Friends, South asia is much in news, with Pakistan at its epicenter. Sri Lanka fighting against LTTE , one of the most sophisticated organization in the world. India; fighting its own callous attitude. And I don’t mean, shabby intelligence coordination or soft government. I mean Indians themselves.
Nepal; just out of a "revolution". Bangladesh, fighting tooth and nail against poverty; economic poverty but not poverty of ideas, which its sub-continental sisters share.
Lets take Pakistan. The Pakistanis, great people but victim of enforced non education and a greedy poitical class.Omnipresent military, using Kashmir & India to continue to divert attention from the economic and social poverty , which Pakistanis never deserved. No one in that "pak" ( pure) land with balanced mind wants war. They want peace, without India, without their military, without the US presence.
Nepal, again the same political bickering, political class struggling to take charge.SriLanka may have finally awakened, but will the war bring a final peace? Will some Indians try to wrest control from the legal government there? Hard to say.
Bangladesh, same story. Yet some people like Muhammad Yunus working with richness of ideas and creating socio-economic well being. But will the larger populace support such initiative and the government. Will they hold the government accountable?
India is a contrast. It build satellites at 1/3 the cost of western countries, but more sophisticated. On the other hand, some 10 men storm their sea front ; the Indian government flexing muscles in G-20 & G-12 & G-X, whimpering. But at the core of all this, the Indians themselves are responsible.. Yes, it’s a true democracy. Despite the hard wired corruption, governments fall through votes. Yet Indians forget their drama, in the cushions of cricket or another "C”. Callousness. Each voter is the deciding factor, but no one realizes the power. So what happens, a few crooks rule the governments? So after the few hurrahs, they sit back behind the Tvs, increasing the weight and life style diseases (specially middle class) and wait for the government to react and fail. Then they blame! Just blame anyone they can lay their hands on.
The middle class. Defined by the corporate as the biggest, rising, consumer class in the world. Wow! Can they choose products, when they can’t even choose their own lives?
The poverty of any type has entrenched in this sub-continent. But the biggest poverty is of courage; of leadership; of ideas. Anyone ! Anyone, taking notice! Its not by chance that this region is the most improvised regions of the world, with richest natural resources, the earth can provide.Masticate on the thought, hard to digest.
Love Pranay
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