Editorial:-
It is twenty-five years to the day since news broadcasts on 03 June, 1989, were filled with images of tanks, blood and death on the streets of Beijing. As night fell on 03 June, 40,000 soldiers of the 27th Peoples Liberation Army moved into Tiananmen Square with orders to crush the six week old demonstrations and protests by China’s students and workers, and snuff out their demands for political change. In the preceding weeks, China, and Beijing in particular, had witnessed extraordinary events. A student occupation of Tiananmen Square became the focus for a rising working class movement. From 20 May onwards, the movement continued in defiance of martial law and the Chinese government was divided and paralysed. Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese premier at the time, opposed use of military force against the student protestors and advised dialogue. He was ignored. The administrative paralysis in China was short-lived. Accounts by witnesses testify to the calculated terror unleashed by the Chinese military as it reclaimed the Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen cannot be dismissed as a freak incident. It was the culmination of a decade of simmering discontent which exploded in the hands of students and workers. Countless were killed in the crackdown, some 40,000 arrested and dozens later sentenced to public executions. The uprising was quelled, but Tiananmen continues to inspire movements across the world. Who can forget that compelling image of the heroic Power of One – that lone man blocking a PLA armoured car. The unanimity with which a generation came together in an oppressive China is a remarkable tribute to the courage and commitment of the young. Remember, this was in the days before internet or mobile phones and in an environment which had no precedence of such strong expressions. It was historic moment because similar public displays even in more free societies came only two decades later – in our neighbourhood some years ago in Nepal, more recently in Bangladesh, across the country with the IAC rallying and of course also the whole Arab Spring experience. The Tiananmen movement might have failed in achieving its demands and the few who escaped abroad, most activists were arrested, sentenced, and repeatedly interrogated; but what the event succeeded in proving was that authority can be challenged and held to account. And that has to be lesson that every child learns and celebrates on this day. Tiananmen was about courage and conviction. Since it was spearheaded by the young, it is something that every youth, everywhere in the world should learn and take inspiration from. The Tiananmen episode is not just about taking on the establishment [that was just the medium of expression]; it is about harbouring convictions so strong that no adversary appears invincible.
It is twenty-five years to the day since news broadcasts on 03 June, 1989, were filled with images of tanks, blood and death on the streets of Beijing. As night fell on 03 June, 40,000 soldiers of the 27th Peoples Liberation Army moved into Tiananmen Square with orders to crush the six week old demonstrations and protests by China’s students and workers, and snuff out their demands for political change. In the preceding weeks, China, and Beijing in particular, had witnessed extraordinary events. A student occupation of Tiananmen Square became the focus for a rising working class movement. From 20 May onwards, the movement continued in defiance of martial law and the Chinese government was divided and paralysed. Zhao Ziyang, the Chinese premier at the time, opposed use of military force against the student protestors and advised dialogue. He was ignored. The administrative paralysis in China was short-lived. Accounts by witnesses testify to the calculated terror unleashed by the Chinese military as it reclaimed the Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen cannot be dismissed as a freak incident. It was the culmination of a decade of simmering discontent which exploded in the hands of students and workers. Countless were killed in the crackdown, some 40,000 arrested and dozens later sentenced to public executions. The uprising was quelled, but Tiananmen continues to inspire movements across the world. Who can forget that compelling image of the heroic Power of One – that lone man blocking a PLA armoured car. The unanimity with which a generation came together in an oppressive China is a remarkable tribute to the courage and commitment of the young. Remember, this was in the days before internet or mobile phones and in an environment which had no precedence of such strong expressions. It was historic moment because similar public displays even in more free societies came only two decades later – in our neighbourhood some years ago in Nepal, more recently in Bangladesh, across the country with the IAC rallying and of course also the whole Arab Spring experience. The Tiananmen movement might have failed in achieving its demands and the few who escaped abroad, most activists were arrested, sentenced, and repeatedly interrogated; but what the event succeeded in proving was that authority can be challenged and held to account. And that has to be lesson that every child learns and celebrates on this day. Tiananmen was about courage and conviction. Since it was spearheaded by the young, it is something that every youth, everywhere in the world should learn and take inspiration from. The Tiananmen episode is not just about taking on the establishment [that was just the medium of expression]; it is about harbouring convictions so strong that no adversary appears invincible.
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