‘I thought the nation was coming to an end,’ wrote Khushwant-Singh, looking back on the violence of Partition that he witnessed over half a century ago. He believed then, and for years afterwards, that he had seen the worst that India could do to herself. Over the last few years, however, he has had reason to feel that the worst, perhaps, is still to come. In this fierce, uncompromising book, he shows us what few of us wish to see: why it is entirely likely that India will come undone in the foreseeable future.
Analysing the communal violence in Gujarat in 2002, the burning of Graham Staines and his children, the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, and targeted killings by terrorists in different parts of the country, Khushwant Singh forces us to confront the extreme corruption of religion that has made us [Indians] among the most brutal people on earth. We [Indians] have always been too easily tolerant of extremist ideologies, but the rise of religious fundamentalism among the Hindus threatens our democracy and everything else that we take for granted. With sections of the ruling coalition openly supporting the divisive and retrograde agenda of the fundamentalists, it is the very idea of India that is at stake. ‘Unless a miracle saves us,’ Khushwant Singh writes, ‘the country will break up. It will not be Pakistan or any other foreign power that will destroy us; we will commit hara-kiri.’
A brave and passionate book, The End of India is a wake-up call for every Indian citizen concerned about his or her own future, if not the nation’s. For the rest of us this book reveals a darker side of the ‘world’s biggest democracy’.
One perhaps could say the same thing about many Muslim countries. Take most Arab countries - since when do they even have “democracy” to begin with. What about religious fundamentalism in countries like Saudi Arabia. To ME, the article seems to be bordering on exaggeration simply to validate his point.
oh, by the way, i would greatly appreciate your response to me in this thread. Muchas gracias in advance.
you are missing one very important point here i.e india as world’s biggest democracy. everyone knows that ME does not have democracy and frankly speaking, this article is not about democracy in ME or africa or whatever. article is about india and its problems.
and yes i’ll definitely respond to your post in that thread.
I think it is over-dramatising the situation. There is definitely a problem with religious fundamentalism at the moment, otherwise you wouldn't have an elected government headed by nutcases. But I think long term if India makes economic and intellectual progress these elements will diminish.
^ Right on! The only hope is to keep chugging away at economic reform and hope the lunatic fringe gets sidelined. Law and order will perforce improve as foreign invenstment grows, and affluence grows, so that safety of property becomes paramount.
Didn't know Kushwant was into political prophecising now.
there should be more investment that creates jobs for unskilled
For all its recent success, India remains a poor country, with a per capita income of about $480 – roughly on a par with Senegal. Half of all Indian children are undernourished and nearly half of the women cannot read. Many economists say that in order to lift its teeming masses out of poverty, India will have to follow China’s example and develop a strong manufacturing base that can absorb large numbers of unskilled, uneducated workers.
Emulating China’s success, however, would require massive foreign investment, something that for a variety of reasons – poor infrastructure and corruption usually top the list – India has so far been unable to attract. In 2001, for example, India recorded just $4 billion in foreign direct investment, compared with $47 billion in China, according to data compiled by the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi. Manufacturing as a share of the Indian economy has actually decreased over the last decade, to about 24 percent.
Still, India is gradually making progress in raising overall living standards. The proportion of Indians living on less than a dollar a day has fallen from 46 percent in the early 1990s to 39 percent in 2000, the World Bank reported in July. The bank noted, moreover, that poverty in India is increasingly a regional rather than a nationwide phenomenon, with over half the country’s poor living in just four of its 28 states.
^ I believe there was an American report stating something similar to what Khushwant Singh said, factually there is a chance that will happen, the massive surge in FDI and development in India has gone hand in hand with the upsurge of fragmentation in society. Just recently I read about the resurgence of Polio in India and considering how bad things are in populous states like bihar, Gujarat and UP, India's future is not as great as people assume.
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*Originally posted by Zakk: *
^ I believe there was an American report stating something similar to what Khushwant Singh said, factually there is a chance that will happen, the massive surge in FDI and development in India has gone hand in hand with the upsurge of fragmentation in society. Just recently I read about the resurgence of Polio in India and considering how bad things are in populous states like bihar, Gujarat and UP, India's future is not as great as people assume.
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india have too feed 1.6 billion by 2050 it is not going to be easy .
may be experts said the same thing 50 years ago
Nothing of the sort will happen. You will have regional imbalances in wealth as you have in China, US (until the 1970's) and UK, even now. That is conventional wisdom.
Zakk: Gujarat is perhaps one of the most industrialized states in the INdian Union. It is not like Bihar or UP.
If 700 million people are in the middle class, the purchasing power alone would raise the standard of living for others.
the literacy.. we need education.. but in a good manner.. not the western manner.. which says that being naked is freedom for women.. anyway..
Allah hafiz
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Who told you that being naked is a symbol of freedom for women in the west.
Who told you that being naked is a symbol of freedom for women in the west.
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umm then wat is?.. they call burqa, and skarf worn by muslim sisters as oppressing... and by tha way.. wen saying naked.. i dont mean strip naked only..
The Pakhtuns just want to rename NWFP to Pakhtunistan and pleading for more provincial autonomy, nothing more...
I don't think that there is a war going on b/w shias and sunnis in Pakistan...
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jee umm... the pakhtuns want to rename NWFP so they can seperate it to become their own country.. but im not sure 100%.. as i heard from an pathan frnd..
u take every word pretty seriously.. "war"... doesnot necessarily mean fighting on battle feild.. wat i mean by sunni and shia fighting is chances of civil war...
