India: From Splendid Past to Prosperous Future

The peacock is the national bird of India. In Hindu tradition, the bird is the vahana (vehicle) of Kartikkeya, also known as Skanda the god of war.

India has had an image makeover over the last two decades and rightly so. The nation, once known more for its mystical traditions and depressing poverty, has gradually shed the not too flattering sobriquets of the past. In the world’s eyes now, the country is an emerging economic power. A land where millions have emerged from poverty in a relatively short span of time, where the economic fortunes of several more millions are set to transform for the better in the years to come. Now, most famous as the leading destination for information technology and other services outsourcing, India has reaped the benefits of globalization more than most other countries. A stable democracy where the rule of law is respected, India has become one of the most favored destinations for global investment capital.

The South Asian country, which was a British colony for close to two centuries, gained independence two years after World War II. Jawaharlal Nehru, its first Prime Minister, ushered in democracy on the eve of August 15, 1947 with these words: “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.” It took more than four decades since that day for the country to start believing in itself and it is only now that India has truly awakened to life. Today, the nation has earned its rightful place as a significant player in the global economy and a political and military force to reckon with.

History

Freedom free of violence

India owes its name to Indus, a majestic river that meanders through its northern parts before wandering over to Pakistan and finally flowing into the Arabian Sea. On its banks, around 4,500 years ago, flourished one of the world’s oldest and greatest civilizations. India’s story of evolution began here. In fact, the genesis of the entire Indian Subcontinent — the South Asian Peninsula that includes modern-day India, Pakistan, and other countries — lies in the Indus Valley Civilization. All countries of the subcontinent share a common history of dynastic rules, such as those of the Mauryas, Guptas, and Mughals, as well as the shared suffering of loot and plunder by invaders like the Greeks, Persians, Turks, and Huns.

In the 18^th Century, the British came to the subcontinent to trade and exploit the deep political divisions among the several hundred minor kingdoms to gain political control of the entire country. They eventually dethroned the weak Mughal ruler and created the Indian Empire, which included today’s India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. That rule lasted nearly two centuries.

British rule battered India, both socially and economically. However, it was only at the turn of the 20^th Century that a concerted freedom struggle gained momentum throughout the country under the leadership of M.K. Gandhi, the world’s most enduring symbol of peace and non-violence.

Outmaneuvered by Gandhi’s non-violent resistance movement, the British eventually left the subcontinent. Their last political act of dividing the sub-continent into two nations – India, a secular country with a largely Hindu population, and Pakistan, a Muslim state – shadows the political climate in the region even today. The partition triggered one of the largest mass displacements in human history. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims fled India to Pakistan and an equal number of Hindus and Sikhs migrated from Pakistan to India. The exodus was marked by riots and bloodshed, which took their toll on the economies of both the infant nations. Despite Pakistan’s disapproval, India’s slice of the pie included Kashmir, a state with a largely Muslim population, a move which increased the bitterness of the separation. To this day, this remains a sore point between the two countries, which have fought as many as three wars over the issue. The state of Jammu and Kashmir remains troubled by terrorist activities of separatists, including Islamic fundamentalists, who want the region to be either merged with Pakistan or given the status of a separate nation.