A roadmap for South Asia
Benazir Bhutto

The South Asian peninsula is situated in the world's centre, in the middle of the Indian Ocean connecting two warm water oceans: the Pacific and the Atlantic. In contrast, as the new century, indeed the new millennium unfolds, South Asia is at the periphery of the global economy. This is the South Asian dilemma. This article explores the causes behind the South Asian dilemma and lays a roadmap out of the horns of conflicting dimensions.

Challenge and response
The recesses of South Asian history are as old as time. Europe was without a counter-part to the Indus Valley civilisation. It was here that humanity first grew and stored crops, wore clothes, built towns with water supply and sanitation, developed a script, and living houses while Europeans were in caves. Unfortunately the Indus Valley script awaits its Rosetta Stone which helped decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphics. Until the code is cracked, the religion, the manners and customs of residents of Moen-Jo-Daro remain a mystery.

The Aryan invasion following the decline and fall of the Indus Valley civilisation brought Hinduism in its wake. The enlightenment of Prince Siddartha introduced Buddhism, a religion of tolerance and humanism, best embodied in the reign of Asoka, the great Buddhist king, who bid farewell to arms. He took South Asia forward along the road of peace and prosperity. For half a millennium Buddhism held sway over the South Asian peninsula from Taxila in Pakistan to the north to Kandy in Sri Lanka in the south. As a result of Alexander's march down the Indus, a new civilisation-the Ghandara civilisation-arose, combining the languorous grace of the East with the classic Hellenism of the West. The resurgence of Hinduism wiped out all traces of Buddhism which continues to flourish in Bhutan and Sri Lanka two of the seven states that comprise the SAARC region.

Beginning with the naval conquest of Sindh by Mohammed Bin Qasim in the seventh century, the message of Islam began to spread in South Asia. Less through territorial conquest and more from mysticism, the humanism preached by the Sufis won the hearts and minds of large segments of South Asian inhabitants. It was unaccidental that Islam was embraced in regions which were strongholds of Buddhism and where a hierarchical caste system had failed to make enough roots. For nearly a thousand years, Muslim power remained paramount power in South Asia. This epoch was replaced by the British Raj in the middle of the 18th century. The Muslim civilisation of India was marked, with a few exceptions, with tolerance. Its hallmark was the rule of Akbar, the greatest of the Moghuls from the most important of the Muslim dynasties that ruled India.

The sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739 is the watershed of the Moghul Empire. Clive delivered the coup de grace defeating Sirajudullah at the Battle of Plassey in 1757. During the hundred year decline of the Moghuls, from 1757 to the Mutiny of 1857, the East India Company, established by Elizabeth I in 1599, through a Charter, became the paramount power. The Moghal dynasty died in 1857 when the last Moghal Emperor was exiled to Burma. Queen Victoria declared herself Empress of India in 1858. The British Raj lasted until 1947 when the Indian Independence Act partitioned British India and gave India and Pakistan their freedom. Sri Lanka took another road to Independence in 1948.

Until the eighteenth century, when the British conquest of India took place, there was little to choose between the levels of living, development, the arts and technology, between South Asia and Europe. Indeed some economic historians hypothesise that the standard of living until the 17th century in the cities of South Asia was higher. It was during the eighteenth century that the gap between South Asia and Europe widened. This is important for those who refuse to learn from history and face its consequences again and again.

It is necessary at this point to digress and have a brief look at the cycles of European history. The Augustan age of classical antiquity was replaced by the spread of Christianity. While the arts and sciences were flourishing in South Asia, Europe was sunk in the Dark Ages. The European Renaissance of the 14th and 15th centuries was followed by the Protestant Reformation and bitter wars of religion which enveloped the 16th and 17th century. The discovery of America in the late Renaissance provided an escape hatch to overpopulated Europe, a major advantage to Europe in the initial conditions which faced Europe then and South Asia today. There is no way of escape for the poor and wretched inhabitants of South Asia. We have to face the challenges here and now.

Three major developments took place in the eighteenth century. The first was the Industrial revolution. During the age of the agricultural economy, South Asia had the advantage of a temperate climate which permitted a two crop economy not possible in the harsh European winter. The second was the mastery of the oceans which led the way to high noon of European imperialism in the nineteenth century. The third, and most important characteristic of the eighteenth century was the Age of Enlightenment. In a seminal essay published in 1784 the famous German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, posed the question: What is Enlightenment? And borrowing a line from the classical Roman poet Horace, answered: Dare to Know. The eighteenth century in Europe was the Age of Reason, it was the Age of Science, it was the Age of the Democratic Revolution in England, it was also the century of the French and American revolutions--of Liberty, Fraternity and Equality, symbolising the eternal quest of humanity for natural rights. 'Government must be based on the consent of the governed' was the fundamental principle of the Enlightenment while South Asia was sunk in Asian despotism. The aberrations of fascism and communism failed and bear witness to the supremacy of trial and error democracy. The Enlightenment was also the age of science. Newton, and later Darwin, rewrote the science of physics and evolution of humanity, while the philosophers Descartes, Hume, laid the foundations of empirical philosophy. Rousseau declared, 'Man is born free and is everywhere in chains', and Voltaire exposed the traditional philosophy of Liebnitz that all is for the best in the best of possible worlds.

It is the central theme of this article that unless South Asia embraces Enlightenment, it cannot overcome its backwardness. The European Enlightenment revealed that there is no inherent conflict between reason and revelation. No less a scientist than Newton was a man of religion. If South Asia was to adopt reason, science and technology and the rule of law as the West has assumed since the Enlightenment, there would be no end to the progress we can make. Instead, while the European Enlightenment brought light of learning and knowledge to the West, South Asia was plunged into the Dark Age of imperialism and its aftermath.

South Asia today
Great expectations accompanied the process of decolonisation after the Second World War. It was believed that the end of imperialism would unleash the forces of production and lead to a new era of prosperity. It is sad that after half a century or more, poverty continues to be the common malaise of all the countries of South Asia. The second half of the twentieth century can be best described as a post-colonial era with many of the institutions and attitudes inherited from the colonial past. The countries of South Asia were also engaged in conflicts over the frontiers of independence and within these frontiers India and Pakistan fought three fruitless wars. The Kashmir dispute remains unsolved.

The domination of the bureaucratic-military elite in Pakistan forced the people of Bangladesh, who were in majority, to seek secession. It is inconceivable, otherwise, for a majority to declare independence in a democratic state. The brutal suppression of the demand for autonomy led to the civil war of 1971--a sordid chapter in Pakistan's troubled history, as is recorded in the Report of the Justice Hamood-ur-Rahman Commission released by the present military government. Today, as I write this article, the people of Pakistan are crushed under the jackboots of the colonial past.

Ethnic conflict has marred the once peaceful state of Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is still in search of a modus vivendi which would enable the Sinhalese majority to live in peace and tranquillity with the Tamil minority in the Jaffna Peninsula in the north. India too has been plagued by ethnic and communal strife--the Muslims are the worst sufferers but the Sikhs, Nagas and Tamils have yet to be satisfied with the balance of power in a plural society. The Nepalese minority in Bhutan has its share of grievances. Nepal itself is in turmoil although it is rich in resources of water and power and can attract tourism--all these possibilities remain un-exploited because of lack of security.

Insecurity prevails in other parts of the countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Bangladesh has suffered long interludes of military rule. Even Maldives witnessed an abortive coup. Thus, national consolidation, internal and external peace, security and prosperity have eluded the states of South Asia. The cause for the failure of these states lies in the archaic attitudes and institutions inherited from the colonial past. These states are still caught in a time warp of despotism.

The formation of SAARC
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation comprises seven countries: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The idea of regional cooperation was first mooted in 1980. The Foreign Ministers of South Asia adopted the Declaration on South Asian Regional Cooperation in New Delhi in August 1983.

The objectives of the SAARC Charter are as follows:

The SAARC Charter is based on the principle of sovereign equality, territorial integrity,
political independence and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states. This is in line with what Charles de Gaulle described as Europe De Patries, the Europe of the nation states. Finally, all SAARC decisions have to be unanimous.

A roadmap for SAARC
During my tenure as Prime Minister, I was privileged to hold a SAARC summit in Islamabad in December 1988. During that summit meeting, historic decisions were taken. We decided to follow in the footsteps of the European Union by developing a common market and having greater people to people contact. It was decided to have common tariffs for a variety of trading items. This became the agreement known as the South Asian Preferential Tariff agreement or SAPTA. I returned to office in 1993 in time to ratify the agreement. Moreover, we decided to allow categories of people, in stages, for example like parliamentarians and judges to visit each SAARC country without a visa. It was also agreed that there would be a special SAARC postage stamp for use by the residents of the SAARC countries.

It is through the experience of Europe, racked by war and conflict for centuries, that we can learn to make a peaceful environment in our region. Europe buried the arms and wars to focus on trade flows to enrich its people and give them a better quality of life. Today European culture is largely anti-war, tolerant and accommodative of other races, religions and ethnic groups. Europe has meshed together people from different parts of the world, even giving them representation in their parliaments. This is a tolerance that is unthinkable in our part of the world. Yet if we are to rescue the people of South Asia from the scourge of poverty, disease, war, ignorance, pestilence and hunger, this is the model to follow.

I would stress that while there is much awareness of the need to evolve a common trading policy, we in South Asia could also focus on the essentials of a pluralistic democracy. Democracy is more than elections. Democracy is about judges that are independent and dispense justice without fear or favour. Democracy is about human rights. The determination of some governments to crush their opposition sadly reflects on our societies and on our region. Democracy is about respecting the franchise of the people rather than manipulating it. It is respecting places of worship and living without discrimination and exploitation. There is a challenge ahead for South Asia: the need to become functional states that are moored in the rule of law, human rights, freedom and free competition.

We live in a world of regional economic cooperation. The prime example is the European Union which commenced with the Treaty of Rome in 1958, and in less that half a century, has established not only a common market, but a European Parliament. The Euro has become a common currency, and fresh proposals are afoot for the eventual formation of a European federation with a common security and foreign policy. In time to come, Europe and China will restore the balance of power which was lost in the debris of the collapse of Soviet Union in 1990. Another regional organisation is the NAFTA which comprises the states of the North American continent. This may be a more useful model, for the US economy is much larger than that of Canada and Mexico, just as the Indian economy is in SAARC. ASEAN to the east is yet another example of successful cooperation despite the fact that Indonesia dominates the region. The Lome Convention of South America is yet another example. It is political will that is lacking in SAARC.

The present situation in SAARC is embodied in the Dhaka Declaration of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) conference of May 26 2003. The declaration noted with concern:

Bangladesh: where further efforts are needed to strengthen the gains of the people's heroic struggles for self determination and democracy, and the major political forces need to arrive at a closer understanding and cooperation in order to ensure the basic rights of the people, especially the disadvantaged;

Bhutan: where despite the welcome initiative for a new constitutional set-up progress towards democratisation of the state and the society is both unclear and uncertain, and where the right to citizenship and the rights of the diverse communities forming the nation are subject to arbitrary abridgment;

India: widely hailed as a secular democracy, has been threatened by forces of communalism and religious bigotry. Regional and sub-regional aspirations for devolution of powers have not been adequately addressed, resulting in frustrations and often also in the outbreak of violence. An established tradition of press freedom is being threatened by a growing criminalisation of politics and abuse of judicial practice. These factors weaken India's pluralistic civil society and by that token, sap the foundations of democracy itself;

Nepal: where the disruption of the democratic system is threatening to erase the people's rights secured through the democratic revolution of 1990, and creating obstacles to democratic resolution of civil strife and matters concerning the deprived communities;

Pakistan: where the state's return to the democratic path has again been thwarted and it is under a double squeeze by the forces of authoritarianism and religious extremism that reinforce each other and deny pluralism and will have extremely grievous consequences to the people's right to representative government and their basic freedoms; and

Sri Lanka: where the suspension of hostilities and the process of negotiations have set the country on the road to peace, the prospects for consolidation of democratic institutions, pluralism and respect for human rights remain unclear.

I endorse the demands made by SAFMA:

As a first step towards the achievement of the objectives of the SAARC, the states of the SAARC region have to manage the disputes and differences to allow them to focus on the war against their common enemy: poverty. The war against poverty must be the prime objective without prejudice to the disputes between the states. In order to win the war against poverty, the SAARC states ought to establish an economic commission which should study the comparative advantage of each country of the region. Comparative advantage is the key to the success of the European Common Market. When the European Union was first constituted, there were similar fears that the goods and services of the advanced economies would swamp the less developed economies. The continued expansion of the European Union with many countries knocking at the doors bears testimony to the economic theory of comparative advantage which postulates that each country in a common market is better off by producing and providing the goods and services in which it has an economic advantage. The governments of the SAARC countries must pledge to honour and implement the recommendations of the economic commission of SAARC.

The basic objective of the economic commission for SAARC would be to make concrete proposals for the setting up of a South Asian Free Trade Area by 2010 keeping in view the following principles:
(a) overall reciprocity and mutuality of advantages so as to benefit equitably all contracting states, taking into account their respective levels of economic and industrial development, the pattern of their external trade, trade and tariff policies and systems;
(b) negotiation on tariff reform, step by step, improved and extended in successive stages through periodic reviews;
(c) recognition of the special needs of the least developed contracting states and agreement on concrete preferential measures in their favour; and
(d) inclusion of all products, manufactures and commodities in their raw, semi-processed and processed forms.

A common market, once it succeeds, would pave the way for political cooperation and the setting up of a platform where consensus on larger global, political and economic issues could be forged in relation to the South Asian region in which no one country would dominate. Pride and prejudice will have to be overcome to pave the way to something on the lines of the European Union. The history of South Asia depicts a conflict between centrifugal and centripetal forces. There have been times of cooperation and times of confrontation. The centrifugal forces have prevailed over the last fifty years. Power must now pass to a new generation which does not carry the burden of the trauma of partition and its bloody past. Europe was the principal theatre of the two world wars of the twentieth century. If France and Germany who fought two bitter wars in the last century can live together as good neighbours, why cannot India and Pakistan?

South Asia awaits its Age of Enlightenment. South Asia must commence a total reconstruction of science and arts raised upon scientific foundations with tolerance towards each other to win the war against the common enemy of the peasants and workers, the women and minorities, the impoverished, barefoot and illiterate children; the common enemy is poverty. Victory in this battlefield is crucial for South Asia to play a role in the twenty-first century, which may yet turn out to be an Asian century.

(Ms. Benazir Bhutto has served as prime minister of Pakistan for two tenures).