harmony, Alternative path for India

In the middle of unprecedented world problems and many-sided internal distress, India must find a firm path based on equality, justice, meeting basic needs of all, strengthening creative livelihoods, social harmony and peace. As its present path is far from being such a path, there should be very sincere efforts to evolve such a path. This note is written as such an effort. This is a modest effort from a writer-activist who has been involved with such endeavors, with the hope that more learned friends will improve this. It is hoped that the government can benefit from this, and/or the opposition forces and people’s movements can make creative use of this. The unity of democratic opposition forces needs a common program, and this note can also contribute to this. It is hoped that this will also contribute also to the wider world movement for alternatives.
India in the 75th year of its independence today stands at a very important juncture of history, faced with very serious problems and critical challenges, and at the same time also with significant opportunities if only these can be grasped. The choice we make between various paths of development, for example the path of equality and social harmony versus the path of increasing inequalities and polarization, will be very important for deciding whether the problems get accentuated or the opportunities get utilized optimally.

Any comprehensive understanding of India’s possible pathways in the near future should be linked to a wider understanding of the most essential features of present day world. India should of course plan its future in accordance with its needs, but this has to be seen in the wider context of the world’s most serious issues and problems so that the path India chooses is also in conformity with the world’s most urgently felt needs. This is true for all countries of course but this is all the more true for a country like India where one-sixth of the world’s people live.
The two most important features of the present day world are- (i) the deepening of a many sided ecological crisis in critical ways so that it has now become a survival crisis threatening the life of countless species and endangering humanity as well, and (ii) the reality as well as possibility of many conflicts, invasions and wars (including the third world war) in a situation of more and more destructive arms race including huge arsenals of weapons of mass destruction which can destroy the entire world.

These two problems may appear separate but are related in significant ways, not the least because the kind of international effort needed to resolve the first listed survival issues will simply not be possible in a situation of conflicts and wars.
In the context of this wider situation of the world, India must pioneer a path which, while solving India’s basic problems of poverty and deprivation, should at the same time show the way forward for resolving the most threatening problems of the world. If India can achieve this, it will be a truly historic achievement which will win admiration all over the world, increasing respect for India and leading to demands for a wider role of India in world affairs without India asking for this. Above all, if India achieves this, then this will be a huge contribution to reduce mass distress and disasters in the world, now and in the future, bringing relief to hundreds of millions of people. Can India achieve this?

For such an achievement to be possible, India should try to establish broad consensus on three overwhelming priorities-(i) very significant, durable reduction of poverty and inequalities, ensuring basic needs of all, (ii) protection of environment with special emphasis on checking survival threatening problems such as climate change, water depletion and loss of bio-diversity and (iii) peace and social harmony at all levels while ending all discrimination.
If the government supported by enthusiastic people’s participation and a broad consensus can really ensure that these inter-related tasks become topmost priorities, then India can truly pioneer a brave new path which can solve India’s most pressing problems at the same time as providing important contributions and lessons for resolving the most threatening world level problems. On the other hand, if the present government does not adopt such a program of equality and harmony, then an alternative program as outlined here can still be very useful as a means of mobilizing people and helping in principles-based unity of opposition forces.
With 2 per cent of the world’s land, 1 per cent (or less) of oil and gas resources but 17 per cent of the world’s population, India’s quest for meeting the basic needs of its people and providing them satisfactory livelihood on a sustainable basis is a huge challenge. If this can be met while also protecting environment and keeping down GHG emissions, this will truly be a very commendable achievement.
India is a nuclear weapons power which shares borders with two other nuclear weapons powers. India has been extremely prone to terrorist attacks from across its borders. It has already fought five and a half wars with neighboring countries, with aggression generally coming from the other side of the borders. It has coped with several secessionist movements and insurgencies. India has seven major religions (plus many more religious sects and religions with smaller number of believers), around 6400 castes and 1600 languages.