Govinda Acharya
(After returning from China)
32 years have passed since Mao-tse-tung died, but for the Chinese people he lives their memories. The Chinese people honour Mao not only as a great liberator but also as maker of fortune for China and the Chinese people.
Last month, four Nepalese journalists including me went to a beautiful town in Linchi, in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The local farmers greeted us and took us to the local Communist party office. We discussed with the party representatives, including the Chatang community Chair Nima.
After the discussion, we learnt about a community set-up in a town where 52 families (of 206 people) had constructed a commune. Their lives drastically changed after the commune was set up. We visited the commune and saw nearly every house: Every family had a well-made house and enough food to eat. Every house has TV, a computer, a fridge, a washing machine, a car or motorcycle, and telephone etc. All of them had mobile phones. They had modern tools for farming and vehicles to transport milk and vegetables to the market. The farmers even had part time jobs in the town and city. The children went to a good school and there were education faculties for the elderly.
We asked some older members of the community what it was like 10 years ago. They said: “It’s hard to compare the present situation with the situation we had 10 years ago. We didn’t even have enough food to eat, no electricity, no school. We lived in very miserable conditions.” The farmers of the Chatang community could not have imagined that their life would change in a short span of time.
In the community, we saw big portraits of Mao Zedong, the first leader of the Peoples Republic of China, in their common rooms. We wanted to know what they thought about Mao. We asked Nima why the people hang his portrait in their houses. He told us that Chairman Mao was one of the greatest leaders of the world.
“He was our liberator. Had Mao not been born in China, then there would have been no communist state established in China. Because Mao accomplished the revolution, modern China was established and life of poor farmers like us changed a lot.” Nima also added that Deng Xiaoping continued the transformation after Mao’s death.
Nima also told us about the management system of the community. He said that eight sub-committees are formed to manage the community; the community party unit, the village association, the women wing, the youth league, the defence committee, the volunteer committee and the environmental protection committee. The representatives of the Communist party unit, women’s wing, youth and village associations are elected among the members of the community, whereas the remaining are nominated by the elected committee. Women’s participation is more or less equal to the men.
The government of China allocates a certain budget to the community office. Education, health, and drinking water are guaranteed fundamental rights, and the responsibility of the government. Nima told us that the Chinese government has guaranteed the people food and shelter. He said the community set-up changed their lives and brought big changes. He thinks that the future of Chinese people is bright because of the pro-people policies of Communist Party of China.