‘The Post American World’ is disappointing…

Fareed Zakaria’s latest release ‘The Post American World’ is a disappointing study. I expected a lot from a scholar of his stature. Fareed talks about ‘The Rise of the Rest’ but got stuck with China and India. There is no mention of the rising importance of a country like Australia, a major raw material supplier to China and a significant Naval Power. Brazil has been mentioned in passing where as it is an important part of the ‘BRIC Countries’. Brazil poses the most serious challenge to the United States in that region. Out of the four major emerging economies, Brazil is the most significant country in terms of technology and agriculture. It might be the next food basket of the world. Canada is the largest trading partner of America and an emerging competitor in the manufacture of commercial aircrafts. Dubai could be the next airline-hub of the world. There is a lot to be said about the emerging Eastern Europe. I expected him to talk a lot about a revitalized Japan. And what about Israel, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea and Vietnam. The rise of Chindia is very misleading.

Zakaria is obviously quite taken in by the Chinese line of the next major power, but lacks the in-depth knowledge about their old civilization. China is too complex and carries lot of contradictions with it. I would rather refrain from commenting at this time. Talking about India, Fareed shows a typical mind-set of an 18 year old coming to America and making it. When he left India, it was a Nehru-Gandhi fiefdom. I also left India at the same time but was much older. Since then I have spent enough time going back and forth and understanding the post Nehru India. Fareed Zakaria and his family are the products of a Nehru legacy. Fareed has completely missed the second independence struggle led by P V Narasimha Rao (father of Modern India), Atal Bihari Vajpayee (the diplomat of India) and Dr Manmohan Singh (the architect of India). Pandit Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi only laid the foundation for India. It was Narasimha Rao, Manmohan Singh, Vajpayee, Advani and Chidambaram who actually built the country. Zakaria has dismissed a full term of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) as a brief accident. He considers BJP a ‘Hindu Nationalist Party’ and therefore not significant. Fareed must understand, we wouldn’t be talking about India but for BJP and the ‘Nuclear Explosions’. The world did not hear the GDP or the growth rate.

A conversation between Charlie Rose and Fareed Zakharia on May 1, 2008

What is a ‘Hindu Nationalist Party’?

Most of the ‘Western World’ and the pseudo secularists in India call the BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) a ‘Hindu Nationalist Party’. With the same yard-stick, the Republican Party in America should be called “White Christian Nationalist Party”. Just think about it! If Republican Party has a couple of ‘Black Faces’ in the party, the BJP has a couple of ‘Muslim Faces’. The GOP (Grand Old Party), as the Republican Party is called, is predominantly Christian, the BJP is predominantly Hindu. Both the GOP and the BJP are highly nationalistic since both parties focus on defense and ‘National Security’. Then why this double standard? The answer is simple. The Bhartiya Janata Party is openly jingoistic while the GOP is covertly racist. When it comes to governance, both have been reasonably moderate but strong on ‘National Defense’. The problem is that ‘American National Defense’ is a legitimate national concern but when it comes to ‘Indian National Defense’, it is considered fundamentalism.

The BJP has never governed India on it’s own because it was always considered a regional party. The GOP on the other hand has ruled for more than 100 years, coming to power again and again. Once a nationalistic party rules for an extended period of time, it tends to become even more moderate. The compulsions of governance make a party less ideological and more pragmatic. BJP during it’s tenure from October 13, 1999 to May 22, 2004 was reasonably moderate and responsible. The only significant aberration was the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat that were shameful to say the least. Not to forget that they were instigated by the minority community. The Congress Party that claims to be the moral conscience of the country was in charge at the time of 1984 Hindu-Sikh riots. Talk of Congress hypocrisy or Western connivance! It was the British Empire in India that introduced communal riots to divide and rule and American complicity with Pakistan to keep the pot boiling.