India-Sexy at Sixty

India-Sexy at Sixty
Pakistan-Dragged down by the Military
Bangladesh-Never given a chance to grow
Sri Lanka-Paradise Lost

The above is the latest situation of the sub-continent, 60 years after the British left the region. The partition itself was a botched affair, never thought out properly, done in haste. Of course the leaders of the undivided India at that time were also largely to blame for forcing Britain's hand in dividing and running away.
It is fortunate that India had a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious society which acted as a great check and balance against domination by one group. It really allowed India to develop on the theme 'Unity in Diversity' and took the best of all communities. India had to be divided into linguistic states early on to give a sense of identity and ownership to different people and it has paid off in healthy competition between regions. Though places like Bihar and Orissa could not capitalise on that. English education and Central Planning to industrialise was the underpinning of India's slow growth, but grow it did.
The computer gave a chance to India to break out of its morass and the IT revolution has shown that Indians are capable of innovation, grabbing opportunites and leading in anything they want to. Democracy is thriving in India in a unique way. The next step will have to be address the inequalities in living standards. May be a little bit of 'outsourcing at home' in planning and execution of welfare projects will lead the country to spread its wealth and prosperity.

Pakistan has to throw the military out and settle with India the Kashmir issue before it can hope to do some growing up. It is an irony that inspite of being an Islamic country, Pakistan is not getting the support of the rich Arab nations in its development. It has been forced to take the side of USA, but that is costing it dearly in unrest at home and diversion of resources to Military. The sooner the link with USA is cut, it may be better for Pakistan.

Bangladesh has to be handed over to a Trust and Management Agency for identifying its potential for development. The natives are so mired in poverty and natural disasters they have time only to struggle to survive. May be United Nations can play a role here or rich Western Nations can adopt Bangladesh and have a sort of 'Marshall Plan' in place to develop it. The potentials are there.

Sri Lanka has to be defacto devided into two, with Tamils and Sinhalese having their own land and administrative regions, may be under a Federation. Tourism is the way out for them but that requires peace. With proper division between the two ethnic groups the country can develop into a 'playground for the world' and lease out its facilities for 'International Events' and 'Theme Parks'. How about a 'Harry Potter's Hogwarts' in Sri Lanka?