It sometimes 
shocks you the kinds of things happening in the neighborhood. So Pakistan again is spinning down. Sri lanka is in civil war with LTTE even using air strikes. Nepal has somehow managed to stay put after years of uncertainty, a fragile truce in Bangladesh, military junta in Burma. China is not democratic-meaning rights of citizens curtailed (but is a member of UN Security Council!!), so is the case of Bhutan. Nearby Afghanistan is in serious problem, Thailand too is under martial rule. Phew !!. Not that India doesn’t have problems but rarely it threatens the nation, it is generally confined to few pockets.
The most tragic case is that of Sri Lanka, I have a strong liking for this country and have read lot about this island. At one point I took out around 3-4 months to read fiction and non fiction, as also movies from this region, I also knew some journalists who had come for training at Mass Com, as also artists through exchange programs. It saddens me immensely when I see pictures of violence and killings from this beautiful island. Elitist policies probably triggered through linguistic arrogance escalated into ethnic conflict now almost a civil war, isolating the North-east region. Now though it is the ego of leaders involved. Peace is very much possible provided new and younger people are involved, they are now pawns in the hands of people trying to settle their own scores. Sri Lanka has had its share of violence I guess it is time to try peaceful means to solve the problem. It cannot go on like this. Buddhist monks representing majority Singhalese should take the initiatives and show an egalitarian approach to the problem. This blogger has yet to come across an incident or effort on the part of monks to reach the Tamils. The role of religion-community leaders in creating peace is immense (south Africa is good example). Monks in Sri Lanka have a huge responsibility, it is time they intervened.
Pakistan’s problems have its roots in lack of sufficient mobility in society, it still is very much feudal and the demarcation is stark as is the case in most of North India. Socio-cultural and political elite come from same stock, most have spend time in Britain and other places. The common people are mostly absent from the scene. Add to this, mullahs as alternative- disappointed, most people seem to be gravitating to this possibility. Feudal nature of the society is very much reflected in the presence of strong Army in matters Civilian. The establishment fed the zealots with active support from US of A ostensibly to dislodge Soviet commies from Kabul, commies left but the genie wouldn’t go back to the bottle, now it is ready to engulf. Ditto what Indira Gandhi did with Sikhs, it did immense damage and many innocent people lost their life. Sikhs are small community and geographically confined, the reason why the genie didn’t do much damage, but it was worst phase in independent Indian history. This not true with muslims who are in absolute majority in Pakistan, with changed equation vis-à-vis terrorism around the world things may go out of hand as fundamentalists are quite effectively playing the victim role-majority of people have started to empathize. With USA, Britain and other powers loosing credibility even good intention will backfire, most common people don’t have any trust for these foreign powers, intervention would be seen with suspicion, playing into the hands of fundamentalists.
So there things don’t look rosy in Pakistan. It is entirely the result of selfish people at the helm, the feudal elites saw to it that the democratic institutions don’t
establish itself. What flourished in Pakistan in last many decades was Army, as also the fundamentalist. Till recently they worked in synergy (since the West wanted it that way), now they oppose (again due to reasons very much originating in West). So guess who will replace Army?. Obviously for USA, Army is the best bet otherwise it is over for them in this ‘strategic region’. It also means Gen Musharaff may be dispensable (remember what happened to Gen. Zia?), a coup within the Army would help USA immensely since all the fingers are pointing to Musharaff, he goes means all the blame will be taken care, a new dictator can take the baton and give some hope till it wears out. That is American realpolitik. That is the tragedy. Whatever said Gen Musharaff’s days are numbered but Army is here to stay for a long time to come, under a puppet government is immensely desirable for the outside powers. Keep an eye on developments in this part of the world…hopefully sanity prevails.
shocks you the kinds of things happening in the neighborhood. So Pakistan again is spinning down. Sri lanka is in civil war with LTTE even using air strikes. Nepal has somehow managed to stay put after years of uncertainty, a fragile truce in Bangladesh, military junta in Burma. China is not democratic-meaning rights of citizens curtailed (but is a member of UN Security Council!!), so is the case of Bhutan. Nearby Afghanistan is in serious problem, Thailand too is under martial rule. Phew !!. Not that India doesn’t have problems but rarely it threatens the nation, it is generally confined to few pockets.The most tragic case is that of Sri Lanka, I have a strong liking for this country and have read lot about this island. At one point I took out around 3-4 months to read fiction and non fiction, as also movies from this region, I also knew some journalists who had come for training at Mass Com, as also artists through exchange programs. It saddens me immensely when I see pictures of violence and killings from this beautiful island. Elitist policies probably triggered through linguistic arrogance escalated into ethnic conflict now almost a civil war, isolating the North-east region. Now though it is the ego of leaders involved. Peace is very much possible provided new and younger people are involved, they are now pawns in the hands of people trying to settle their own scores. Sri Lanka has had its share of violence I guess it is time to try peaceful means to solve the problem. It cannot go on like this. Buddhist monks representing majority Singhalese should take the initiatives and show an egalitarian approach to the problem. This blogger has yet to come across an incident or effort on the part of monks to reach the Tamils. The role of religion-community leaders in creating peace is immense (south Africa is good example). Monks in Sri Lanka have a huge responsibility, it is time they intervened.
Pakistan’s problems have its roots in lack of sufficient mobility in society, it still is very much feudal and the demarcation is stark as is the case in most of North India. Socio-cultural and political elite come from same stock, most have spend time in Britain and other places. The common people are mostly absent from the scene. Add to this, mullahs as alternative- disappointed, most people seem to be gravitating to this possibility. Feudal nature of the society is very much reflected in the presence of strong Army in matters Civilian. The establishment fed the zealots with active support from US of A ostensibly to dislodge Soviet commies from Kabul, commies left but the genie wouldn’t go back to the bottle, now it is ready to engulf. Ditto what Indira Gandhi did with Sikhs, it did immense damage and many innocent people lost their life. Sikhs are small community and geographically confined, the reason why the genie didn’t do much damage, but it was worst phase in independent Indian history. This not true with muslims who are in absolute majority in Pakistan, with changed equation vis-à-vis terrorism around the world things may go out of hand as fundamentalists are quite effectively playing the victim role-majority of people have started to empathize. With USA, Britain and other powers loosing credibility even good intention will backfire, most common people don’t have any trust for these foreign powers, intervention would be seen with suspicion, playing into the hands of fundamentalists.
So there things don’t look rosy in Pakistan. It is entirely the result of selfish people at the helm, the feudal elites saw to it that the democratic institutions don’t
establish itself. What flourished in Pakistan in last many decades was Army, as also the fundamentalist. Till recently they worked in synergy (since the West wanted it that way), now they oppose (again due to reasons very much originating in West). So guess who will replace Army?. Obviously for USA, Army is the best bet otherwise it is over for them in this ‘strategic region’. It also means Gen Musharaff may be dispensable (remember what happened to Gen. Zia?), a coup within the Army would help USA immensely since all the fingers are pointing to Musharaff, he goes means all the blame will be taken care, a new dictator can take the baton and give some hope till it wears out. That is American realpolitik. That is the tragedy. Whatever said Gen Musharaff’s days are numbered but Army is here to stay for a long time to come, under a puppet government is immensely desirable for the outside powers. Keep an eye on developments in this part of the world…hopefully sanity prevails. 
