Silent change is change that rarely invites popular attention, but it is change, nevertheless. For long years, the eastern reaches of the Indian subcontinent were written off as backward and not to be compared with more prosperous areas of the west and south. The new hub of development is the emergent India-Bangladesh partnership, whose commercial impact is now felt in neighbouring Bhutan and, who knows, sooner rather than later, may extend to Myanmar and Thailand. Let us first put flesh on the bones. Ceat Tyres is setting up a plant in Bangladesh designed to take advantage of borders without tariffs for its exports. The Hiranandani Group is planning a floating LNG terminal along the coast that will cater to the demand across countries for gas through a cross-border pipeline. Arrangement are in place for greater traffic between India and Bangladesh. A bus service links Agartala in Tripura to Dhaka; there are bus and train services linking Kolkata and Dhaka; while transit routes through Bangladesh to India’s North Eastern States for Indian goods and services is work in progress. All this has been achieved circumventing the impediments of SARRC, the preposterously labeled South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. With Pakistan a member and China seeking associate membership, the venture was doomed from birth.
With Myanmar on the cusp of a new era of democracy and economic development the market integration arising from the India-Bangladesh hub have opened up the real possibility of building a future that works.
Pakistan, Nepal: India’s difficult neighbours
Pakistan has perceived itself since its founding in August 1047 by Mohammed Ali Jinnah as an existential challenge to India. This duty is widely perceived in the country as an obligation enjoined by a preordained, scriptural prophecy. Its ideologues, its military-intelligence establishment and the broad political spectrum are intoxicated by the continuing jihad that would erode the roots of India’s power and bring about its desired downfall. The subcontinent’s horseman, or camel, of the fated apocalypse is driven by the primeval goal of the self-same goal of the Islamic State of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon, ISIL. What they also have in common are terrorist bombings, frequently carried out by suicide bombers. ISIL has admitted to the latest bombings in Baghdad that have claimed 90 innocent lives. Pakistan’s Inter Services Directorate (ISI) masterminded three assaults on Mumbai: in March 1993, July 2006 and November 2008 in which hundreds of its citizenry perished.
The bravest and most honest Pakistani public figure to have written about his country’s malaise from its genesis to its present state is Husain Haqqani, author and former diplomat, currently an academic at a US university. Speaking to the Hindu newspaper recently, he recounted a conversation, shortly after the Mumbai attacks of November 2008, with then-ISI chief General Shuja Pasha in Washington, where Mr Haqqani was stationed as Pakistani Ambassador. General Pasha made the astonishing admission that ‘our people’ planned the Mumbai attacks but it ‘wasn’t our operation.’ This revelation is included in Mr Haqqani’s forthcoming book. ‘India versus Pakistan: Why Can’t We Just Be Friends?’ He answers his own question in an extensive interview with the Times of India. Whilst critical of Indian actions in Jammu and Kashmir, Mr Haqqani says that ‘it is Pakistan that has erred in adopting a zero sum game’ on Kashmir. He goes on to discuss the national priorities of India and Pakistan, relating how in answer to President Truman’s query to Nehru on how best America could help India, India’ Prime Minister asked for aid in setting up Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and in Indian agriculture; when Truman put a similar question to Pakistani premier Liaquat Ali Khan – Nehru’s counterpart at the time – he demanded substantial military aid. Today, the military holds the levers of political power. Any political leader who talks of peace with India is removed from office. Such was the fate of prime minister Feroz Khan Noon in 1958, who was overthrown by General Ayub Khan’s coup and the pattern continues - a dismal tale indeed.
Nepal is in crisis once more. Its modern history has been one perennial crisis – a sort of karmic cycle from which there appears to be no release anytime soon. The country’s society and political class are deeply fractured. There are deep differences over the country’s constitution and a malaise in its administration that has prevented international aid reaching communities most devastated by last year’s earthquake. The readymade solution for Nepal’s ruling political establishment, which at core constitute a ragbag of Maoist parties, Is to make India a scapegoat for all the country’s woes. This game has gone on long enough. So has blackmailing India with threats to turn to China. The bluff has to be called. With time the Nepalese masses will see through the subterfuge. There has been little economic and social betterment for decades. If anything, the situation worsens by the day. Let the internecine conflicts in Nepal play out. India should simply sit tight without official comment or gesture. Silence is the surest wisdom.
Screen to bring to life story of a remarkable man
A Bollywood film will shortly bring to life the story f a remarkable man and his life’s work. Anand Kumar, a mathematician from Bihar, is the founder of the Super 30 coaching institute designed to provide education but also free board and lodging to poor students eager to crack the joint entrance examination for one of the elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). His venture took off in 2002, since then over 350 of his students from Super 30 have entered one of these premier institutions.
Vikas Bahl will direct the film, its producers are Vinay and Preeti Sinha, with Sanjeev Dutta writing the script. These are well established figures in the entertainment with box office hits to their names. Mr Kumar, the film’s central character, says, ‘It is true that for the last few years talks were on for a biopic on my life and some directors and producers were in touch with me, but eventually Reel Life Entertainment was destined to seal the deal.’
Speaking to the media from his house in Patna, he added that the income generated from the film would be used for the expansion of Super 30 to accommodate more young people who lack the wherewithal to pursue a career in education that can empower them, maybe, for life.
Director Vikas Bahl said he was inspired by the story of Anand Kumar and his achievements in the face of adversity. ‘His life has many interesting dimensions and weaving them into a story for a film would be really fascinating. The actor [playing his role] will have to study Anand Kumar and mould himself in his style. The film will be extensively shot in Bihar to retain the local flavor, but I would like Anand Kumar too to play some part in the film.’
Scriptwriter Sanjeev Dutta says that he been planning, over the past four or five years, to work on a film about Sanjeev Kumar ‘I have already done a lot of research on Anand Kumar and his Super 30.’
Anand Kumar’s international reputation and his teaching methods, which have earned him considerable acclaim at home and abroad, should be mentioned in order to give film venture its appropriate context. More power to his elbow and to the filmmakers who are certain to give fresh impetus to Mr Kumar’s cause for the uplift of the disadvantaged, as they strive to better their lives. Individuals, singly and together, can contribute meaningfully to human welfare as the state, which should not be the sole dispenser of good works. In fact, individuals are able to a give a personal touch to their contributions, which an impersonal state authority is often unable to match. The story of Anand Kumar on screens across India will surely awaken the country to these self-evident truths.
