Analysis | Indians told to boycott Chinese goods after Beijing backs Pakistan on Kashmir

Anger is brewing among nationalists who are fanning out across the country to persuade their compatriots to shun products from China

Proponents say Indians must hit Beijing where it hurts, but others are wary of a weak economy and urge campaigners to get real

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Demonstrators shout slogans at a protest in Delhi by Hindu nationalists during a 2016 call for a boycott of Chinese products. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:30pm, 21 Aug 2019Updated: 11:35am, 22 Aug 2019

Days after China backed Pakistan and prodded the United Nations Security Council into an informal discussion on New Delhi’s decision to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy, anger is brewing in India against the Asian dragon.

A campaign is slowly gaining traction that calls for an economic boycott and heavy tariffs against Chinese goods, even as India struggles with a flailing economy and an unprecedented jobs crisis.

The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Hindu nationalist ideological fountainhead of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has launched a campaign across the country asking Indians to shun Chinese products.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), a nationwide group with over 70 million affiliated businesspeople, has joined in. The group wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to raise import duties to 500 per cent. All this has been backed by a vicious social media campaign.

The sentiment is that China, the economic Goliath, must be punished, and the answer is to hit Beijing where it hurts.

Similar calls for a boycott were seen in 2016. Photo: AFP

Such ideas are far from new. In February, after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Indian paramilitary personnel, killing more than 40, there were similar calls for a boycott. The reasoning then was that China’s economic might was helping Pakistan fund militants targeting India.