The Great Betrayal & After

Amidst pessimism and gloom which seem to be the destiny of the downtrodden people of India and Pakistan, the question whether they encountered betrayal from those who promised them social justice, equality and security is the core of the debate on where do India and Pakistan stand today after sixty years of independence. Are the real beneficiaries of independence the ruling elite and the newly wealthy class of the two countries or have the majority of people benefited from sixty years of independence?

According to the Human Development Reports published by the Human Development Center, Islamabad, South Asia lags behind in almost all areas of human development. Whether it is education, social sector, economy, per capita income, environment, employment, technology, industrial or agricultural production, the performance of South Asia is below the required standards. The poor quality of life in South Asia and lack of healthy environment has a serious fallout on various healthy activities like sports and culture. In the last (2004) World Olympics held in Athens, Greece, South Asia couldn’t even secure a single gold medal! Was the poor performance of South Asia in World Olympics an outcome of a general decline in the quality of sports or was it a reflection of a poor healthy environment in the region? This means that states that excel in sports and games have normal societies; whereas, those states that are failures in these two areas point to the existence of unhealthy societal structures and a lack of state encouragement to players.

Three important factors could be identified while examining a debate on whether a betrayal took place of the expectations of the people of the Indian sub-continent who were promised a better life by their leaders sixty years ago. First, let us consider the parochial perception, which exists in India and in Pakistan that the two countries are better off today as compared to their socio-economic and political conditions before August 1947. Those who adhere to this perception argue that had the colonial rule persisted in the Indian-Subcontinent, the vast majority of people would have lived a subjugated life. Yet, one can question the rationale of this argument on the basis of facts. Has the independence from the British six decades ago emancipated the people of the Indian sub-continent from the clutches of exploitation? Why poverty, illiteracy, social discrimination on the basis of caste, race, sex, language, religion and place of origin still persist?

It is true that the Hindu and the Muslim middle classes gained from independence, as their socio-economic and political status would have remained fragile under colonial rule. The ruling elites of India and Pakistan also called as "Brown Sahibs" secured enormous opportunities in the post-independence period but did they do something concrete for the overwhelming majority of people of their countries who remained under the clutches of poverty, illiteracy and under-development? It is also argued by those adhering to the "better off" notion of independence that the level of development which took place in India and Pakistan in the last six decades wouldn’t have been possible had the Indian sub-continent remained under colonial subjugation. 

The fact is that, in most cases, a betrayal took place in almost all the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America, where independence movements were launched but the socio-economic and political conditions of people in the newly independent states remained pathetic. External colonization was replaced with internal colonization. Cases of Zimbabwe, Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Brazil and Argentina are sufficient to prove how the betrayal took place in terms of corruption, nepotism, dictatorship, inefficiency and poor work ethics.            

Second, there are people in India and in Pakistan who feel let down and betrayed from the ‘vision’  and ‘promises’ of those who had sought independence from the British but failed to deliver. More than fifty percent of the world’s poor and illiterate people live in South Asia. Although, India and Pakistan proudly assert their position as ‘nuclear states’ but they have miserably failed to provide an uninterrupted supply of electricity to their masses. Both countries, despite having nuclear status are ‘energy deficient’ and long disruption in the supply of not only electricity but also other utilities proves their corruption, inefficiency and poor planning.

The success of any state is determined on the basis of good basic health, education facilities, uninterrupted supply of utilities, equal employment opportunities, rule of law, good governance, democracy and social justice. According to the Human Development Index, India and Pakistan are in still at the bottom. Therefore, with these facts, it is not wrong to argue that six decades of independence of India and Pakistan didn’t bring a qualitative change in the socio-economic conditions of the majority of the people of the two countries. For instance, the roads and transport system of the two countries still leaves much to be desired. Although, underground metro systems have been established in Calcutta and Delhi, the majority of people of South Asia lack access to modern transport and communication systems.

Third, there exists an alternate perception about the debate on the great betrayal. It is argued by those subscribing to the third school of thought that six decades are not enough to seek modernization and development. They argue that the people of the Indian sub-continent remained under imperial tutelage for centuries, and it is not prudent to expect miracles in just six decades. But a major faultline in arguments forwarded by the third school of thought is, there are other countries also who sought their independence much later than India and Pakistan and are now stable and well-settled. The per capita income, GDP, GNP, exports, education, economy and infrastructure of these countries is far better than India and Pakistan.

There is the example of Singapore and South Korea, which achieved statehood after the Indian sub-continent, but in both these countries, the quality of life of people is far better. What matters is the leadership and proper work ethics, which can induct professionalism, accountability, reward and punishment in a society. Unfortunately, India and Pakistan are still far behind as far as establishing a culture of work ethics is concerned. As a result, corruption, inefficiency, nepotism and other social evils still impact the societies of the two countries and there is no light at the end of the tunnel as far as that predicament is concerned.

What can the people of India and Pakistan do to deal with the ‘great betrayal?’ Should they spend the next six decades in gloom, poverty, under-development, internal exploitation, injustice and corruption or should they rise and dismantle the mafias that have hijacked more than one billion people of South Asia? Hoping against the hope, the bulk of the population of India and Pakistan can only expect some betterment in their lives after decades of pessimism and gloom. Perhaps, August 14 and 15 can unleash a process of soul searching in India and Pakistan about what went wrong and why the two countries are not better off in terms of upgrading the quality of lives of their people and what practical measures can be done to improve their lot.

Moonis Ahmar is a Visiting DAAD Fellow at the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt, Germany. He is also Professor of International Relations at the University of Karachi and Director, Program on Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution.

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