It was nice to see Mr. Nawaz
Sharief attend the swearing-in
ceremony of Shri Narender
Modi though after some confusion
regarding his posture about his ability to do so.The world has changed and
things have moved on and so should the orientations of Countries and societies.
I read in the papers a statement by Mariam the daughter of Mr. Nawaz
Sharif Why cant we Live like
United Europe instead of being like North Korea and South Korea ? What a pertinent statement from a good thinking individual. Our Prime Minister Mr. Narender Modi also deserves praise for inviting his
counterpart of Pakistan.
I have been listening to many lectures from various individuals both from
our country and from across the border and also at one instance some discussion
about India by some school students in
Pakistan. I find very few speaking
about India with a sense of animus. The
basic orientation is largely positive. India and Pakistan
show a behavior consistent with the behavior of Europe in the early
1900’s. Governments at loggerheads and
people aspiring for co-operative existence.
What can we learn from United Europe?
many things……they have put behind the agonies of the World wars..the World wars
had their commencement due to poor Economic conditions in main-land Europe and
the common man failing to understand the causes. Economic depravation in the past had a hand in the origin of wars.
They have unified themselves.USA is an example of United Europe and
co-existence- but in an altogether different Continent. Businesses of Europe
now must on a path of upswing largely owing to such co-operations. Airbus
Industrie of France may not have made the A 380 had it not been for co-operation
from other European partners. Through co-operation Europe is developing its
economy and the effects of its
development would have positive influence on even its Asian and African neighbours and would make the Economies of these countries more self
reliant owing to investments from near-by. Europe is not very far from
India…You only need to travel possibly some 5000 kms…there is an altogether a
positive situation emerging in Europe which would change World equations.
Look at the partition of India into West Pakistan and East Pakistan…an
event uprising from the culmination of the Second World
War. A deal that had to hurriedly accepted if the fruits of decades long struggle were to
bear any fruit. It was a game situation
of marginal advantage for some and face saving on the other hand. Had the
formula of partition not been accepted things would have prolonged through
uncertainty and the constituents thought
it wise to take the spoils and put any other issue for future
consideration and alteration. A hurriedly accepted solution for a prolonged
struggle for independence. It left some loose ends and
suffering to the populace from which this zone has to some extent reconciled.
Who is responsible for Partition
? Some say it is the religious groups involved..Had it been purely religion
there is something amiss as seen from the events decades after Partition..the repartition of Pakistan
itself into which India was forcibly drawn. Religious fervosity should have
kept them together but over the years they parted primarily and possibly
because they could not co-exist notwithstanding the factor of religion. Then
who is responsible for Partition ? It appears to me the British itself. The
Second World War to my opinion left the British Economically famished their
efforts targeted at preventing the Germans from crossing the English Channel. War with Germany was on a much higher
professional scale and lasted for too long…largely crippling the various Global
supply chains. Study the policies of the British since time immemorial it
always smacked of Injustice and selfishness and also marked by atrocities. They
simply wanted no opposition an d treated with an iron hand any one who did
so..with due respect to them and their skills as a community. They indulged
themselves in such extreme acts time and again in various parts of the world.
Can any one reconcile with the ”Doctrine of lapse” promulgated in India. It is not that any single British has
to be blamed their administrative machinery worked that way. They got into
trouble with the Americans owing to such policies
resulting in warfare. A wantonly unjust treatment of any given situation
largely to their advantage and gross disadvantage to the other side..It had to
be accepted or bare the consequences. Had it not been for the Economic
circumstances prevailing post second world war India would have never become
free..The British found it grossly difficult to support a large empire with the
remnants of the war and thought if fitting to hand over the reins to local
Governments and letting them do what they wished but had their own reservations
about handing over such a unified territory into a single hand…Cut it into as
many possible pieces and hand it over and leave for a posterity an environment
of mistrust and conflict. Had the formula of Partition not been hurriedly
accepted this zone could have been severed
even further.
Look at what happened in India post Independence. A Government machinery that went in full swing
to support an economy bequeathed by the British. I have no inkling how Pakistan
handled its independence. On the Indian side there were think-tanks and highly
committed individuals who put the pangs of partition behind and built a
professional and scientific network. The British administration put the larger
portions of the country un-developed but left many isolated pockets highly
sophisticated..the cities from where-in their administration ran. The leaders
of this country post partition looked at some of these cities to set up the
framework from which the new country would find its
footing…Madras…Bangalore…Bombay..Delhi..Kolkata…Ooty..just to name a few. They
created five year plans..built dams..built Industrial institutions..built Educational Institutions..and into these
cities poured a first generation Indian populace seeking glory for their self
and family the after effects of which govern the progress of the country even
today. Foundations were laid without doubt for a modern technological country
which believed in secular ideals which was slow to show results initially but
with other global changes catapulted the country into a spin of Economic
optimism.
The next question is What would happen to Pakistani and Indian
economies of the future? The turning point of the Indian economy came post globalization and India as a country rode the
upswing much better than the more established economies of these times.
Globalized era in India started and thrived as a result of the growth of the
Internet and mobile telephony preceded by the expansion of our Television
networks. Indian Economy owes to technology a great deal and also to its
leaders like Nehru and Menon who who built scientific foundations for the country.
Mobile telephony integrated India and Internet integrated India with the rest
of the World..two lethal events unexpected and lacking in precedence. The rest
is history and an unpredictable future which would be largely constructive and
positive. The foundations of various kinds laid in India catapulted India into
a higher orbit of World reckoning. Pakistan on the other side missed the
Technological revolution and could not put to purposeful economic advantage the
upsurge of Technology, and India by default increasingly would become a
destination for foreign investments.
Pakistan had an ally during the
cold war era..the United states. The US administration of these times badly
wanted the companionship of Pakistan to keep a check on Soviet movements in this part of the world..The end
of the Cold war saw the diminishing significance of Pakistan in Military terms
for the United States and with that a possible tightening of the belt in terms
of financial support…Pakistan turns to a supposedly foe of India ..China but of not much use. Language barrier with
the Chinese and other fundamental differences would mean difficulty in
sustaining long term goals. Pakistan would badly need an economic companion to
hand-hold it into the modern era a force secondary to any other considerations. Just take a case of a lad
growing up in a Pakistani city and a lad growing up in an Indian city and
compare the possible avenues for higher education. The opportunities for the
Indian lad outweigh to a large number the opportunity on the other side. This a
gross disadvantage with time will create an imbalance which would translate
into economic arithmetic and with time would create a crisis in the other
country.
Should Pakistan and India co-operate? The English speaking elite of
these two countries will not have a problem. The problem would be from other
sectors of the populace. But sooner
there is a platform for constructive co-operation the better it would be..a
co-operation that puts the economy foremost to all other disputes and problems.
What the British did must be undone sooner the better at least on the Economic
front. As a first step education could be liberalized - a free movement of
people across these zones for the purpose of knowledge and education; may be an
Indo-Pak common university could be created where students from both the sides
could educate themselves under a common platform. Understanding and
Re-understanding of issues will help put many issues in the perspective. If a
physical University is difficult to create to start with, a web based
university with a conference session twice a year held in cities from both
countries. This would be a welcome step as from this university would emerge
next generation leaders in this part of the world who would shape the
well-being of this continent and the well-being of Asia at large.
Mariam the daughter of Nawaz
Sharief is right…may be India and Pakistan would work like United Europe as
against North and South Korea and seeing us the Koreans might follow suit.
