Flights Of Fantasy
[ M Panging Pao ]
At Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, laptops and smart phones regularly show location as Medog or Nyingchi in China! Similarly laptops and smart phones at few other places in Arunachal Pradesh show locations in China. Laptops and smart phones automatically show local weather as weather of Nyingchi or Medog. Few international and national mail also address places in Arunachal as in China. Even in Google map there is a red line that runs along the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh indicating disputed territory. Many maps in the world show Kashmir, Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh outside India. Most laptops operate on Microsoft systems and smart phones operate on Android operating systems owned by Google. In effect, territories in Arunachal, India are being virtually ‘gifted’ to China vide Microsoft and Google! The irony is that the heads of Google and Microsoft are Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella who are of Indian origin and many Indians are very proud of them!
China has constantly disputed the legitimacy of the McMahon line which demarcates the border between India and China. China claims most parts of Arunachal Pradesh as ‘Southern Tibet.’ India & China has an acrimonious relationship over last 60 plus years. The major conflict was the Sino-India war of 1962 where the Chinese forces entered almost 100 km inside Indian Territory. There have been frequent clashes and violent skirmishes ending with the recent violent clashes at Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh and Galwan Valley during May-Jun 2020. Recently, China has renamed more than 62 places in Arunachal with Chinese names. The renamed places include mountains, rivers and places like Mechuka, Manigong, Tawang, Sela, Walong etc.
Then there is this issue about issuance of Stapled Visa to persons from Arunachal Pradesh. Many officials, sports persons, businessmen are issued stapled visas. Thereafter, the Indian govt does not allow these persons to travel to China. Yours truly was also a victim of such incident. Being part of an official 30 member defence delegation to visit China, China’s response was no visa requirement for me as I was from China! Thereafter, our govt truncated the delegation and dropped 15 members including me! The sad part was the remaining 15 members went ahead with the visit!
Why do Google and Microsoft allow depiction of legitimate Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh as part of China? What is the intention of these two software giants? Why are the central and state governments accepting this anomaly? With China aggressively renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh with Chinese names and issuing stapled visa to athletes/officials from Arunachal Pradesh, isn’t it time for India to stand up against China’s hegemonic policies? The central and state govts should take up these mistaken depiction with the Indian origin CEOs of Google and Microsoft. Else there should be penal action initiated. Why should we virtually cede territory to China? What do you say? (The contributor is retired Group Captain, Indian Air Force)
