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Is India Falling Apart?
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12085 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
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12 / 1987 |
2,790 Words |
| Author
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Kenneth Conboy
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This past August, India celebrated the 40th anniversary of its independence from Great Britain. In those four decades, Indians have seen progress on many fronts.
The average per capita income in India has increased 10 times what it was in 1947. From a net importer of food, the country is now self-sufficient in grain. India remains a leader of the non-aligned movement. And, after weathering four wars, India is the dominant force in the subcontinent and hopes to become the major power in the Indian Ocean by the turn of the century.
Yet, despite these advancements, India has suffered even greater setbacks. Over one-third of its population is malnourished. Over population leave cities like Calcutta with more than 300,000 homeless. Illiteracy rates reach over 50 percent. More significantly, however, a wave of internal crises, ranging from arms scandals to ethnic violence, give the impression that the British-inspired political institutions and delicate ethnic composition of the world's largest democracy may be falling apart.
Gandhi's honeymoon ends
India's current domestic difficulties fall into three areas: strife within the ruling Congress (I) Party, heavy political pressure from Congress dissidents and opposition parties, and communal violence stemming from ethnic and religious differences.
The first two of these problems can be traced either directly or indirectly to India's Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Coming from a family that has ruled India for all but five years of independence, Gandhi was not the obvious choice to succeed his mother, Indira, after her assassination in 1984. But when his brother Sanjay, the heir apparent, died in 1980 plane crash, it was Rajiv Gandhi the former India Airlines pilot, that became prime minister of the world's second most populous country.
Unlike his mother's own rash style of rule, Gandhi was thought to be more flexible and pro-Western. Signaling the mark of a new and younger generation of Indian leadership, he relieved many of the older, respected cabinet veterans and appointed friends from India Airlines. The problems resulting from this substitution were not immediately apparent, and Gandhi was able to ride a wave of public support for well into his second year in office.
Gandhi also began to initiate a wide range of new government policies. Nowhere was this change felt more than in the economy. Gandhi's liberalization plans were hailed by many Westerners, especially in the United States, as a long overdue step in the right direction. These moves helped the economy grow, raising India's GNP growth from the usual 3-4 percent to 5 percent.
Splits in the party
Battling India's enormous bureaucracy, however, Gandhi's economic innovations eventually ran into trouble. Several left-wing economic advisers have now suggested a 12-point series of populist measures, which will break with the current policies that favor "affluent and middle-class consumerism." These advisers have also advocated nationalization and the withdrawal of tough labor legislation now pending in Parliament. As a result,
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