India at 69 a failed destiny!

TREVOR SUDAMA
newsday.co.tt
Conclusion

AS I CONCLUDE this series on India after seven decades of independence from British rule, I wish to make it clear that I have not highlighted the many problems and challenges which face the Indian people merely to emphasise the negative aspects of the circumstances confronting the country.

I have endeavoured to present a more balanced perspective by focusing on areas which need to be urgently addressed if a more soundly based and inclusive development is to be realised. Nor am I unsympathetic to whatever endeavours those in authority have pursued over the years to meet the humongous challenges faced, foremost being its expansive and enduring poverty.

Nevertheless, one cannot help but conclude that much more needs to be done with a sense of urgency that does not appear to exist.

From this distance and given the complexity and magnitude of the problems faced by the country and without a full knowledge of the myriad influences, relationships, motivations and perspectives which have shaped the post-independence era, it would indeed be presumptuous to attempt a definitive diagnosis of the political, economic and social factors which have been responsible for the underachievement of the country and the underdevelopment of the vast majority of its people.

It would be even more presumptuous to proceed to proffer solutions.

Nevertheless, such a stance does not exclude speculation as to what are possibly some of the underlying causes of India’s flawed and inchoate development, among them aspects of its history, philosophy, religion, culture, tradition, the nature of the state, a dysfunctional political system, lack of effective national leadership by the political class and, on the socio-economic front, by the entrepreneurial and monied classes. This column cannot possibly explore all these factors.

While India has a long history going back to a few thousand years, for a significant portion of that period it was under foreign tutelage, particularly when the British ruled the country for over 200 years.

It is an open question whether this extended period of foreign domination has subtly affected the psyche of the Indian people and instilled in them a state of psychological subservience and deference.

The consequence of such a possible state of affairs may have induced a sense of inferiority, spiritual subjugation, low self-confidence and lack of will to be in control and chart an independent destiny.

It was this feeling of inadequacy and low self-esteem and this feebleness of mind and spirit that Gandhi saw as the greatest hurdle to overcome in the struggle for formal independence.

To what extent that residual affliction of the Indian psyche exists today and to what extent the continued psychological dependence on outside influences and ideas is a factor in stymieing indigenously propelled development and creativity is a matter of speculation.

The widespread adoption of the concept of determinism akin to the notion of karma which holds that one’s fate, circumstances and prospects in life are predetermined and cannot be changed by human effort, however rational and resolute.

Pursuits of self-effort, self-initiative and self-advancement are deemed to be of no avail, as well as activism and protest. One can envisage how such a belief system could induce a sense of torpor, apathy and resignation among the millions in poverty. It is perhaps a reason why distress and destitution are so casually ignored in the Indian social landscape.

While culture and tradition give meaning to the individual lives of people and provide a basis of integrity to national life as well as promoting psychological well-being and continuity, there are aspects which, as discussed in previous columns, can be inimical to broad-based national progress and inclusive development.