Can Generals
Yield to Democrats?
By Moorthy Muthuswamy,
PhD
New York
I am writing to congratulate
Dr. Nayyer Ali on a very original and incisive
analysis "Can Generals Yield to Democrats?"
This analysis, in addition to his previous one
published on July 2003 "Economic Growth will
Lead to Democracy" is a must read for many,
including Washington’s and India’s
misinformed policy makers. My own analysis has
arrived at similar conclusions. In fact, I had
concluded: "Wealth creation, not democracy
is the basis of building modern civilizations.
A well-developed and functioning democracy is
the eventual consequence of such a civilization.
"
As someone who publishes frequently on South Asia,
I can say that democracy is a colossal failure
not just in Pakistan, but also in India. The recent
growth seen in India, especially in software industries,
has been due to individuals and private industry
– with the regimes in power playing virtually
no role. However, the Indian regimes elected under
democracy have proven incapable of providing governance,
initiate economic development or upholding of
rule of law. It appears that India is being torn
apart by naxal and religious forces, with the
elected "democratic" regimes incapable
of governing the nation.
Both for Pakistan and India the proven model of
building a modern state lies in having a dictatorial
but visionary regime that puts wealth creation
at the focus. This also means taking steps to
ensure that destabilizing policies with neighbors
are not initiated and the internal ones are put
down with iron hand. This is the open secret behind
the sustained economic development seen in many
East Asian nations, including China
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