Reading about south Asian politics leaves one feeling a trifle sick. The countries in this region were once home to a vibrant, ancient culture, seeped in philosophies of all manner, and followed a tradition that prioritized societal security despite the exploitation and poverty of the people. However, the manner in which politics is unfolding in the region today is disappointing, to say the least. We are allowing ourselves to be deemed a fourth world, so to speak, with governments and regimes alienating themselves from the reality.

A perfect example of this was the interim government’s decision to prevent Sheikh Hasina Wajed from entering Bangladesh. What an absolutely absurd and wholly undemocratic demand. Fortunately, the authorities have had second thoughts and permitted her to return. Little wonder then that we are considered a ‘volatile’ area for any real partnership, making international interventions appear temporary and noncommittal.

The kind of petty politics that dominates the subcontinent makes us inconsequential in the larger scheme of influences and geo politics. We seem to be the last backward region in Asia (and maybe in the world). More than a quarter of the population of this planet are inhabitants of south Asia. If we could play the game correctly, with an open mind and as a team of nations, we could have been vital in global politics.

But this great undivided family spends its time regressing. Distrust and infighting are encouraged by rich nations to dominate the region. These powers, much like the colonial intruders before them, make us poorer by ‘buying’ policies that suit their motives of domination. The weakness of the regional leaders in south Asia is manipulated by the rich nations by offering goodies on their terms and not ours. We have been known to fall prey to such lollipops.

Strike back

The British drew the borders that divided this family of nations, causing inexplicable damage to the fabric of an ancient culture and civilization. For them, military might was an assertion of power, regardless of societal and cultural needs. Their wealth and education have not been able to instil in them the culture of tolerance or a belief in consensus. They have ‘created’ modern political myths and puppet leaders that suited their pedestrian understanding of finer, rooted cultures. They were also responsible for pursuing a policy of ‘elimination’ of everything that stood in their way.

Money, not the mind, became the tool with which civilizations were ruthlessly destructed. Consequently, battlegrounds sprouted across the globe. Brother was made to fight brother as the unipolar power and its allies watched from a safe distance till the horror they had created entered their ‘safe’ haven.

Again, the real world, with all its disparities, was forced to bend and take the blows both politically and economically. We all know this. The year, 2007, is an important year in the subcontinent’s calendar. India was liberated from the British six decades ago. Our country is now on the verge of working out a peace settlement with Pakistan. Both the countries have managed to achieve this without having to seek external help.

The lone superpower of the world will not be able to swallow this bitter truth. It has not been a part of this ‘settlement’. Worse, it has not been successful in altering the course. Will it then try and create mayhem in Pakistan to stall the peace process? Is it threatened by the potential power of south Asia, a region which would cease to be what it is if the countries in this part of the world trusted and genuinely partnered each other? The time has come to take on the international powers. This can only be achieved by a nonviolent movement, similar to the one that gave us our freedom.