DailyOh! The proof that Galwan Valley belongs to India, not China
The 20 Indian soldiers, who were martyred in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley on Tuesday, were today laid to rest across 10 states of India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said their sacrifices won't go in vain. The soldiers sacrificed their lives guarding Indian territory, so Modi meant China wouldn’t be allowed to occupy Indian land. Now, China has been in possession of Indian land since 1947. Pakistan acceded over 5,180 sq km sq km of Indian territory in Kashmir to China after wresting it from India right after Independence.
In Ladakh and Arunachal, China has control over 38,000 sq km of Indian land. We told you that in 1993, India and China — faced with constant clashes along the border — agreed to agree on the point that they would maintain and respect the status quo. So neither party would try to cross the line. What was that line – Line of Actual Control (LAC). Now, we told you that both countries did not agree on the exact LAC. They decided to keep talking to fix that line. Land issues outlive those who live on land. You see, generations fight cases over land disputes.
What China has, however, done in 2020 is that it has furthered the dispute. Without saying it, the Chinese have said they do not believe in the LAC. You may be wondering if the Chinese didn’t say it, how do we know it? Because China is now laying claim to Indian territory beyond the LAC agreed upon in 1993. Galwan Valley is what China is lusting for now.
Yes, Galwan Valley is the place where the two armies came face to face on June 16. The Valley originates in the Karakoram range and then runs through Aksai Chin and eastern Ladakh before it joins Indus tributary Shyok river. Even in 1962, Indian and Chinese forces had locked horns here.
Why is Galwan Valley called that? Who was Galwan? We will tell you that because Galwan is our Word Of The Day.
Seventy years before the Indo-China war of 1962, a 14-year-old boy named Ghulam Rassul Galwan was helping explorers explore the rough terrains of Ladakh.
Let us tell you the tale of how the boy came across the Valley and how at a time everything was being named after the British in India, Galwan Valley got named after a native. Galwan was an adventurer. Adventurers, you see, are discoverers. When you explore, you find. Don’t take it to mean, dhoondhne se to bhagwan bhi mil jata hai. We have no confirmation on that.
We do have confirmation on is how Galwan Valley was found so let’s stick to that.
Ladakhi historian Abdul Ghani Sheikh has documented that once the ‘boy Galwan’ was helping some European explorers in the area. The group was led by Charles Murray, the seventh Earl of Dunmore. The exploration came to a frustrating halt when the group found only tall mountains and deep gorges ahead of it, with no way to move forward. Galwan took the lead and found a relatively easier way through the ravines. So impressed was Murray that he decided to name the passage after Galwan, calling it Galwan Nallah. Soon the Valley too came to be known as Galwan Valley.
His ancestors living in Ladakh are India’s biggest proof that China’s claim over the land is flimsy. By singing the LAC agreement too, China accepted that Galwan Valley belonged to the country of the man who discovered it — India.
India today got a seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) with an overwhelming vote of 184 of the 192 member states that voted. This is the eighth time India has been voted to become a non-permanent member of the UNSC. The five permanent members, as you know, include the US, UK, Russia, France and China. Member countries have been asking for an expansion of the permanent seats. India, of course, has been pushing for a permanent slot.
One country that has sometimes openly and at other times clandestinely tried to block India’s way is China. This is despite India supporting China’s entry into the UNSC. In the 1950s, India was one of the strongest voices saying the Peoples Republic of China should take the permanent member seat which was at that time occupied by the Republic of China (Taiwan). Jawaharlal Nehru believed that the progress of an Asian power would mean progress of Asia and that if India supports China ‘today’, China would support India ‘tomorrow’. Tomorrow never came because tomorrow never comes. But in the tomorrow in which Nehru had expected China’s support, he lost even the support of many of his own countrymen who blame him for not being able to foresee China’s treachery. History judges because history is judgmental.
But we live in the present because living in the past or the future is not a choice. Some stay stuck in the past and some think too much about the future, but all of that happens in the present.
In the present of today, Modi has kicked off the coal block allocation process. This, the PM, said would work towards making India atmanirbhar in the field of energy. Globally, India is the second-largest coal producer. Who is the first? Well, China.
But India also imports a lot of coal because. Why? Because India has enough coal, but not enough coking coal.
Coking coal is the coal used in making steel. Actually, coking coal is used in the production of coke, which is used in the production of steel.
Now, to meet the demands of the domestic steel industry, India would require 180 million tonnes of coking coal by 2030-31. India aims to produce 300 million tonnes of steel by that time and wants to ensure 35 per cent of the demand for coking coal be met indigenously.
The coal India produces is more suited for power production. In 2019, India's thermal coal imports also rose by 12.6 per cent to about 200 million tonnes. That is because production was low. Now, this is one area where India can become atmanirbhar by stepping up production of coal for power.
From the economy, let’s move the world of entertainment. In the wake of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death, that world has been hit by talks of nepotism. Now, this is not the first time talks around nepotism are happening. But what’s new is that hushed talks have become loud chatters.
A book, Cracking The Code: My Journey In Bollywood, written in 2015 is now being quoted to call out this nepotism. The author of the book — Ayushmann Khurrana.
Here’s an excerpt from the book that many are citing to prove how difficult it is for 'outsiders’ to get in. Now, how some people became 'insiders' and others 'outsiders' is another story altogether.
For now, read the excerpt.
Going back to China, we spoke about the threat it is posing at the borders, but now let us tell you about the havoc it has unleashed on every country – the novel coronavirus.
In India, according to Healthy Ministry data over 3,60,000 people have tested positive so far. Also, close to 1,95,000 have recovered. About 1,61,374 are active and over 12,000 have died due to the virus.
There has been a growing fear about what happens if a major outbreak happens in India’s villages. To address that question, the government has launched India’s first mobile lab for Covid-19 testing. The mobile labs are supposed to taking testing facilities in areas where it is difficult to take everything, except the virus.
Your challenge is to prevent the entry of the virus into your system.
Keep the arms — masks, gloves and soaps — ready and handy.
We will see you tomorrow.
Take care, stay safe.
Also read: DailyOh! The similarities between Chinese intrusions of 1967 and 2020