A Prescription for the BJP's Revival

When I was in high school and college which is about 20 years back, opinion was still divided as to whether democracy was suited to India or not. Many thought No- some of these advocated Marxism others thought army rule would be more appropriated. Today, Indians who live in India are painfully aware of their shortcomings and how they have slid behind rest of Asia but I dont see too many folks suggesting that democracy (of whatever limited form we see here) shud be done away with. There is a realisation of two things:

One, a dictatorial govt may well be better at governance and ensure that economic growth is faster but at the same time may alienate many of India's provinces and diverse peoples who live in the country-esp those away from center and provoke secessionist tendences.
Two, it is questioned that even the above premise that an authoritarian govt will necessarily result in faster economic growth or better governance.

The opinion of folks like Sufi Mohd, Hamid mian, Gf, LW and above all Riaz Haq sahib suggests that this debate is by no means complete in Pakistan and that many Pakis hope to have an authoritarian govt which will prove better at solving Pak's myriad problems.

Hopefully both India and Pakistan will chose a mode of governance which suits the temperament of their people.

Regards

anil sir #514 you asked what I meant by the biggest danger to India and Pakistan is "that which cannot be named".

I meant "the unknown" (I took it from the concept of God being an entity "which cannot be named" - meaning something whose characteristics cannot be understood by man). Thbe point being that the issues on which we have "chakh chakh" going on on chowk 24/7 are irrelevant in real life (after all, it is supremely irrelevant wwho did what to whom in the 15th century or what happens to Kashmir 10 years from now or whose god is evil and whose god is divine).

It is things we dont worry about - microbes (which have proved capable of evolving faster the past 20 years than the development of new antibiotics), climate change, ecological disasers resulting from the once-in-a-billion-years mass extinction that is now in progress thanks to population growth and unchecked "development" - that are the real dangers. And yet these "hidden" dangers dont register when it comes to India-Pakistan politics.

anil sir #514 you asked what I meant by the biggest danger to India and Pakistan is "that which cannot be named".

I meant "the unknown" (I took it from the concept of God being an entity "which cannot be named" - meaning something whose characteristics cannot be understood by man). Thbe point being that the issues on which we have "chakh chakh" going on on chowk 24/7 are irrelevant in real life (after all, it is supremely irrelevant wwho did what to whom in the 15th century or what happens to Kashmir 10 years from now or whose god is evil and whose god is divine).

It is things we dont worry about - microbes (which have proved capable of evolving faster the past 20 years than the development of new antibiotics), climate change, ecological disasers resulting from the once-in-a-billion-years mass extinction that is now in progress thanks to population growth and unchecked "development" - that are the real dangers. And yet these "hidden" dangers dont register when it comes to India-Pakistan politics.

Re: # 524

CoolAl...yes come up with whatever number that would be balm to your bruised ego...the Islamic hoards (as you call it) first appeared in 712 AD when bin Qasim triumphed at Sindh...last crushing defeat was administered by Ahmed Shah Abdali to the Marhattas at Panipat...in between Mahmud Ghaznavi came in about 985, Mohammad Ghori in 1206, and then all the way to Ahmed Shah Abdali. The Brits took over charge from the Mughals in 1857. Now do the math...Madrassah or any kind...I'm sorry I'd feel bad about it myself if I were in your "Cool" shoes.

Re: # 513

Shankar,

If you are alluding to '71...I'd say it was more more due to internal causes and successful exploitation of those by India rather than some masterful stroke of generalship, courage and bravery, like say that of Ahmed Shah Abdali's crushing victory against the Marhattas at Panipat, when he achieved this with an army of about 60,000 against 200,000. Other than the instance of '71...all other instances have been at the worst stalemated, despite the fact that Pakistan has been continuously mismanaged at the top...however in # 507 I mentioned India's '62 outing in the context of India-China comparisons, because India and China are closer in size and population, and Pakistan, though a fairly big sized country, is a lot smaller than India and China. Naturally wars and fights in a neighborhood always reflect badly upon all the neighbors concerned.

Sorry, try it now
http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/views_on_countriesregions_b t/618.php?nid=&id=&pnt=618&lb=

Re: # 537shankar..''My personal feeling was that it was Deng & his successors who brought about China's economic miracle.''
thats a fact,I read this impressive book,''THE NEW EMPERORS'' BY HARRISON E SALISBURY''its really a good book on China from MAO TO DENG, if you like read it.

http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

http://thepathans.blogspot.com/

Re: # 540 RiazHaq ...thats true.

http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

http://thepathans.blogspot.com/

Re: # 526
I couldn't find the survey, your link does not work.
But when was this survey taken? Last year, during the campaign when Obama was threatening to invade Pak? That would certainly please Indians but not please Pakistanis.

My preference for Obama over Bush is based on what I have seen so far but I am not ready to believe everything he is saying. But he is saying a lot right things since he became president.
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re: # 535 RiazHaq ...thanks for updates,I really don't feel comfy when talking and giving my personal info to people in other countries,I know American customers had alot of complains.

http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

http://thepathans.blogspot.com/

Heheh riaz, you are incorrigible..

Pakistanis like China because it has been a very good friend to Pakistan throughout its history, unlike the Americans. That's understandable & what's wrong with that? Did India stand up to the human rights record of the Soviet Union when they were our friends?

{{pakis here are peddling china as their next white momin hope... china is all pwoerful can-do-no-wrong super-duper power that is epitome of humanty in the world...}}

That's your interpretation. Yes, Pakistan is delighted that China's tits are getting bigger...more milk to suck..

The Indian leadership should try a little harder to improve relations with China. At least they should be as good as Sino-US relationship. I'm not condoning what the Chinese have done in their history. Such things have happened in many countries.

My personal feeling was that it was Deng & his successors who brought about China's economic miracle. Mao didn't improve the lot of the Chinese. We got to give them credit for that.

Re: # 534 mohar11...first of all I hate what those fanatics did in mumbai last year,what TALIBAN doing in Pakistan is wrong too,I hope india and pakistan work sincerely to prevent these barbarian acts both in india and pakistan,but unfortunately there are reports that indian RAW is supporting Taliban.

http://pukhtunkhwatimes.blogspot.com/

http://thepathans.blogspot.com/

Re: # 520
Khyber, Dell stopped doing tech support from India after a lot of customer complaints. This happened several years ago.

The growth of outsourcing within the US and Canada as well as the high customer satisfaction data for North America are particularly noteworthy in a recent oDesk survey. It seems to indicate that more and more North American companies are showing preference for outsourcing close to home.

According to oDesk, new technology appears to be helping close the cost gap between North America and the rest of the top seven outsourcing destinations that include the Philippines ( with 789% growth in its outsourcing business in 2007-8), Pakistan ( 328% ) US (260%), Canada (121%), India (113%), the Ukraine (77%) and Russia (43%).
Riaz Haq, PakAlumni Worldwide

Re: # 532 khyber
[..forget the past and move on...]

what past?... paki jihadis are killing people around the region as you sit here and babble nonsense - they killed hundreds just last year in mumbai... and they are actually expanding their operations in sanctuaries around in pakiland... more attacks are due anyday...

Move on to where - to bizzaro world?... you can't be that dense...

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts