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India as a World Power

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(Note:This article mentions the success of the Japanese. It however

fails to mention that an important component of the Japanese' success

is their commitment to their indigenous culture.In other words, Shinto

and Buddhist tradition is still an integral part of Japanese society.

India's inbuilt anti-hindu legal code and the ongoing academic

deconstruction of India's Vedic/Past are a definate obstacles towards

India's progress. Vrndavan Parker)

 

India as a World Power

by Ajay Kamalakaran

(Friday 17 September 2004)

http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/9729/

"The Indian Government will be well served to get its priorities

straight and fix the mess that is known as India. It's economic clout

and not military might that will raise the stature of Indians. The

doctors, engineers and software programmers can't do it by themselves."

 

India's Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will visit the US for the

Annual United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York. The PM

plans to meet George W. Bush, General Pervez Musharraf and Vladimir

Putin among other world leaders. The annual get-together of world

leaders is usually used by Pakistan to bash India on Kashmir and India

returns serve on the rhetoric. If Dr Singh is a great statesman, he'll

ignore the Pakistani rhetoric this year. What former Prime Minister

Atal Behari Vajpayee didn't realise when he stooped to the level of

the general was that the world saw the two South Asians as being on

the same level.

 

The goal of successive governments in India has been to see India as a

global power. In 1998, when India conducted nuclear tests, a minister

claimed that the status of Indians worldwide would improve because

India is a nuclear power. In fact India is obsessed with becoming a

permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. This too,

thinks New Delhi's South Block would improve the status of Indians

worldwide. America and China would never allow India to join the elite

council and even if India did become a member, that wouldn't help the

illegal immigrant from Punjab get a higher status in a foreign country.

 

The Indian Government couldn't be more unenlightened than it is. On

landing in Mumbai (Bombay), a visitor is greeted by the sight of an

ocean of slums. In fact 70% of Bombay's population live in slums. We

are talking about the country's financial capital, not some

insignificant place in poverty-ridden Bihar. The British labelled

Bombay, the Jewel in their Crown and the departure of the British

seems to be the worst thing that has happened to the city. A look at

the British-built city and the Indian-built suburbs is proof enough of

the degradation of Bombay. Even the poorest of countries maintain

their large cities well as these cities are often the image of the

country for short term travellers. A classic case is pre-independence

Bombay's colonial twin, Rangoon, now known as Yangon. The city has

preserved its excellent British and Buddhist heritage and at the same

time, the extensions of the city are almost planned to perfection.

 

Leaving this factor aside, a macro level look at India can be

depressing. The country has at least four hundred million extremely

poor people. The number could be more but India's calculation of the

poverty line differs from global standards. The country is plagued

with a population explosion, religious tension, caste violence,

lawlessness in several regions and secession movements in Kashmir and

the North East. Surely, these aren't the makings of a superpower.

 

Let us observe two countries that were completely destroyed by World

War 2 and the different paths they followed. Russia/Soviet Union

followed the communist ideology, housed all its citizens, got rid of

unemployment but focused more on internal security and became a

military superpower. After the collapse of communism and two major

economic crises later, it's still a member of the United Nations

Security Council and its tremendous energy reserves keep the economy

going. Unfortunately the glaring inequalities in the country are

leading to a pre-1917 atmosphere and a gap is widening between the

`haves' and the `have nots'. So how do the citizens of this power get

treated abroad? The women get treated like prostitutes by the

immigration counters at many international airports and the men like

criminals or mafia men.

 

Japan on the other hand completely focussed on economic development

and ensured that their country and citizens would be the richest in

the world. Japan's rapid economic development has propelled its

citizens to the top of the table. Japanese nationals get more visa on

arrival facilities than any other citizens. This was a country that

was in a much worse state than India in 1947. A country which is not a

permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and definitely

not a nuclear power, a country which has a greater density of

population than India. The Japanese now enjoy the kind of status that

the Government of India wants for its citizens.

 

The Indian Government will be well served to get its priorities

straight and fix the mess that is known as India. It's economic clout

and not military might that will raise the stature of Indians. The

doctors, engineers and software programmers can't do it by themselves.

The onus is on the Indian Government to make India a superpower.