The focus for criticism

India’s unprecedented and continued success offers ample material for its vigilant critics to downplay actual achievements, says NOEL G DESOUZA.

India has fascinated Europe for centuries. The great voyages of discovery (Spanish and Portuguese) were intended to discover sea routes to India. Ever since, two dominant modes have persisted in perceiving India either as an exotic and colourful country, or as a country reeking of poverty and backwardness. The latter perception is academically promoted as the Traditional Society Theory, wherein developmental ills are attributed to traditional social structures (in India’s case these being caste and religion).

Latin American social scientists, incensed at the misrepresentation of their countries’ developmental problems, champion the alternative Dependency Theory, which explains colonial backwardness as resulting from exploitive structures set up by colonial powers. They argue that traditional society explanations are an excuse to cover colonial exploitation.

India has been getting away from the above two situations, along with other emerging economies like China and Brazil. No satisfactory theory has yet been developed to explain India’s evolving success. Indeed, UN agencies are manufacturing reports denying India’s success with the ridiculous claim that the majority of its people live in poverty which surpasses sub-Saharan Africa.  

There is much talk about incomplete venues, but completed projects like Delhi’s modern airport and its new metro system are being ignored in the foreign media.

The world’s eyes are now focussed on India because of the Commonwealth Games. There are perpetual critics of the country whose reactions to the Games can be predicted in advance. Remember what happened when the Beijing Olympics were about to begin? China had to face criticism that areas consisting of old dilapidated housing were being cleared to build Olympic facilities. There was initially much talk about the quality of air in Beijing and when steps were taken to reduce air pollution, the critics shifted the focus to human rights and the unrelated Tibet issue.

The expected lines of attack against India follow a familiar pattern. If there are problems with completing games venues, then India’s “inefficiency” will be highlighted. There is already talk about incomplete venues, but completed projects like Delhi’s modern airport and its new metro system are being ignored in the foreign media. If the Games appear to be succeeding, critics will talk about money being wasted on the Games and not being spent on the poor.

It is normal to expect the usual foreign criticism because habitual critics jump on the bandwagon, no matter what the issue. Similar views can be expected from local critics. It is baffling when Mani Shankar Aiyar (a Congress MP of the Rajya Sabha) said he wished the Games to fail because he believed that only evil will patronize the games!  His views have been brushed aside by both the government and the opposition.

The alleged corruption involved in the granting of contracts for the Games is manna to India’s critics because such news can be expected to be given prominence in parts of the foreign media even though its veracity remains to be proven.

(India) has immense scientific achievements to show to the world, such as its very successful space program with which it is forging ahead.

The British Prime Minister David Cameron’s visit which took place only weeks prior to the Games, has become like a prelude to the Commonwealth Games. His high-level large ministerial delegation has been described as a mission to create jobs. Britain sees the potential for nuclear power plants and cooperation in scientific areas like space and computers.

The British Prime Minister is following in the steps of his Portuguese and French counterparts. These former colonial powers now see potential for trade and other co-operation in India. Not surprisingly, Mr Cameron’s visit evoked criticised in parts of the British press. However, the British Minister for Business, Vince Cable, whose first wife Olympia Rebello was of Goan origin (sadly deceased), has eulogised India’s “remarkable economic transformation … within half a century.” 

India is not showcasing itself exclusively by the Commonwealth Games.  It has immense scientific achievements to show to the world, such as its very successful space program with which it is forging ahead. Again, that is another area that evoked criticism less than a decade ago when India announced its desire to become a major space player. The main criticism at that time was the habitual pious-sounding statement that the large expenditure required for the space program could instead be spent on feeding its poor.

The necessity of the space program for studying and controlling India’s resources and the spin-offs it provides for defence were ignored by such critics. The success of the space ventures has silenced them. India is earning money from its space program by selling satellite images and providing satellite launch facilities. It continues to fire rockets with multiple satellites from several countries. ISRO’s Chairman K. Radhakrishnan has announced several new projects such as a Regional Navigational Satellite System which has both civilian and defence uses. 

May the Delhi Commonwealth Games succeed and may the infrastructure developed for the occasion serve that city for a long time to come, just like the Sydney Olympics has done.