HVK Archives: A 'civilising' influence - Virtues of instability in India
A 'civilising' influence - Virtues of instability in India - The Times of India
M D Nalapat
()
30 July 1997
Title: A 'civilising' influence - Virtues of instability in India
Author: M D Nalapat
Publication: The Times of India
Date: July 30, 1997
When South Asia experts from the "civilised" worn visit India, there is
much tut-tutting about the xenophobic proclivities of the growing tribe of
Indian "hawks" (i.e. those who analyse issues from an Indian perspective).
Unless a "native" goes on and on about what a rotten country this is, and
agrees that the "civilised" perspective is the only correct one, she or he
is accused of succumbing to brainwashing by local "nationalists", by
definition a swear word.
US Fear
Except, of course, in the "civilised world" itself. The same US scholars
who shudder at the new Indian pride in an ancient country go back to sing
praises of the wonder that is the US or the British contribution to the
making of modern-day Hung Kong. Pride in the Falklands war victory, or the
massacre of an Iraqi army wilfully paralysed by its hatred for the dictator
Saddam Hussein, is all right. Remembering the 1971 war is not, though
"celebrating" the 1972 Simla giveaway as a diplomatic feat is.
Hard though it may be to believe, there actually are a few people of
dubious repute or criminal bent of mind even in the United States and
Britain. However, these are shown as what they are, the exception rather
than the rule. For India,-the perceptions are different. For example,
after the Hazratbal incident, the BBC interviewed a Pakistani scholar at
Oxford for Islamabad's viewpoint. As a client, Pakistan deserved such
representation. The "Indian" viewpoint was expressed by a taxi driver from
Southall, who was expectedly rabid, and made even more so by an
unfavourable camera angle. Both got equal time, and the perception of India
as the regional bully was further reinforced. As for CNN, its portrayal of
India as a country of eccentrics is so crude as to be obvious. This is of
piece with portraying only rapists and junkies as representing the people
of the US or the UK.
These days, thanks to the presence of "civilised" cable television, and to
its depictions of the "reality" that is India as purveyed through the
vision of those who find it difficult to forgive those here for not
accepting the former as always right, more and more people are beginning to
understand the extent of the wilful distortion, simply by comparing this
picture with the reality of their own lives. As a result, the tribe of
"hawks" is growing. However, while we may be in the process of casting off
our "civilised" blinkers, there still exists a group that holds us in
mental bondage. This is the Nehruvian "big is beautiful" political class.
According to Nehruspeak, the country can progress only if a single (sole
proprietor) party gets a substantial majority on its own. This party can
then continue to administer the thicket of regressive laws that came into
effect since the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni.
After the Chidambaram budget, one expected Prime Minister I K, Gujral to
follow through on his promise to dismantle the numerous "laws" that assume
Indians to be either inveterate criminals or unproductive morons. One can
only hope that Mr Gujral will take time off from his pursuit of foreign
affairs to focus on the real vote-getter - domestic policy. Were he to do
so, he may realise that the very factor that he is not concerned about,
"instability", may, in fact, be a blessing. It may be a factor that helps
devolve autonomy to the level of the individual, or the enterprise, which
is where most of it belongs.
Nehru Family
Reading the history books written by our "colonised scholars", one may be
forgiven for losing sight of the fact that India's share in total world
output and in foreign trade has gone down sharply in the four decades of
rule by the family to whom Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi entrusted the future
of India. After reading their accounts, one may be forgiven for not
realising that most of Asia has been much more successful in reducing
illiteracy and in promoting the quality of life than India. Till 1989, for
the entire period except 1969-71 and 1977-79, the country was run by a
majority government headed by a member of the Nehru family. However, it
was during the period when she was in a minority in Parliament (1969-71)
that Indira Gandhi was the most active in her social and economic
programmes, of course, aimed at further strangling Indians' autonomy.
Again, it was during the period when his government had not yet crafted a
majority in the Lok Sabha (1991-93) that Narasimha Rao actually got active
dismantling the Mughal-British-Nehru constructs. Once he got his majority,
his government went off to sleep and woke up only after the 1996 defeat.
Subsequently, the ten months of the minority Deve Gowda regime saw a much
greater effort at decision-making than was visible under more stable"
ministries.
Taking the example of the state governments, neither the Jayalalitha regime
in Tamil Nadu nor its successor have done much for the people who voted
them into office with overwhelming majorities. As for the CPM in Bengal,
while it may have mastered the art of casting votes, especially in the
rural areas, the state has fallen behind other less "stable" ones like
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh or Gujarat. Indeed, the present political class
in India - which still seems to be suffering from the hangover of the
imperial past - needs the tonic of insecurity to perform effectively.
Hopefully, this will soon apply to the Gujral government which appears to
be waiting for some auspicious sign from the heavens before fulfilling its
promise of framing and implementing bold measures not just in Dhaka or
Kathmandu but also in New Delhi.
Sense of Confidence
Mr Gujral needs to stop worrying about how early or how late he will have
to move into full retirement. No one, not even Mr Sitaram Kesri, can
answer that question. Rather, he should take each month as it comes and
aggressively formulate policy packages designed to encourage Indian
initiative. Those political parties whose donations come from corrupt
officials may make noises against such measures, but they are unlikely to
risk disaster by voting against them. Should there be an election this
year, two states where the CPM can be expected to do much worse than last
time are Kerala and West Bengal. In both places, the local Congress units
have escaped from the Narasimha Rao strategy of sacrificing the interests
of the Congress to keep other parties happy. Such initiatives in public
empowerment can create a political mood of change that may protect the
Gujral government much more effectively than endless dinner parties can.
Along with internal liberalisation, that will give Indian voters and
enterprises the freedom enjoyed by their US or EU counterparts, Mr Gujral
needs to instil a sense of confidence in India's capabilities by speeding
up the development of missile and warhead programmes, and positioning this
country as a supplier of defence hardware and technologies to its friends
in the region, such as South Africa, Singapore and Oman. An "eggshell"
concept, with a hard "shell" for security problems and a soft "yolk" for
domestic policy, is what the people ask for. Should they get it, the
Prime Minister will be able to resist the moves to put him out to pasture.
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