Dear Editor,
ON January 26, 1950, India became a republic. It was an important date, as it marked a complete break with British colonial power.
At that time India was in dire straits, the country was divided and hundreds of thousands died in communal violence.
Economically, it was one of the poorest in the world. India’s share of the world economy was only three percent in 1947. A fall of 27 percent in 1700, when Great Britain colonized it. Its manufacturing was almost non-existent, only seven percent of GDP in 1947 and exports manufactured only two percent.
Hunger and fame were the main news coming out of that country.
This year India is celebrating its 71st birthday in another momentous time in the world.
COVID-19 has been destroying our world, killing more than a million and seriously damaging the world economy. Millions are unemployed.
India, while also facing major problems caused by COVID, has not isolated itself as some countries in the world have done. Not just selfish thinking but helping the world overcome this terrible disease. Already, it has given more than a million vaccines to its neighbors and is carrying out applications further afield, including the Caribbean.
India is doing this while the West is buying up and trying to hoard vaccines for their own populations. Canada, for example, has purchased more than five times its population needs.
But India is more than a vaccine power.
In the last 71 years India has become a major power in science and technology – one of the world’s leaders in ICT.
It has sent probes to outer space at a cost lower than other countries doing the same.
It is a manufacturing power, producing high quality machinery and equipment.
This country achieved this because of the quality of leadership, the enlightened leadership provided mainly by its first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, a gentle giant.
Nehru focused on building the human capital of India. He started building world-class educational institutions that have respected his country today.
More importantly, democracy sank deep into Indian society. His respect for democratic norms, for Parliament, for the courts, is legendary.
He was more than just an Indian leader. He was an intense internationalist.
On the world stage the former colonies organized to defend their sovereignty against the superpower politics of the post-war period. He organized with Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Tito of Yugoslavia and Sukarno of Indonesia the Non-Aligned Movement which made an important contribution to international relations during the Cold War and helped protect the independence of post-colonial societies.
Jawaharlal Nehru was an ardent thinker, internationalist and philanthropist of enormous proportions.
On this birthday, I salute the Great Soul!
Yours faithfully,
Donald Ramotar
Former President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana