|
|
|
In light of the recently concluded SAARC meet, and of our PM’s concerns regarding the insecurity that is clouding the Indian sub-continent: South Asia is a highly volatile and unstable place indeed!
Let’s start somewhere, with our favourite Pakistan. What better example can there be for a Banana Republic? The country is run by a dictator who has not only been fooling the Pakistanis but the entire world with promises to return to democracy.
Moreover, even the 9/11 Report has come out openly condemning Pakistan for condoning terrorist activities in Kashmir – that’s one big plus for the Indian Govt. whose desperate pleas fall on deaf ears. Pakistan is run by a dictator, supports terrorists, teaches hatred as part of school curriculum etc.
Coming a few thousand miles across to former East Pakistan or Bangladesh – though the distance is indeed great, the picture is quite similar. A very large Muslim country that is struggling to remain democratic. A porous border with India, akin to Mexico vis-a-vis the USA. Poverty and a poor human rights record. Oh, and I don’t understand if they want more or less water, in other words, more or less floods.
Going slightly North, the only Hindu kingdom Nepal. Here the king himself is the dictator! Most of the country want democracy, but not the king. There’s all the ensuing protests, arrests, human rights violations etc. And a worsening poverty. Then there is the Maoist insurgency that kills innocent people with alarming regularity and abduct hundreds of school children with greater regularity for indoctrination. The country is virtually strife-torn.
Eastwards, we have Myanmar – decades of rule by the army. Suu Kyi’s struggle for democracy is romantic, but only that. Poverty has forced the army to chop down all their virgin forests and sell the wood to towering China.
Down South, Sri Lanka hangs in there. Again, a country divided in two for decades. Regular loss of civilian lives, an uneasy Buddhist majority, a vocal Tamil minority, and growing Buddhist-Christian tensions. A split in LTTE has confused the peace process.
Coming home to India – a very stable, though immature democracy. The Kashmir problem which is threatening enough to evolve into a nuclear war. The Northeast in flames with the rest of India conveniently amnesiac about it. About 50% of all of her districts plagued by Maoist terror that strikes innocent lives now and again. A struggle for global recognition and faster growth, but a poor and rural population that is a country in its own might!
There you go, the Indian sub-continent is diseased – there is terror, strife, poverty, instability and a fearful volatility. But does anybody care about security?
What do you think of the situation? Do you care?
You might also like:
Aham: I am – Hinduism
