At bottom, operation sindoor and the near outbreak of yet another major war between India and neigbouring Pakistan, is the outcome of secession of the subcontinent’s educated middle class from the political arena in both countries.
Although over the past 77 years India and Pakistan have graduated legions of college and university graduates, many of whom have pressed on to graduate from the best HEIs (higher education institutions) worldwide, the academy and well-educated individuals are under-represented in their legislative assemblies and executive governments. Middle class households prefer their progeny to enter civil and defence services, the professions (law, medicine) and organized corporate sector. It’s rare for an educated middle class family without a history in politics to encourage children to enter the hurly burly of the political theatre.
Consequently politics in the twin nations is dominated by political dynasties and less educated lower middle class citizens pushed into politics by unemployablility and desperation. And although it is dangerous to generalize, it’s a proven verity that pampered dynasts and politicians with perfunctory education tend to be driven by one or more of the seven deadly sins rather than idealism, logic and rational problem-solving skills.
It’s noteworthy that India’s freedom movement which acquired momentum after the First World War, was organized by highly educated and learned leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, J. Nehru, Sardar Patel and Dr. Ambedkar, among scores of others. For almost three years they intelligently discussed, debated and shaped the Constitution of India. In Pakistan, a nation mid-wifed by religious insecurity, after the premature death of their urbane and educated founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah, power and governance slipped into the hands of conservative Islamic theologians and army generals who tend to shoot first and reason later.
Clearly and contrary to the demagougery of reckless war-mongers in politics and media, another full-scale war between our two countries is not in the interest of the people of both neighbour nations mired in poverty, illiteracy and ignorance. The status of Kashmir, which is central to prolonged hostility and had pushed the two nuclear-armed countries into four full-fledged wars, needs to be rationally debated and negotiated with cooperation of the people of the valley.
Obviously hammering out a solution acceptable to both neighbour nations and the people of Kashmir will require bona fide debate and deep negotiation. But a new beginning to resolve this intractable issue needs to be made with the best minds from academia and the intelligentsia co-opted into the problem-solving process. The war hysteria orchestrated by TV news channels will not influence the educated middle class which is — or should be — aware that the heaviest price of armed conflict is paid by the poorest at the bottom of the pyramid with whom our two nations are overly endowed.
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