Whither South Asia?

South Asia, as a region, is lagging far behind on all credible ratings and most social and human indicators, despite having tremendous resources and infinite opportunities. Although culturally and historically more cohesive a region than many regional groupings, it remains to become an organic entity for itself and a happy place to live for one-fifth of the humanity.
Still worse, the countries of South Asia are locked in interstate or intrastate conflicts that produce tremendous dislocation, marginalisation, militarisation and distortions. Consequently, enmity and suspicion, rather than amity and trust, define the relationship among most of the nations, especially nuclear-powered India and Pakistan whose animosity has kept peace and cooperation in the subcontinent a hostage to their conflict over either of the two 'cores' of Kashmir dispute.
As opposed to other regions, such as South East Asia, Europe and North America, South Asian countries live on the multiple deficits of information, communication, cooperation, trade and goodwill in this age of information and globalisation. The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), formed way back in December 1985, has yet to takeoff, despite eleven summit meetings and numerous well meaning declarations, MOUs and protocols. Meaningful regional cooperation is hamstrung by Indo-Pak logjam, leaving SAARC in doldrums.
Although countries of South Asia, despite many hiccups in their growth and development, have made strides in one sector or the other, they have not been able to move on an all-sided road to progress. They present a typical picture of heterogeneous development of 'underdevelopment'. The state of human resource development is dismally low with one of the highest rates of incidence of poverty and more than 35 per cent of the population, or half of the world's poor, live below the poverty line. Military expenditure, as a whole, is far greater than what is being spent on health and education. The arms race in the subcontinent is taking place at one of the highest rates in the world with nuclear proliferation assuming an unpredictable direction while human and physical security becomes ever more vulnerable to hostile environment.
As if not enough, societies in South Asian countries are fractured and atomised on ethnic, communal, caste and linguistic lines. Increasing social stratification and polarisation, coupled with xenophobia and chauvinism, have created a social soil that breeds religious extremism, communal exclusion, ethnic parochialism, authoritarianism and, in worst case scenarios, terrorism practiced by both private and state entities. Evolution of a democratic and pluralist culture is tainted and obstructed by exclusionary ideologies and extremist creeds that negate humanitarian and cooperative traditions of South Asia and its religions. Democracy in a majority of South Asian countries remains a victim of authoritarianism and dictatorship. And where it has taken roots, such as in India, it is still far from empowering the people and protecting the rights of dispossessed and deprived.
For centuries, believers of different faiths had lived as brothers in this contiguous region, but they are being poisoned to cut each other's throat. At the hands of 'majoritarian' creeds, of both 'inclusionary' and exclusionary varieties and cultural or religious types, the minorities in all countries of South Asia have been reduced to the level of second rate citizens. Discriminatory laws, selective criteria, social biases and prejudiced ideologies have made the existence of the minority communities most miserable. The state of human and woman rights is also very pathetic, despite the claims of respective governments and their efforts to cover up the crimes being committed against their own people.
No less problematic is the tendency to shift the burden of the crimes of the state functionaries or internal renegades to the 'foreign hand' which is present invariably in every crisis situation in each country of the region. Aggressive nationalism in most of the countries of South Asia strives on the mutuality of adversarial nationalism of the other side or 'enemy'. The dialectic of mutually exclusive nationalisms, such as in India and Pakistan, operates on the expediency of 'demonisation' of the 'other side' to facilitate militarisation and, consequently, subjugation and dehumanisation of the people.
Unlike other regions, such as Europe and South East Asia, South Asia has not learnt to resolve its interstate and intrastate disputes through peaceful and diplomatic ways. The enmity between India and Pakistan has been of such proportion that they have never been able to solve their disputes through dialogue. With the induction of nuclear weapons, the security situation has become alarmingly dangerous and unpredictable, especially when the threat of using nuclear weapons is often used with ease in the absence of fail-safe system in a sub-continent where flying time of missiles is so short that it leaves no room for a second-thought. Against the backdrop of 'territorial' and 'historical' disputes, and predominance of officially-sponsored-hate, the two national security states exclude diplomacy as a means to find mutually acceptable solutions.
When India, representing 70 per cent of South Asia in land and population and emerging as a regional power in its own right, ignores the sensitivities and concerns of its smaller neighbours or take them for granted, they feel insecure and tend to find escape roots in self-preservation. The conflict between India and Pakistan is seen by the smaller countries of the region as a relief to their helplessness. On the other hand, the Indo-Pak conflict is the basic hurdle to peace, cooperation and progress in this region. It also reinforces an interdependent religious revivalism, militarism and authoritarianism. The time has come that best minds and the people of South Asia find ways to get out of this vicious circle and force the two establishments to seek a non-violent, peaceful, just and mutually acceptable solution to their disputes, including Kashmir.

As South Asia suffers from its own ailments, globalisation and militarisation in a uni-polar world pose new challenges while the adversarial nation-states of India and Pakistan undersell to outsiders to outmanoeuvre each other. Increasing pressure of globalisation and challenges posed by a uni-polar world, governed by the dictum of 'might is right', warrant a collective South Asian response, not to confront the sole super-power but to develop an Asian fraternity in a century that is destined to become the Asian century.
Yet, whatever the state ideologies and practices, the people of South Asia at large yearn for a better life and brotherly neighbourhood. They want bread, medicine, education, shelter and peace, not weapons of mass destruction or communal pogrom and terrorism. There is a great urge for democratic, pluralist and tolerant societies. The popular urge for good governance, decent living and healthy fulfilment requires a drastic shift from the prevalent national security paradigms and non-productive priorities to human security and productive uses of resources for a sustainable development.
The South Asian Journal, and its editorial board representing South Asian Free Media Association's (SAFMA) mandate, will promote an objective and an unbiased understanding of the maladies faced by our countries and the region and offer a variety of solutions in a pluralist and democratic manner. However, the articles to be published will not necessarily reflect our views since we want to promote a dialogue. In brief, the Journal will try its best to overcome the information deficit we suffer from about the 'other side'. Your (readers') criticism and suggestions will always guide us.