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‘Time to form South Asian Economic Union with soft borders'
- Veteran journalist and former diplomat Kuldip Nayar on Tuesday backed the emerging idea for
formation of a South Asian Economic Union with “soft borders” among the nations and free movement of people, which he said would promote understanding and cooperation and unite people across the boundaries.- The economic union in the Indian subcontinent would be a reality within the next 30 years: “It would not be in my lifetime, but the next generation will certainly witness a new era of peace and harmony in this region.”
- He also recalled the “betrayal” by China starting from building a road in Aksai Chin and culminating in the military attack on India without any provocation in 1962. The Chinese attack shattered Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, as he earlier thought that a Communist nation would not harm a developing country.
- Mr Nayar, a former Indian High Commissioner to Britain and the noted columnist-activist, who was jailed during the 1975-77 Emergency, said the Emergency was a watershed period in India's history as it changed all norms for governance.
- “Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and Mr. Shastri were old guards who espoused the ethos adopted during our freedom struggle,” the veteran journalist said, adding that everything changed during the “despotic rule” of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
- He said civil society in modern India should stand up and speak out against corruption rampant in the system and criminalisation of politics. “[Social activist and anti-graft crusader] Anna Hazare is only a symbol. We should have more people like him,”
- Mr. Nayar said the journalists, should not only be independent, but should also be “anti-Establishment”.
