The Order in Chaos … that is India !!

I must admit, I have been a bit out of touch from posting on my blog due to certain other commitments in life, feeling a bit rusty so forgive the lazy writing to follow.

India the world's largest democracy, one the world's oldest civilization and second largest populous nation with a huge youth population does look forward to a very great and vibrant future. But many historians, economists and many citizens see it as a chronic under-performer and condemn it as though it is close to a failed state. Let us look at a few common criticisms India has faced in the past 60 odd years of independence.

Extended Socialism Tryst and Anti Business Attitude

To be honest, India had the scars of being victim of imperialism and being taken over by a very large corporation , remember The East India Company, all our leaders were in jail and faced oppression from the British Raj, so there was strong urge to break free from all Western. It was more a misdirected anger towards all things Western and capitalists who exploited India as a colony.

So I would say India behaved like an angry emotional adolescent who did not want to talked down anymore and wants to break from the past completely. A case of throwing the baby out with the water.

The Pro Russia Stance and Non Allied Movement setbacks

It is a fact, India still does not enjoy the best of relations of US in spite of being a democracy, the US with its regional interests still views Pakistan as a key ally and does not want to provoke China. In the 70's during Bangladesh war, the Americans were pro Pakistanis.

India was like Karan from Mahabharata, when faced isolation in the South Asia with the twin threats of Pakistan and China with US taking the opposite side, India chose to side with the Russians. India which had strong socialist leanings naturally sided with the Russians who eventually went on to lose the Cold War.

Caste based Reservations and politics

The only issue which is very close to my heart, that merit does not get its due in this nation due to a large proportion of reservations in college/government. In this case, I have two points of views to be objective, the scheduled castes and tribes did suffer extreme atrocities in the past. They needed some economic benefits to find their feet. The Congress party which had the mandate from the people from 1947 to 1977 – 30 years could not give a coherent solution to the masses. The 1975 Emergency was the last straw for the people of India and Congress party lost its first Lok Sabha elections. In 1978, the Mandal Commission was set up by the Janta Party Govt. which paved the way for wide spread reservations and the rise of the caste based parties.

My conclusion, I agree Caste based politics is detrimental to the nation, but it was the mistake of founding fathers of Independent India that they could not address this issue in the first 3 decades and finally it became an emotive issue for exploitation. The funny part is there are poor people in the villages who face the Maoists and rich people driving in cars who have a OBC certificate who keep get the benefits of the reservation schemes. It is flawed but even nations like the US have suffered from apartheid, India is not unique in its problems.

Conclusion

India has its flaws, but the fact is India is a vibrant economy which gives people the right choose its government, you have a free press which reports events as it happens, not like our neighbouring China which is ruled with an iron glove with extreme censorship, The crack down on Tiebetans and now against the Muslim Uyghurs is one such example. The world is silent about these events but I am happier India has made slower progress than China, at least we have an open free society. India is finally on the way to realize its dreams with an economy which is robust and has great potential. Indian entrepreneurs, Tatas, Ambanis, Mittals ( Sunil and Laxmi), Premji and Murthy taking India to center stage.

I would like to end with two points, US got its independence in 1776 and is 233 year old democracy and the UK gave women the right to vote only in the year 1928 after long and bitter struggle for equal rights. India despite a large illiterate population and a large diversity in religion, language barriers and regional aspirations has remarkably succeeded as a democracy.

There have been blemishes on occasions but I think for a 62 year nation it has done pretty well considering the constraints and the environment. Let us consider the first 50 years like birth pangs and adolescence phase during which our nation learned the ropes. The new India is mature and raring to go. India was founded on a noble ideas freedom, social justice and religious tolerance.

Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come !! That Idea is India. There is a method to this madness and an inherent order in this chaos.