As Chinese Communist Party turns 100, dissecting the congratulatory messages of its Indian admirers
How do they see the Chinese party – and their own country? The Communist Party of India (Marxist) symbol on a wall in Kolkata. | Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters
The news that the Communist Party of China is celebrating its centenary sparked two memories. The first was of a conversation with a “lapsed” communist. It was in the late ’80s and he was a member of an organisation that called itself the “purest communist party”, at least in India.
While attending the meeting of one its state committees in Bangalore, a report about an incident from the student protests in Beijing came up for discussion. Someone had thrown paint on a portrait of Chairman Mao on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. In response to the news, a senior leader of the party on stage suddenly burst out in anger and gave his judgment: the culprits should be hanged.