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You can do better, India
By John Laxmi
The Honourable Home Minister, L.K. Advani,
It was nice to attend your speech in New York at the India-America Chamber of Commerce dinner.
I was eager to listen to you, Mr. Advani, because the last time I heard you speak, your words did nothing less than redeem India. That was in 1977, and you were then addressing a tumultuous political rally in Bombay's Shivaji Park grounds. You had spent several months in prison under Indira Gandhi's Emergency era oppression. Your words of courage and conviction made that year's election a turning point in independent India's history. The Janata Party and you helped Indians reclaim their freedom and dignity.
That was then. Now, 25 years later, your challenges are very different and far more formidable. Now, you declared, ``times have changed.'' Indeed, they have.
In the past, India opposed, and was even cynically suspicious of, involving America or other outsiders in its disputes with neighbours. But, as you noted astutely, the weight of international opinion is important, even valuable, in solving India's disputes with Pakistan and cross-border terrorism. Recognising this is a landmark step for India.
India is finally connecting with the rest of the world. Now, I say, Mr. Advani, you can do even better.
Did you hear what the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, said about the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf's address? Gen. Powell called Gen. Musharraf's speech ``bold and principled''. Yes, Pakistan is getting kudos for being bold and principled while India sounds belligerent, when heard at all.
You can do better.
Now that you concede international opinion to be important, you and your colleagues need to get on American television, on prime political time. Sunday morning news shows on American television are an excellent forum to showcase your Government's posture in the current crisis and to assure the international community that India really wants to pursue peace and prosperity, not be mired in communal conflict and poverty. Unfortunately, you were not on the Sunday morning shows. Instead, you spent Sunday morning addressing a large Indian community gathering in New Jersey. What is the point of this preaching to your own `parivar'?
In your New York speech, you claimed that under the BJP's watch, communal and religious violence in India reached the lowest level in the past two years. But, this is far from the view one gets abroad. Reports of violent strife among Hindus, Christians and Muslims frequent the international media. This means that you have to do a better job educating the media on your achievements. It also means you should work harder to push communal violence to even lower levels.
Of course, I don't have to tell you all this. You were, after all, a journalist yourself and served as Minister for Information and Broadcasting. But, how do you explain this? Americans saw Gen. Musharraf's speech around noon on Saturday. India's response should have been swift. For 12 or more hours, no response was forthcoming from the Indian Government. You can do better.
One more thing. International opinion matters a great deal to India's economic growth and development, too. International rating agencies and their credit ratings do matter; foreign investors matter; foreign tourists matter. You keep saying you are making progress in all these areas. But, you can do far better.
If India seeks to become a developed nation and a world player in international commerce and affairs, you and your senior colleagues need to step up your international campaign to win respect, hearts and wallets worldwide. You can do it if you set a bolder vision and pursue larger goals.
Here's an idea. China is fast becoming the manufacturing capital of the world. You can do better. How about proclaiming that India shall become the service-sector capital of the world within 10 years? You can do it.
You can do even better. How about within five years?
(The writer, a former investment banker with Morgan Stanley and Citigroup, is an adjunct member of New York University's finance faculty).
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