Twenty soldiers were killed at the Line of Actual Control on Monday night after Indian and Chinese troops faced off in a violent clash in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. Two days after the news shook India, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale feels, enough is enough. The Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment has called for a boycott of Chinese food to protest against the dastardly aggression by China.
“China is a deceitful country. India should boycott all Chinese goods. Chinese food and Chinese food hotels should be closed in India!” the minister said in a tweet.
चीन धोका देनेवाला देश है.भारत मे चीन के सभी वस्तुओंका बहिष्कार करना चाहीये.चायनीज फूड और चायनीज फूड के हॉटेल भारत मे बंद करने चाहीये ! pic.twitter.com/ovL2sOLUo4
— Dr.Ramdas Athawale (@RamdasAthawale) June 17, 2020
But this sentiment is not shared by the Union Minister alone. Over the past two days, a call to boycott Chinese goods has taken over social media. Hashtags like #BoycottChina, #BharatvsChina, #HindiChiniByeBye and #BoycottChineseProducts have dominated the trend lists on Twitter. Most tweets and Facebook statuses echoed the same message: Only a boycott of goods made by China can be a true tribute and a real answer to China's aggression at the border.
A video went viral on Twitter on Wednesday of a man in Gujarat's Surat throwing a 'television' (the word is in quotes since there is a debate on whether the television was fake or real) off his balcony which later met a group of stomping men that reduced it to a plastic sheet and a what looked like thermocol.
सूरत :
— Janak Dave (@dave_janak) June 17, 2020
चाइनीज टीवी को तोड़कर लोगो ने किया विरोध।
चीनी चीजे इस्तेमाल नही करने की लोगो से की गई अपील।#BoycottChineseProducts pic.twitter.com/FBgY6wya11
Many elaborate WhatsApp forwards are also doing the rounds, and a helpful citizen has also listed out all the companies that are Chinese for an 'easy' boycott.
“China is earning crores of money per day by above Apps. You should uninstall these Apps as soon as possible from your mobile & ask 10 friends and further their friends to do the same. Shall we start this task from today ? Forward this msg to all your contacts list & in Groups. This challenge makes sense in current situation. Accept the Challenge!. #Boycott China” the message read.
Even the Department of Telecom (DoT) is likely to ask the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) not to use Chinese telecom gear in its 4G upgradation, which is being supported as part of the company's revival package, PTI reported, quoting sources.
The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) issued an open letter to Indian celebrities asking them to stop endorsing Chinese products and also to join the campaign of CAIT to “boycott Chinese products under its flagship national movement ‘Bhartiya Saaman - Hamara Abhiman.”
RSS-affiliated Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) has also written to the Centre to bar Chinese companies from participating in tenders floated by the government and exhorted the people to boycott Chinese products as a tribute to the Army soldiers in Galwan Valley.
Anti-China protests were also held in several cities across India, including Ahmedabad, Jammu, Gorakhpur, etc. Bajrang Dal took to the streets in Bengaluru to break open toys presumably made in China. In Thiruvananthapuram, a right-wing outfit lit the flag of China on fire to protest against China.
Activists of right-winged Bajrang Dal breaking a ‘made in China’ toy car while demanding a ban on Chinese products in Indiapic.twitter.com/dYe16tKvkj
— Uzair Hasan Rizvi (@RizviUzair) June 17, 2020
Several Indians, including Hindi television actor Karanvir Bohra, called upon citizens to delete the Chinese video sharing application TikTok from their phones.
I know I can't do much sitting in my house, but pray and send blessings....My heart goes out to the jawans who gave up their life in the #ChinaIndiaFaceoff
— Karanvir Bohra (@KVBohra) June 16, 2020
First thing first.... I'm done with @TikTok_IN I'm pressing #deletetiktok right now ... pic.twitter.com/T2mAjiFBxp
"Let's prove our patriotism by boycotting China goods. China is increasing its military strength through foreign exchange from selling its products to us. Encouraging Nepal to provoke us and giving moral support to Pakistan. Let's burn all made in China products from toys to smartphones openly. This is the true tribute to the martyrs," is what a widely shared WhatsApp message says in Telugu.
A screenshot of a letter purportedly written by a Gujarat resident Mayurdhwajsinh B Zala to MG-Jai Ganesh Autocars Pvt. Ltd in Rajkot is also going viral. The letter states that he wishes to cancel the booking a car from their showroom in July 2019 and that his advance payment of Rs 51,000 be returned to him.
“I do not wish to buy this car anymore for the reason that MG Hector India is a subsidiary of Chinese SIAC (Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation) Motor Corporation Ltd. It shall be noted that SAIC Motor is a Chinese State owned company and thus I do not want to do any business or use any products belonging directly or indirectly to the Chinese State and Chinese Communist Party!” the now viral-letter reads.
A very indignant video in Kannada was also shared on WhatsApp, with a call to boycott Chinese goods, stating that citizens now have an ‘opportunity to defeat the Chinese Army” since “apps like TikTok and UC Browser gives them thousands of crores of rupees” and the “death of the soldiers has become our own fault.”
“YOU WILL BE RESPONSIBLE,” read another WhatsApp message, which said that it was the responsibility as an Indian to boycott Chinese goods.
