricky shared his future plans and said, “There will definitely be another collaboration because we’ve gotten to know each other so well and developed a beautiful younger brother relationship. When I listen to this album, I’m just so in love with it simply because my idol is on it and Stewart Copland is one of the greatest drummers. However for this album, it presented a new opportunity for him because it’s Indian fusion music and he loves playing around with these percussion instruments. So, I am going to spend all my time for couple of moths only promoting this album as we have worked so hard on this and it deserves to be heard as much as possible.”

“The album cover showcases the human nature and we are just one species. It shows a face which is gender neutral formed by parts of various animal species. Devine has got a very wide meaning but tides is about the cyclical nature of humans and about the only constant of our planet is changed,” he further added.

Karunesh Talwar, well-known stand-up comedian, is all set to entertain the audiences with his stand-up special on Amazon Prime video. Recognised for excellence in entertainment, Karunesh recently joined NewsX for an exclusive conversation as part of NewsX India A-List series. In the exclusive conversation, he spoke to us about his new show on Amazon, idea behind the name of the show, principles of stand-up comedy and much more.

Speaking how he and the team happened to name the show ‘Aalas, Motapa, Khabrahat’, Karunesh shared, “The name is part of joke punch line from the show itself. I had written the whole show, we shot it and while we were editing it, I was sitting with show’s director and editor who suggested me to give the name ‘Aalas, Motapa, Khabrahat’.” He shared the joke and added “The first half of the show is about my parents and the other half is about my relationship with my girlfriend.”

Emphasising on the relevance of these 3 words, i.e  ‘Aalas, Motapa and Khabrahat’, especially amid the pandemic, he said, “I suppose this happened subconsciously because I wrote this show during pandemic. Also, it comes from the attempt to tell my story, which has to be really authentic and unique on stage. So I think, these 3 words can describe a lot of people’s experiences during pandemic.” On being asked to give 3 words to describe his last one and a half year, he jokingly added, “Aalas, Motapa, Khabrahat’, i suppose. Apart from that, I think it would be lucky, motivated and more anxious.”

When asked what makes this show different from others, he responded, “Usually you write material about certain subjects, which is about 8-9 minutes per subjects covering about 6-7 subjects over an hour show. Here, I had only 2 topics, that’s it. I think it is lot more in story telling format and in long form. That’s not what I have attempted before. It is much more personal and vulnerable than anything I have ever done before as it reveals aspects to my personality, which people who watch my content wouldn’t have been revealed to before.”

Karunesh is hopeful that it is the sign of more things like this coming from him in the future. He expressed, “One of the principles of live stand-up comedy is that if you are authentically telling your story then you are the only one selling it and you are the only supplier of that particular kind of comedy. So, people will always by it from you. You’ll also never run out of material because you are being authentic and not pretending up there.”

Talking about the public response on his last Amazon show’s interesting title – ‘Pata nahi par bolna hai’, he said, “The response was overwhelming and got a lot of positive feedback. The fact that I am doing another show with Amazon means that the last response was good. The title of that show came about because it was about a lot of people and me at the same time”.

When asked if his family and friends call him to give them some light moments in otherwise heavy days, he expressed, “I think people often have a perception that comedians are hilarious and people around them are constantly laughing. No, they are constantly irritated by our existence. They haven’t called me for light moments but definitely the advantage is to learn about therapy and how to balance mental health better.”

Sharing his takeaway from the pandemic, he said, “To be honest, I am extremely fortunate that my career picked up at the time it did. It allowed me to access to work and resources that kept me tied in these unprecedented times. This allowed me work on myself. It gave me time to introspect, write more material and explore new avenues in my work. This is the reason why this new show is different from the kind of work I have done before.”

On a parting note, the comedian shared a piece of advice for aspiring comedians and said, “Delayed gratification always beats instant gratification. If you have a funny thought, don’t put it out instantly instead work on it for about 6 months to one year. It will give you unimaginable success and opportunities. Respect your audience, be authentic and write and perform as much as you can.”

Akasa, Singer and Yash Narvekar, Singer & Music Composer recently joined us on our special series NewsX India A-List. In the exclusive interview, the singer duo spoke about their latest collaboration ‘Yaad Naa Aana’, how the song came into existence, their lockdown diaries and much more. Read excerpts here:

Speaking about their new single ‘Yaad Naa Aana’, Akasa said, “Actually, it is our second collaboration. We did a song called ‘Feel The Vibe’, I think, 2 years back. Yash and I have known each other for a long time. We were in the same college and we sort of worked together in a reality show, where we realised that we are the black sheep, the back benchers and the ‘underrated’. I appointed myself as our un-official cheerleader. Coming back to the song, we were all actually a part of this song camp, where i had a session with someone. I had actually just performed, got off the stage, took a flight to this session in the morning and there were some issues with the scheduling. I was sleepy, had no coffee, i was just grumpy. Meanwhile, Yash was sitting with his guitar. I was thinking to myself, ‘I hate everything and everything sucks.’ He was like singing this song and i was like ‘what are you singing?’. He was like nothing, he was really downplaying it. When he sang it, my mind was blown. I told him that this is beautiful. I asked him who wrote it, he actually wrote and composed it. He asked me if I want to sing this song. We went into the studio very randomly and we did that session. He came up with my part. Mind you, my grumpy mind did not want to sing. I told him that you put your vocals down. When my voice is fine, I will sing. He was like just sing, we will do it properly later.”

“There were some weird circumstances because I was actually method singing. Whatever I was singing, I was going through in my life. I had the person in front of me, who I would imagine. That’s how the song got made. Cut to, I was told that we are releasing the song a year later. Since I have had the demo version, I have been obsessed with it. The fact that it came out, not only that, people are loving it. The vocals that you hear are the same- grumpy,” she added.

Yash jokingly added, “I didn’t change it. Otherwise, the emotion wouldn’t have come. If we had recorded it again, it wouldn’t have been the same. We recorded the song spontaneously. Even i didn’t re-record. Where we recorded was not a proper studio. It was a like a home, where we had put up bed sheets to sound proof everything. Even the mic was of a very cheap quality. It was that kind of a set up.  Somehow, the way both of our voices were sounding and the feel with which we sang, we realised that it wouldn’t sound the same again so we kept the same vocals.”

When asked if he ever thought that the song would become such a big hit, he responded, “We were at this camp at this point of time. Our job for those 3-4 days was to just enter that place, make songs and not think about what is going to happen. There were such talented people around us and such great people around us that the chances of your song cutting through the whole clutter and being picked up by the label, I didn’t really expect that to happen. But, I knew one thing. Once I had Akasa on the track, once we recorded it, once the camp and everything got over and I started living with the song, I realised that there is something special about this song. I was just hoping that Sony gives me this call and says that we are doing this song. That’s exactly what happened but the beauty is that it happened now. The timing is what struck me. Even the way they shot it, about this couple in a lockdown in their house together, she’s doing a Zoom call and he is walking through in a banyan and boxers, eating a sandwich. Stuff like that, right now, I can relate to it much more than last year if it had released back then.”

Talking about what and whom they have missed the most during the lockdown, Akasa said, “Both these lockdowns were personal hell for me. I have always been an out and about person. I had a break up in the first lockdown. I had a break up again in the second lockdown with a friend as well. I was just missing them. If I am being very honest, I think I miss normalcy. I miss going to a café with my friends and sitting without our masks and hugging them and not having the waiter come with a mask on his face. It’s that silly little thing but I miss normalcy. I am done. I want to go back. “

Meanwhile, Yash added, “Just like she said, when I got out, which I rarely do, but when I go for a jog or something, I got this constant fear on my mind that there are people around you. That wasn’t ever a fear. It was always a good thing. You always scared of a person coughing. You are wearing 2 masks and you are obviously running so you cannot breathe so you have to find a spot to lower your mask and quickly take a few breaths. In general, going anywhere and meeting people. I love meeting people. I can spend time with anybody. In this lockdown, i moved out of my house also because I was working. Both my parents are above 60 years of age. I didn’t want to risk them because I was going for sessions, making music and meeting people. I moved out and started living in my studio. That was a big challenge because I have never lived without my parents. I think I was very lonely in the start of it. I am alone now. I am not lonely. That’s why I am enjoying this time. I have started enjoying my own company. At the same time, I miss being around a lot of people going on music festivals and stuff like that but that is something, which can be counted as a luxury, especially with the kind of issues people are facing. I cannot be complaining about these things when people are facing life-threatening issues. I am just happy that I have a room, I am healthy and my parents are fine.”