Or a Sri Lankan for that matter. Maybe
even a Samoan or Indonesian or Palestinian. Even being an Iraqi or a Vietnamese
or Namibian or Nicaraguan is better than being an Indian. Incendiary statements
coming from an Indian, aren’t they? Well, incendiary they may be for those who
vehemently offer the myriad reasons to prove why India (and therefore Indians)
are in the state it is. But there is at least one round table where members
from 193 countries around the world can sit together without hurling bombs at
each other. This is the UNITED NATIONS. Good or bad, useful or useless, this is
THE body where people go to in order to get their views known, to seek justice,
to find retribution for what they have done in the past or will do in the near
future. This is one body that tries to stand for global reason.
The opening statements are from a study
conducted by the very same United Nations. It is a study of member countries by
Human Development Index as included in a United Nations Development Programme's
Human Development Report. The latest report was released on 24 July 2014 and
compiled on the basis of estimates for 2013.
It is according to this report that puts
India in a list of countries categorised under MEDIUM HUMAN DEVELOPMENT INDEX.
It covers 185 member states along with
Hong Kong and the Palestinian territories; 8 UN member states are not included
because of lack of data.
The
Human Development Index (HDI) is a comparative measure of life expectancy,
literacy, education, standards of living and quality of life. It is a standard
means of measuring well-being, especially child welfare. It is used to
distinguish whether the country is a developed, a developing or an
underdeveloped country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on
quality of life. Interestingly, the Index was developed in 1990 by Pakistani
economist Mahbub ul Haq and Indian economist Amartya Sen.
Countries
fall into four broad human development categories: Very High Human Development,
High Human Development, Medium Human Development and Low Human Development.
Before I put my thoughts down, it might
be a good idea to take a look at the list first.
Rank Country HDI
VERY HIGH HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
1 Norway 0.944
2 Australia 0.933
3 Switzerland 0.917
4 Netherlands 0.915
5 United States 0.914
6 Germany 0.911
7 New Zealand 0.910
8 Canada 0.902
9 Singapore 0.901
10 Denmark 0.900
11 Ireland 0.899
12 Sweden 0.898
13 Iceland 0.895
14 United Kingdom 0.892
15 Hong Kong 0.891
15 Korea, South 0.891
17 Japan 0.890
18 Liechtenstein 0.889
19 Israel 0.888
20 France 0.884
21 Austria 0.881
21 Belgium 0.881
21 Luxembourg 0.881
24 Finland 0.879
25 Slovenia 0.874
26 Italy 0.872
27 Spain 0.869
28 Czech Republic 0.861
29 Greece 0.853
30 Brunei
Darussalam 0.852
31 Qatar 0.851
32 Cyprus 0.845
33 Estonia 0.840
34 Saudi Arabia 0.836
35 Lithuania 0.834
35 Poland 0.834
37 Andorra 0.830
37 Slovakia 0.830
39 Malta 0.829
40 United Arab Emirates 0.827
41 Chile 0.822
41 Portugal 0.822
43 Hungary 0.818
44 Bahrain 0.815
44 Cuba 0.815
46 Kuwait 0.814
47 Croatia 0.812
48 Latvia 0.810
49 Argentina 0.808
HIGH HUMAN DEVELPMENT
50 Uruguay 0.790
51 Bahamas 0.789
51 Montenegro 0.789
53 Belarus 0.786
54 Romania 0.785
55 Libya 0.784
56 Oman 0.783
57 Russia 0.778
58 Bulgaria 0.777
59 Barbados 0.776
60 Palau 0.775
61 Antigua and Barbuda 0.774
62 Malaysia 0.773
63 Mauritius 0.771
64 Trinidad and Tobago 0.766
65 Lebanon 0.765
65 Panama 0.765
67 Venezuela 0.764
68 Costa Rica 0.763
69 Turkey 0.759
70 Kazakhstan 0.757
71 Mexico 0.756
71 Seychelles 0.756
73 Saint Kitts
and Nevis 0.750
73 Sri Lanka 0.750
75 Iran 0.749
76 Azerbaijan 0.747
77 Jordan 0.745
77 Serbia 0.745
79 Brazil 0.744
79 Georgia 0.744
79 Grenada 0.744
82 Peru 0.737
83 Ukraine 0.734
84 Belize 0.732
84 Macedonia 0.732
86 Bosnia and
Herzegovina 0.731
87 Armenia 0.730
88 Fiji 0.724
89 Thailand 0.722
90 Tunisia 0.721
91 China 0.719
91 Saint Vincent
and the Grenadines 0.719
93 Algeria 0.717
93 Dominica 0.717
95 Albania 0.716
96 Jamaica 0.715
97 Saint Lucia 0.714
98 Colombia 0.711
98 Ecuador 0.711
100 Suriname 0.705
100 Tonga 0.705
102 Dominican Republic 0.700
MEDIUM HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
103 Maldives 0.698
103 Mongolia 0.698
103 Turkmenistan 0.698
106 Samoa 0.694
107 Palestine 0.686
108 Indonesia 0.684
109 Botswana 0.683
110 Egypt 0.682
111 Paraguay 0.676
112 Gabon 0.674
113 Bolivia 0.667
114 Moldova 0.663
115 El Salvador 0.662
116 Uzbekistan 0.661
117 Philippines 0.660
118 South Africa 0.658
118 Syria 0.658
120 Iraq 0.642
121 Guyana 0.638
121 Vietnam 0.638
123 Cabo Verde 0.636
124 Micronesia 0.630
125 Guatemala 0.628
125 Kyrgyzstan 0.628
127 Namibia 0.626
128 Timor Leste 0.620
129 Honduras 0.617
129 Morocco 0.617
131 Vanuatu 0.616
132 Nicaragua 0.614
133 Kiribati 0.607
133 Tajikistan 0.607
135 India 0.586
136 Bhutan 0.584
136 Cambodia 0.584
138 Ghana 0.573
139 Laos 0.569
140 Congo,
Republic of the 0.564
141 Zambia 0.561
142 Bangladesh 0.558
142 São Tomé and
Príncipe 0.558
144 Equatorial Guinea 0.556
LOW HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
145 Nepal 0.540
146 Pakistan 0.537
147 Kenya 0.535
148 Swaziland 0.530
149 Angola 0.526
150 Myanmar 0.524
151 Rwanda 0.506
152 Cameroon 0.504
152 Nigeria 0.504
154 Yemen 0.500
155 Madagascar 0.498
156 Zimbabwe 0.492
157 Papua New Guinea 0.491
157 Solomon Islands 0.491
159 Comoros 0.488
159 Tanzania 0.488
161 Mauritania 0.487
162 Lesotho 0.486
163 Senegal 0.485
164 Uganda 0.484
165 Benin 0.476
166 Sudan 0.473
166 Togo 0.473
168 Haiti 0.471
169 Afghanistan 0.468
170 Djibouti 0.467
171 Côte d'Ivoire 0.452
172 Gambia 0.441
173 Ethiopia 0.435
174 Malawi 0.414
175 Liberia 0.412
176 Mali 0.407
177 Guinea-Bissau 0.396
178 Mozambique 0.393
179 Guinea 0.392
180 Burundi 0.389
181 Burkina Faso 0.388
182 Eritrea 0.381
183 Sierra Leone 0.374
184 Chad 0.372
185 Central
African Republic 0.341
186 Congo,
Democratic Republic of the 0.338
187 Niger 0.337
Ok. Now that you have gone through the
list, I am sure you have raised your eyebrows seeing some countries listed as
high as they have been, while others may not compare so favourably. Some countries
might seem to have applied “undue pressure” on the people undertaking the
survey to ensure they are where they are and not where they should be. I am already
hearing comments about partisanship, lobbying, etc. After all, we are the
argumentative Indian and we see conspiracies everywhere, don’t we?
Be that as it may, let us allow the
benefit of the doubt to the United Nations. Some figures may seem awry but in
general it certainly mirrors world reality. Not that Niger at the bottom of the
pile would necessarily agree with that, like I suspect will any country that does
not feature on the Very High Human Development Index list.
We keep talking about how India is the
greatest democracy in the world, a culture going back five thousand years, a
future that is ready to sit at the table of elders once again. But when one
looks at the Index and India’s position in it, it is really shameful. I can
hear claps too that India scores higher than our esteemed neighbours Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Nepal. “See, we are better than them,” is what I hear the proud
defendants our of our status say. What I do not hear asked is how are we not in
the high table list? That question asked brings about conspiracy theories,
theories about white supremacy, of a world that is unipolar and either you are
with us or against us.
Let us look at India dispassionately and
see what we have to show to the world of today. Headlines around the world talk
about India’s prowess at having invented the aircraft thousands of years ago,
of having pioneered the science of plastic surgery probably even before that.
India boasted of missile and fissile technology even before they were words in
our lexicon. We hear of a theocratic society belonging to the followers of a
single faith (again, either you are with us or you are against us), of
graciously bringing back home the prodigal children who deviated from the
faith. Anyone who does not conform is blasphemous and free to find residence
beyond our shores. More often than not, it is in the land of our neighbours to
the immediate West. Either you are the progeny of the Lord Rama or come from uncertain
parentage. If you are found cohabiting with a loved one, you are considered
married. If you are found holding hands as you walk down the park with your
loved one on Valentine’s Day, the powers that be will see that you are married
off immediately ... at their expense I assume.
And this tribe seems to be growing with
each passing day. If not in numbers, at least in public share of voice and the volume
of their diatribe. It is seen to be exceedingly dangerous to have a contrarian
view about things that belong to the now infamous Hindu culture. The powers
that be continue to extol on the virtue of a Hindu Nation, telling people that
it is about a way of life and not about a particular faith. This while their
extended family leaves no one in doubt as to which form that particular way of
life should take. Public debates have reduced to name calling. Parliament,
Central as well as in the States, has become a sham. The less said about the
police force around the country, the better. Government accolades are being
handed out like they were going out of fashion. Temples and statues are being
proposed to so-called heavyweights, past and present.
This is the India we live in today. And
yet, what some have called the bhakts (or believers), still live in the past,
revelling in what once was, forgetting what made India such a great Nation so
many thousands of years ago. The culture of tolerance has given way to bigotry
and India is slowly turning into the la la land of what many nations around the
world have descended into.
Is it possible to bring back the glory
days? Yes. Is it going to be in my lifetime? I doubt it very much. Not in my
lifetime, and probably not in the lifetime of my children, if current trends
are anything to go by. As they say, things have to get a lot worse before they
start to become better.
Meanwhile, it is better to be a
Mongolian than an Indian. Sad, but unfortunately very true.
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