The report under ‘From the archives’ (“Indian diplomat walks out,” Oct.1) which spoke of an Indian diplomat walking out of China’s anniversary celebrations on Sept 30, 1965, was instructive. The walkout was in protest against the then Chinese PM Chou En-lai’s comments that supported Pakistan against “aggression by India”. During the Nehru era there was a good display of bonhomie between the two countries which resulted in India’s relentless efforts to get a seat for its friend, Communist China, at the United Nations.
However, the 1962 War came as a shocker and remains a permanent scar on the bilateral relationship. Despite that, India has shown a desire for stronger ties with its neighbour to the east but has been repeatedly cold-shouldered by China when it comes to support for permanent membership at the UN Security Council.
K. Rajendran,
Chennai
On Suhrawardy
The report on the Great Calcutta Killings of 1946 (“Suhrawardy no Nero, show Bengal files,” Sept.30) seems to confirm what was stated in an eyewitness account of the riots, published by a Delhi-based newspaper in the 1950s. It seems when citizens appealed to the police for help, the British police officers turned them back with a snide remark: “Go and tell your Nehru, we can’t do anything.” The fact that Suhrawardy cooperated with Gandhiji’s one-man peace mission in Calcutta is also worth remembering. In my view, the British were bent upon dividing India for their own geo-strategic gains. When Lord Mountbatten called on Winston Churchill, on the eve of his departure to India to take up the post of the Viceroy, the latter, a die-hard imperialist, supposedly advised the former to “keep a part for ourselves”. Perhaps, if Gandhiji could have found a way to implement the proposals of the Cripps Mission, a suggestion also made by Sri Aurobindo, the Partition of the subcontinent and the horrendous human suffering which followed, and continues till date could have been avoided.
S.S. Kaimal,
Thiruvananthapuram
