As they say only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches, Magsaysay award winner Sonam Wangchuk’s call for the boycott of Chinese goods across India touches a cord. Being a Ladakhi, Wangchuk has seen the Chinese making small incursions on the unmarked border periodically with the intention of gnawing at the Indian Territory. Ladakh being a frontier region with fragile ecology is highly vulnerable to vagaries of politics and such moves. So being fiercely patriotic and grounded, people like Sonam Wangchuk have concerns and a sense of responsibility in waking up 1.3 billion Indians to the dangers of the Chinese aggrandize.
As is his philosophy of acting small for a big impact, Wangchuk is suggesting Indians give back to China by hitting it hard on the economic front: delete all the software produced by China from mobiles in a week and replace all Chinese goods we have become so used to in one year. India is a huge market of consumer goods and the boycott of Chinese goods will deal a big blow to the Chinese economy. It’s bewildering that in spite of a pool of Indian talent in software why we haven’t had the vision to develop the likes of TikTok? It should be done now.
While we hope the tension on the Ladakh frontier deescalates due to the ongoing diplomatic efforts and also the growing pressure on the Dragon, Indians will always remain wary of the Chinese regime. This incursion has given us a reality check on China’s real intentions. Once this crisis blows over, New Delhi will be forced to think of pragmatic ways to check Dragon’s influence. So far India has stayed neutral and always maintained an independent foreign policy and in future, the situation may change. China is a major threat to world peace; its blind ambition to rule the world has already subjugated many smaller countries. The citizens can heed Wangchuk and deal a major blow to Beijing’s plans.