Today marks 50 years since the capture of Saigon by the north Vietnamese army and the end of the protracted Vietnam war and resulting in a unified Vietnam. The Vietnam war was perhaps the bloodiest of all post World War II conflicts. It highlighted the ugly face of both colonialism and the Cold War. France’s reluctance to give up its former colony even after the Second World War and the allied support to it through a decade of war and arbitrary division of the country reeked of the imperialist tendencies of the West. The Cold War again a standoff for global hegemony cast its shadow and both halves were divided between the two poles. The war exposed the west’s hypocrisy of human rights and liberal values. The false smoke screen of the gulf of Tonkin incident to declare war, carpet bombing the entire country, and its neighbours as well, use of chemical warfare napalm and agent orange became household names all tore the civilized masks off. The Khmer Rouge sprung up in Cambodia as a side effect and killed 2 million people there. Shedding the last shreds of liberal claims West continued to recognize it when Vietnam deposed it and ended the genocide. The war also reaffirmed the power of people and their love for independence. Even after paying with 3 million lives, they drove out the humongous war machine with only their quest for freedom. American might was exposed and its own people refused to support the war crazy imperialist regime. The summer of 68 became a mass uprising of the students and working classes for peace, perhaps the last such movement for peace in the world. “I am Vietminh “ became the slogan of all progressive movements and global solidarity. That Vietnam has rebuilt itself from such destruction is also a testimony of national resolve and people’s will for peace.
