Monday, August 24, 2020

An essay on Islam's Indian agenda: "Ghazwa e Hind "

SOURCE:
https://www.quora.com/

https://www.quora.com/Is-India-headed-towards-balkanization/answer/Suchindranath-Aiyer?prompt_topic_bio=1

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An essay on Islam's Indian agenda:                               "Ghazwa e Hind



As India becomes weaker and weaker under the growing ballast of its anti-national, outlandish, constitution, laws, courts and policies and the resultant civil unrest and rebellion, provided China (Communism) does not get there first, Islam (Ghazwa e Hind) will by dint of demographic growth and majoritarianism or violence from within and without (e.g. Pakistan).
Here is an interesting dissertation written by a friend:
       An essay on Islam's Indian agenda:                               "Ghazwa e Hind"

"Bharat and Saudi Wahabbism.

Kindly read the full essay to understand the threat we will face in near future. Humbly requesting to share this post and spread awareness.
Ever since the Islamic rulers of the Indian sub-continent lost their power to the British, their protracted movement appears to be to restore their control over this region and keep the people under perpetual challenge as some of the Muslim leaders are still not ready to shed their medieval burden.

India & Saudi Arabia:
With the Saudi monarchy becoming the custodian of two holiest shrines of Islam in 1924 with an independent kingdom since 1932, it has also emerged as the richest oil-exploring country in the world, taking upon itself to export its version of militant Islam that went by the name of Wahabism. India was one of the target countries.
Although, India never had cordial relations with Saudi Arabia, some analysts even thought that the relations between the two countries are set to improve with the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to that country on February 25 last. The point to be noted here is that seeking any help or signing any agreement for joint fight against terrorism with Saudi Arabia will not in any way prevent the frequent Jihadi attacks against India that are perpetrated by the terror syndicates groomed with Saudi money in Pakistan.
To understand the Wahhabi design of Saudi Arabia in India, one may like to look into the Islamist’s conquests that began from Arabian Peninsula to the on going terror war against non Muslims. The desert warriors who never tried to understand the rational world view of love, peace and co-existence mistook civilizational evolution to be the history of conflict and cruelty. Accordingly, they never reconciled with the non-Islamic powers anywhere in the world particularly in the land from where Muslim rulers were driven out. This mindset is the key.
The emergence of two Islamist reformers of eighteenth century namely Shah Waliullah (1703-1762) in India and Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1787) in Arabian Peninsula re-ignited the medieval fire of Islamism among the Muslims. While studying together in Medina they came up with a considered view that Islam will not survive without political power and suggested an aggressive drive for revival of hard-line conservative Islamism as the only solution to stop the decline of the glory of Islamic power in the Indian sub-continent. Although, the two reformers had some tactical differences over execution of their common goal to achieve Pan-Islamic Arab imperialism in the world, both of them are known as the co-founders of political Islam.

The Hanafi School and the Wahaabis:

Waliullah, the follower of Hanafi school of. Sunni Islam which is in a majority in this region was upset with the rise of Maratha power and the fading glory of Mogul Empire and therefore, tried to unite the Muslim society by establishing concordance between the conflicting schools of Islamic thought. He also presented an integrated view of the different branches of Islamic schools. His plan was to unite the different Islamist warlords of Indian sub-continent to crush the Hindus particularly the Marathas and Jats who had challenged the Islamic rule in the sub-continent. Since he saw the rise of Hindus as threat to the survival of Muslim power, he invited a Muslim plunderer Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1760 from Afghanistan to launch Jihad against the Hindus.

However, contrary to the tactical compromise formula of Waliullah with Shia and other tomb worshiping Muslims, Wahhab being the follower of Hanbali School of Islam and a hard core Sunni cleric treated them to be infidels. His sole objective was to Saudiise the Muslim society by pushing them to the extreme Arabic tradition and to bring them under a single command of a Bedouin Saudi warlord Mohammad ibn Saud with whom he had an agreement in 1744.

Since then, the successors of Ibn Saud while pursuing Wahhabism and claiming as the sole upholder of Islam emerged as a force in Arabian Peninsula roughly from the beginning of eighteenth century. While Wahhab in alliance with Mohammad Ibn Saud laid the foundation stone of the Saudi Kingdom, Waliullah mobilized the Muslims in India against the rise of Hindus. The success of the Jihadi concept of political Islam in the defeat of Marathas in 1762 and rise of Saudi-Wahhabi alliance as an independent kingdom left a deep Jihadi dent on the psyche of the Muslim society of the Indian sub-continent.

Following the British take over of the Mughal capital of Delhi in 1803, Shah Abdul Aziz (1745-1823) son of Waliullah who was carrying forward the legacy of his father adopted the integrated concept of both his father and Wahhab and declared Hindustan to be a Darul Harab (Domain of enmity). He also appealed to his followers to launch Jihad for restoring Islamic power in the region. One Syed Ahmad Barelvi (1786-1831), who was one of the most trusted disciples of Shah Abdul Aziz mobilised his followers mostly from Bihar and Bengal and launched Jihad against Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Punjab in 1826. Though he was killed in the battle of Balakot in 1831, the Muslim clergies projected him an Islamic martyr and called him Syed Ahmad Shaheed (Martyr). Although, Sayeed Ahmad learnt the Wahhabi interpretation of militant Islam as a disciple of Shah Abdul Aziz, he is credited to have imported Wahhabism into the Indian sub-continent with Patna in Bihar as its centre.

After the death of Sayeed Ahmed his staunch followers Wilayat Ali of Patna and his brothers carried forward the Wahhabi legacy of their leader. It is said that the Wahhabi clergies played an important role in igniting the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857 against the British. However, after the collapse of the mutiny Wahhabis got a further set back as the British suspected them to be the conspirators and started persecuting them aggressively. In fact Wahhabis became the target of British power due to their Jihadi ideology which they perceived as a threat to their stake in India. The demoralised group of Muslim clergies therefore adopted a tactical line and overtly maintained a distance from Wahhabis to guard themselves against British action but at the same time decided to institutionalise the revival of Islamic movement by educating the Muslim masses through Madrasa education.

The Deoband Movement:

Accordingly, Muhammad Qasim Nanautawi and Rashid Ahmed Gangohi who were the disciples of Sayyid Nazir Husain, a Wahhabist cleric from Delhi and founder of Ahle Hadith an offshoot of Saudi Wahhabism - founded a Madrasa in Deoband which gradually turned into an umbrella organisation of Sunni Islamists for educating the poor strata of Muslims with an objective to recruit them as foot soldiers of Islam. This small madrasa later emerged as Deoband movement to restore the glorious past of Islamic power. 

Deobandi Ulema too adopted a tactical line to guard themselves against the British and made it a practice to reject their links with Wahhabism overtly. However, the synthesis of the political thought of Waliullah and Wahhab remained the ideological mascot of their movement. "The theology taught at Deoband was an uncompromising fundamentalism, mirroring that of Wahhabism".

Like Wahhabis, Deoband also "denounced the worship of saints, the adorning of tombs, and such activities as music and dancing. It waged a ceaseless war of words against Shias, Hindus, and Christian missionaries It distanced itself from all that was progressive in Indian society; and it retained militant jihad as a central pillar of faith but focused this jihad on the promotion of Islamic revival".(The Hidden Roots of Wahhabism in British India by Allen Charles, Publication- World Policy Journal. Date: July 1, 2005).

Apart from Deoband Movement, the feudal section of Muslims under the leadership of Sir Sayed Ahmad, a British loyalist launched a parallel Aligarh Movement with the objective to get superior status of Muslims to the Hindus by accepting the British as their protectors. Subsequently, they founded the All India Muslim League which ultimately succeeded in truncation of the sub-continent and creation of Pakistan as a separate Islamic country.

Although, the Muslim leadership was partly satisfied with the creation of Pakistan after the complete loss of power in1857 to the British, a big chunk of leaderless Muslim population who stayed back in a Hindu majority India was in a state of confusion. Taking advantage of the plight of Indian Muslims, the Saudi monarchy began its political game to get their support for legitimisation of its custodianship of the two holiest Islamic Shrines which they had captured from the Hassimite clan of Prophet Mohammad, to protect the monarchy from non-Wahhabi Islamists who are opposed to its trade relation and war pacts with Christian crusaders and also to prepare them for Jihad to restore the lost Islamic power in this country.

Its alliance with western powers particularly the USA is also a part of the strategy to keep the monarchy under protection of a world super power. Accordingly, spending huge oil-earned money they have been continuously exporting the Wahhabi concept of Militant Islam to Indian Muslims by buying the Islamic clergies of the region. The ruling party Indian National Congress on the other hand treated the Muslims as its vote bank and continued to remain in power with their support. In due course this virus of vote bank politics affected all the political parties.

Islamic Revivalism in India from 70s:

Exploiting the weakness of the political class, Islamic clergies revived their dormant movement for Islamic revivalism which got a further boost with heavy increase in Saudi funding of Islamic institutions and organisations in 1970s when there was a global boom in oil price. In fact Saudi Arabia viewed the truncation of its ally Pakistan in 1970 and emergence of a secular Muslim country Bangladesh at the instance of Indian army as a victory of non-Muslim power in South Asia against an Islamic country. Accordingly with a view to strengthen its hold among the Indian Muslims it planned to wahhabise the latter aggressively with huge 

funding for repair of their dilapidated mosques, construction of new mosques and for establishment of new madrasas. Using its petro-dollar influence on Islamic institutions and organisations like Deoband , Ahl-i-Hadith, Jamaate Ulema-e- Hind, Jamaate Islami Hind and Tablique Jamaat it started wide propagation of Wahhabism in India. Thus, access of Indian Muslim organisations and institution in Saudi Zakat money not only saw a marked transformation in Muslim society in India but also gave them a new assertive confidence to raise their voice against the government on even rational issues which did not fit in the frame of Islamism. Formation of Student Islamic Movement (SIMI), a front organisation of Jamaat-e- Islami Hind in April 1977 at Aligarh was a new Wahhabi endeavour to mobilise the Muslim youths and students under Saudi influence.

Saudis Active Again during Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan:
It was during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan, that the Jihadis from various Islamist establishments of the world joined the Saudi financed Jihad with the support of USA and Pakistan. Saudi charities like World Muslim League, International Islamic Relief Fund, World Assembly of Muslim Youth and Muslim Brotherhood were instrumental in opening of huge number of madrasas in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh and also sent Jihadi recruits from these madrasas in Soviet-Afghan war which lasted for a decade.
In view of their covert link with the Wahhabi ideology of violent Jihad, Islamist organisations/institutions in India maintained stony silence for a couple of decades over security related threat of Wahhabi sponsored terror war from across the country. Deoband, a premiere Islamic institution though organised a conference in April 2008 and condemned terrorism, it did not mention the name of any Islamist organisation like Al Qaeda and its terror outfits like Jaishe Mohammad or Lashkar-e -Tayeba which were responsible for their terror acts in the country. Instead, the speakers criticised the police action against SIMI activists who were accused in terror violence in different parts of the country. Ironically, despite the arrest of many Indian Muslims for their alleged involvement in various terror explosions in the country, no Islamic clergy in India is ready to believe that the arrested Indian Muslims were involved in the terror war against India.
Petro Dollar Influence:
However, various reports suggest that Saudi Arabia with its petro-dollar influence on these Islamic outfits succeeded in making a visible Wahhabi dent among Indian Muslims. In fact some saner sections of Indian Muslims accept that the on going terror war against India has been launched by Wahhabi terror groups. One Mohammad Hamid from Nagpur said, "The terror that is being inflicted in India is not Islamic terror, but Wahhabi terror" (India Today, July 31, 2008). Similarly, one Shabib Rizvi, a professor at Rizvi College in Mumbai was quoted saying, "From just 28 websites eight years ago, there are over 1000 websites dedicated to spreading Wahhabi ideology" (Ibid.) Except Ahl-i-Hadith which is a carbon copy of Wahhabism , none of the prominent Islamic institutions and organisations like Deoband , Jamaate Ulemae Hind, Jamaate Islami Hind, Tablique Jamaat and Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) has ever accepted their link with Wahhabism. Therefore, it is difficult to pin pointedly identify the Wahhabi groups in India.
Although, Deobandi Ulema often deny their link with Wahhabism, the ground reality on the huge growth of Deobandi madrasas suggests that without the heavy financial support from oil rich Arab lands such growth was not possible. Deoband, a well organised Islamic institution has a worldwide influence over educated sections of Muslims. In fact assuming the name of Darul Ulum (Abode of Islamic learning) in 1879 it is now one of the top Islamic institutions in the world second only to Al Aqsa in Cairo. Today number of Deobandi madrasas in different parts of world has increased to over 30000. ( Charles Allen, a renowned historian of British India). With dissemination of Fatwa (Islamic decree) on every issue the Ulema of Deoband gradually inspired the Muslim masses with Wahhabi concept of Islam and sharpened their mind with Islamic duty to defend their faith wherever it was under attack and to support Jihad launched in any corner of the world if it was for extending the frontiers of their religion. This is apparently the reason as to why the Indian Muslims are often found enraged and raise war cry that ‘Islam is in danger’ even when the Indian judiciary passes any judgement which the Wahhabi clergies misinterpret as un-Islamic.
Their war cry against Supreme Court verdict in Shahbano case in 1984 which forced the then Congress Government to neutralise the verdict after constitutional amendment was the reflection of Wahhabi influence on Indian Muslims. Deoband has never disclosed its balance sheet including its financial source to the public. Since the Saudi sponsored charities are the main funding agencies operating in India for propagation of Wahhabism, a natural question would be -t how can Deoband afford to run this vast institution which provides free boarding and lodging to its students without entering into the ideological ring of Wahhabism?Similarly, the publication of a book in 1978 entitled Shaikh Muhammad bin ‘Abdul Wahhab Ke Khilaf Propaganda Aur Hindustan Ke ‘Ulama-i Haq Par Uske Asrat (‘The Propaganda Against Shaikh Muhammad bin ‘Abdul Wahhab and its Impact on the True ‘Ulama’) written by the late Manzur Nu'mani (d.1997), one of the leading Indian Deobandi ‘ulema which was widely appreciated by the fellow Deobandis has ‘proved’ that there is actually no ‘difference of principle’ (‘usuli ikhtilaf) between the Deobandis and the ‘Wahhabis’, and that ‘to a very great extent they ‘are united’. The claim of a Deobandi jurist in this context also supports this view - "should it be proved that Osama was the mastermind behind the attacks of September 11, he would not be punished under Islamic law since his actions were the result of an independent, legal opinion issued by top jurists." (The Hidden Roots of Wahhabism in British India by Allen Charles, World Policy Journal, July 1, 2005)
SIMI and Rise of other Organisations:
SIMI is another organisation which can be regarded as a true Wahhabi group operating in India since its formation in 1977. It was in fact a tactical move of JEIH to float a separate radical outfit dedicated to restore Islamic power in India and guard itself from any confrontation with the government. Although, till1986 all the presidents of SIMI were from JEIH, the latter publicly disowned it same year for tactical reason. Equalising Osama bin Laden and other known leaders of terror outfits as the holy warlords undertaking Jihad on behalf of the Umma also suggests that SIMI is devoted to Wahhabism. Jihad, Muslim community as a consolidated group (Ummah) and Caliphate being the core ideological concept of SIMI also proves its Wahhabi design. Its slogan that ‘Quran is its constitution, Jihad is its path and martyrdom its desire’ is similar to the Egypt born Wahhabi outfit Muslim Brotherhood. Although, it has been banned by Government of India due to its link with Wahhabi sponsored terror war in the country, another outfit called Indian Mujahideen has emerged as a replica of SIMI.
Deoband related Tabligh Jamaat is another organisation which is known as Wahhabi. "Yusuf Kandhalavi, son and successor of the founder of the Tablighi Jama‘at, Ilyas Kandhalavi, declared, ‘We are staunch Wahhabis’. Saudi funded new Tablighi mosques in different parts of India also suggest the penetration of Wahhabism among Indian Muslims who are the followers of this Jamaat.

Taking advantage of the secular democratic constitution of India and vote banking politics of Indian political parties, these Saudi backed radical Muslim bodies are blackmailing the latter and operating in this country from outside the political mainstream without any fear. The seismic shift towards Islamic conservatism as being seen among the Indian Muslims and their increasing dependence on madrasa educated leaders suggest that Wahhabism pushed them towards the Jihadi spirit of political Islam.

The main problem India is facing in fighting against Islamist terrorism is the hidden root of Wahhabism which protect the nursery of sleeping terror cells in various ghettos of the Muslim community. Majority of common Muslims may be against the Jihadi interpretation of Wahhab but they are entrapped in such a whirlpool created by the Mullas in the roll of Saudi charities that they are left with no option but to succumb to their pressure. Unfortunately, even against the backdrop of the historical communal role of Indian Muslims under the instigation of their leaders during freedom movement which truncated the sub-continent, our political leadership continues to ignore the import of Wahhabism which is a strategic threat to its secular democracy.
Conclusion:
Until and unless our political class irrespective of their party affiliation put a check on Saudi funding to the Islamic institutions and organisations and prevent the Indian Muslims from being entrapped in the militant ideology of political Islam, India which is already encircled in the fire ring of Wahhabi Jihad for which militant Jihadi warriors are regularly produced in Saudi funded madrasas in our neighboring countries, the country will remain vulnerable strategically." 

-Satish Mylavarappu
“some correction:shah walliulllah was himself killed by Ranjit singh and probably his body was burned so that Jihadists would not make a monument out of him, pretty same the US did with Osama. Cairo has Al-Azhar islamic university not Al-Aqsa”
—Alok Kumar Singh
“This is total distortion of History. Too many errors or deliberate attempt to falsify history.
One thing I want to say There was no trace of wahabism in India before 1900. And the war of independence of 1857 was waged by the Sunnis/Sufi under the leadership of Bahadur Shah Zafar who himself was a Sunni. The concept of Jihad(struggle) in Islam is about ending oppression. It is not to spread Islam. The message of Islam was spread accross continents by missionaries/Sufi Saints/Traders. The armed Jihad is taken as a last resort and only to end oppression.”
-Junaid Ahmed
Junaid Ahmed’s version is the official, politically corrected, version championed by Gandhi (who championed the resurrection of the Caliphate at British behest in a vain attempt to bring the Moslems within the ambit of his leadership), Nehru and, post partition, the Indian Rapeublic to appease the Moslems.

The real version is that The East India Company ruled in the North by having been given a Firman by the Mughal to collect taxes and military levies to protect him from his own satraps and challengers, just as in in the South, they had received the Firman from the Nawab of Arcot to collect taxes and levies to protect him from Tipu Sultan and the residual Vijayanagar Palegars. The greed of the East India Company and its “Nabobs” who came to India to “shake the Pagoda tree”, and the standing armies it established with these taxes and levies left the Mughal a mere symbol like the present day President of India. The East India Company’s Land Grab movement through the Doctrine of Lapse and their ruthless conversion of land to commercial crops from staples and destruction of the means of production such as looms, led to the conditions for the rebellion. The Bengal Native Infantry’s mutiny (inspired by the Brahmanas) was the spark that set the tinder aflame. Bahadur Shah Zafar was a weak, effete, puppet who was raised as a banner by the Brahmanas to rally the Moslems to their cause who were hitherto subservient to the East India Company on account of the Mughal Firman by which they were levied.

As for Wahabism, the Wahab are a tribe who claim consanguinity to the most ruthless of the Caliphs, Uthman, who burnt the original Quran and replaced it with one more suited to his taste, policies and campaigns. They follow the most austere and intolerant form of Islam that upholds all that is vile, sadistic, atavistic and barbaric in present day Islam. Before the British Empire receded, Islam had been shattered, the Mehdi destroyed, the Ottoman Empire dismantled, and Ata Turk’s Turkey marginalized, The Tent of Saud was not acceptable to the Tent of Wahab to rule Saudi Arabia in post World War formation, carved out of Turkish rule by the British. But the British favoured the Tent of Saud. To avoid the impending civil war, the Tent of Saud formed a pact with the Tent of Wahab, to carry out Uthman’s Imperial Islam on the World and ascended the throne with their permission. As Petro Dollars began to pour in thanks to Yamani (who the Tent of Saud later assassinated) and the US post Vietnam weakness coupled with Nixon’s and Kissinger’s machinations and Bush’s personal venality and willingness to found his family fortunes under the Tent of Saud, the Tent of Saud began to pour money into Mosques and Madrassas world wide to generate Students of the Quran (aka Taliban) to carry out Uthman’s Jihad bil Saif (Reformation by the Sword).
When the US saw the opportunity to throw out the USSR, the US sold Pakistan the idea of Afghanistan for its “Strategic Depth” and then the CIA and Pakistan created Al Qaeda (The Base) to train and arm Taliban (students of the Quran) to wage asymmetric war against the USSR. This, then, has given birth to myriad regiments of Sunni Taliban going by various names determined to impose the Sharia on the rubble of civilization.
Ghazwa e Hind is a project of Islam and not of any one Islamic regiment, whether regular or irregular, covert or overt, within India or without. With a little more hard work, the CIA, the NIA and media may even establish that water is wet and that peanuts grow underground.
Too many people know the facts and have suffered at the hands of Islam. They are not as easy to fool or purchase as the politicians and journalists of the World’s “Democracies”.
There are SIX DIFFERENT WAYS of deception that are permissible in Islam with the “holy” blessing of Sharia law: 1) taqiyya, 2) kitman, 3) tawriya, 4) taysir, 5) darura, 6) muruna
•Taqiyya (Shia) or Muda'rat (Sunni): tactical deceit for the purposes of spreading Islam.
•Kitman: deceit by omission.
•Tawriya: deceit by ambiguity.
•Taysir: deceit through facilitation (not having to observe all the tenets of Sharia).
•Darura: deceit through necessity (to engage in something "Haram" or forbidden).
•Muruna: the temporary suspension of Sharia to make Muslim migrants (“Hijra”) appear "moderate."
Please Read:
What is the core of Islam that destroys all other humans and civilizations?

















Saturday, August 22, 2020

PLA WESTERN TIBET An Expert Explains: The PLA and its relationship with China’s Communist Party

SOURCE:
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/peoples-liberation-army-communist-party-of-china-6562035/


               INTELLIGENCE  SUMMARY                 


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ORDER OF BATTLE WESTERN THEATRE COMBAT  COMMAND

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https://bcvasundhra.blogspot.com/2017/03/p-l-snapshot-chinas-western-theater.html





Members of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) march during a flag raising ceremony at an open day at the Ngong Shuen Chau Barracks in Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, June 30, 2019. (Bloomberg Photo: Eduardo Leal)



An Expert Explains: The PLA and its relationship with China’s Communist Party



Written by Maj Gen (retd) Prof G G Dwivedi

  Updated: August 21, 2020






To comprehend the aggressive behaviour of the 

Communist leadership, it is important to 

understand the symbiotic relationship between 

these two entities, and the nature of the 

generational transformation in the Chinese 

military.




It is customary for a nation to have an army but extremely rare for a political party to have one. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is an exception, as it owes allegiance to the Communist Party of China (CPC).
This exclusive arrangement was formalised in December 1929 during the Ninth Meeting of the CPC at Gutian in Fujian province where Mao Zedong, while addressing the men of the Fourth Army, clarified the role of the military: it was “to chiefly serve the political ends”, Mao said.
Here on, absolute control of the Communist Party over the army became entrenched. Interestingly, 85 years later, on December 30, 2014. President Xi Jinping during his address to ‘Military Political Work Conference’ at Gutian, reiterated that the “PLA remains the Party’s army, and must maintain absolute loyalty to political masters”.

The two most powerful organs in the Chinese system, crucial for the survival of the authoritarian regime, are the CPC and the PLA. To comprehend the aggressive behaviour of the Communist leadership, it is important to understand the symbiotic relationship between these two entities, and the nature of the generational transformation in the Chinese military.

The PLA: Birth, structure, evolution, and its 

symbiotic relationship with the Communist 

Party


The PLA traces its roots to the ‘Nanchang Uprising’ of August 1, 1927, the day the Communists led by stalwarts like Mao, Zhou Enlai and Zhu De rose against the nationalist forces. It played a key role in the successful culmination of the Communist revolution in 1949, and of the CPC coming to power. The PLA’s iconic commanders, Mao and Deng Xiaoping, led the People’s Republic of China (PRC) for almost a half century as its first and second generation leaders.
Given its symbiotic relationship with the CPC, the PLA is well represented in the two apex governing bodies – in the Politburo, the PLA has 2 members out of 25, and in the Central Committee, the PLA accounts for 18-20 per cent of the 205 permanent and 171 alternate members.

The Central Committee elects the Politburo and the Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), the highest political body that is currently composed of seven members. Until 1997, the PLA had representation in the PSC as well; General Liu Huaqing was the last general to hold that position.




Members of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) march with a Chinese flag during a flag raising ceremony at an open day at the Ngong Shuen Chau Barracks in Hong Kong, China, on Sunday, June 30, 2019. (Bloomberg Photo: Eduardo Leal)

The Central Military Commission (CMC), the highest military body, is composed of the PLA top brass, appointed by the PSC. The chairman of the CMC is the Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the PLA, usually the Secretary General of the CPC, and presently President Xi.
Senior PLA officers are invariably members of the CPC. While commanders handle operational and training aspects, Political Commissars are responsible for personal matters, propaganda and indoctrination to establish the Party’s authority over the PLA.
Barely a year after its creation, China jumped into the Korean War in 1950 to take on the United States. Fighting the adversary to a stalemate, the PLA suffered over half a million casualties, including Mao’s son Capt Anying.
In 1962, it defeated the Indian Army in a limited conflict. However, the PLA performed poorly against the Vietnamese Army in 1979. As a sequel to introspection, it went through a sustained restructuring and modernisation process.
In 1993, President Jiang Zemin, upon observing US military power on display in the 1991 Gulf War, directed the PLA to prepare for “local wars under modern conditions”. This paved the way for the initiation of major doctrinal reforms in the Chinese military. In 2004, President Hu Jintao laid down the revised mandate for the PLA: 
“To win local wars under informationised conditions”.

The PLA’s march towards modernisation: plan,

 timelines, goals and strategy


On assuming power as China’s ‘Fifth Generation’ leader in 2012, President Xi laid down his China Dream (Chong Meng): a “powerful and prosperous” PRC that would acquire “great power status by 2049”. In Xi’s vision, military reforms were critical to realise the ‘China Dream’, besides achieving key national objectives, namely: stability – unchallenged authority of the CPC; modernity – sustained economic progress; and sovereignty – integration of claimed territories with the motherland.

The strategic directions for military modernisation have been spelt out in the ‘White Papers on National Defence’. The 2015 White Paper focussed on the strategy of ‘Active Defence’, and that of 2019 delved on ‘Defence in the New Era’.
The timelines laid down to achieve the stated goals are: mechanisation by 2020, basic modernisation including informationisation by 2035, and transformation into a world class military force by the middle of the century.
The main thrust of military reforms has been on revamping systems and structures across the board. At the macro level, the focus was on civil-military integration, jointness, and optimisation.
The CMC is now responsible for policy formulation, controlling all the military assets and higher direction of war through 15 offices and departments. Three additional Headquarters, namely the Ground Forces, Rocket Force, and Strategic Force, were created to ensure centralised control of these assets at the highest level.

The national flag of China. The ongoing reforms in the PLA are aligned with Xi’s grand projects. (Bloomberg Photo)

In the new command structure, the President as the C-in-C exercises direct operational control over the PLA.
The modernisation process of the PLA is doctrine driven: “Winning Local Wars under Informationised Conditions”. While ‘Local Wars’ envision short, swift engagements in pursuit of larger political aims, ‘Informationised Conditions’ refer to the predominance of technology in fighting the war.
The salient facets of China’s ways of war fighting are:
* Adopt a holistic approach to balance ‘war preparation’ and ‘war prevention’.
* Respond to multi-dimensional security threats by concentrating superior forces, ensuring self-dependence.
* Employ integrated combat forces to prevail in system-vs-system operations, featuring information dominance, precision strikes and joint operations.
* Reorientate from ‘theatre’ to ‘trans-theatre operations’, move to ‘off shore waters defence with open sea protection’, transit from territorial air defence to building air space capabilities including outer space, and strengthen strategic deterrence.
* Pursue ‘Grey Zone Conflict’ strategy alongside ‘nibble and negotiate’ tactics.
* Expand military cooperation to establish a regional security network.
At the operational level, the erstwhile 17-odd Army, Air Force, and Naval commands have been organised into five ‘Theatre Commands’ (TCs) – Eastern, Western, Central, Northern, and Southern. While the Eastern TC is responsible for the Taiwan Strait, the Western TC looks after the entire Indian border. Putting all the war fighting resources in each TC under one commander ensures seamless synergy and optimisation.
In addition, 84 corps size formations have been created, which include 13 operational corps and airborne corps, besides dedicated training facilities and logistics installations in each theatre.
While the PLA is reasonably well equipped, it lacks combat experience. To overcome this handicap, it trains under realistic conditions in well-organized combined training facilities. To support capacity building, adequate budgetary support has been provided. The official defence budget for the year 2020 was $179 billion (actual figures being much higher). However, its revenue expenditure is gradually rising due to the huge maintenance cost and provisioning for over 50 million veterans.
After claiming victory over the novel coronavirus in April this year, Xi has gone on the overdrive to consolidate his position at home and to project a strongman image abroad, through aggressive posturing by the PLA around the disputed territories in the South China Sea, and against India in Ladakh. It is part of Xi’s campaign to set the stage for the 20th Party Congress due in 2022, during which there will be areshuffle in the leadership.

PLA’s Western Theatre Command, which has 

been engaging with the Indian Army


PLA’s aggression in Eastern Ladakh during May this year was well planned. Beijing’s strategic aim apparently was to convey a strong message to New Delhi to kowtow to China’s interests, and to desist from building border infrastructure so as to maintain the status quo.
In tactical terms, its twin objectives were to make territorial gains in the contested areas, and to seek to shift the Line of Actual Control (LAC) westward.
These operations have been undertaken by the PLA’s Western Theatre Command (WTC), the most expansive of the five TCs, which has responsibility for Tibet and the restive Xinjiang region. Gen Zhao Zongqi, Commander, and Gen Wu She Zhou, Political Commissar of the WTC, are handpicked for the job.






Both the Commander and the Political Commissar are members of the Central Committee of the CPC. While Zhao is a 1979 Vietnam War veteran who has commanded brigade and corps in this area, Wu is a rising star.
The major formations under the WTC are the South Xinjiang Military Region (SXMR) and the Tibet Military Region (TMR), both of corps size, 76 & 77 Corps; six air force divisions; the rocket force base in Qinghai; and the ‘joint logistics support centre’ at Xining. Its “combined arms tactical training base” (CATTB) is at Xichang-Qingtongxia.
SXMR under Maj Gen Liu Lin, who has considerable experience in the area, undertook the incursions with clear objectives:
* Pangong Tso area: to dominate the Chushul Bowl,
* Galwan Valley: to dominate the Durbuk-DBO road,
* Depsang Plateau: posture to pose a threat to Siachen and enhance security of the Western Highway.
Although the PLA gained an initial advantage, it did not expect the stiff resistance from the Indian Army. Given the PLA’s intent to hold on to the gains, coupled with the current levels of build-up by both sides, and with the military level talks yielding little results, the de-escalation process is in for a long haul.
On the eve of the PLA’s 93rd anniversary on August 1, 2020, Xi, while presiding over the ‘group study session’ of the CPC Central Committee, said: “To develop ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’ and achieve national rejuvenation, efforts to make the country prosperous and making the military strong go hand in hand. Military capabilities must fit the national needs.”
Calling for leapfrogging developments, Xi underscored the implementation of strategic guidelines in the “new era”, including the drawing of a scientific roadmap and cultivating high-calibre military talent.
The ongoing reforms in the PLA are aligned with Xi’s grand projects like the Belt and Road Initiative and the Maritime Silk Route to enlarge China’s global footprint. The impact of the rapid accretion in the war-waging potential of the PLA is already being felt, given its growing aggressive behaviour.

China has ensured that the border issue with India remains unresolved in order to retain the ability to mount tensions on the LAC at will. The current aggression by the PLA in Aksai Chin is part of a grand design with multiple strategic and tactical objectives. The WTC is China’s strategic theatre from the point of internal security, and of working with Pakistan against India.
To effectively cope with the PRC’s repeated misadventures, India needs to reset its China policy to one that is centred on its core interests.
There is need for a realistic articulation of threat assessment, and formulation of long-term strategy to effectively safeguard national sovereignty and integrity. This demands transformational initiatives to restructure apex organisational frameworks to successfully prosecute calibrated responses in the realm of a limited war scenario, through synergised application of war-waging potential.
(The writer is a veteran of the Bangladesh War, and has commanded units/formations in Ladakh-Siachen, Pangong Tso, Kashmir Valley and the Northeast. Has served as Defence Attaché in China, North Korea, and Mongolia, and is currently a teacher of Strategic & International Relations, and Management Studies. A version of this piece appeared in the Chandigarh edition of the paper on August 19, 2020.)










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