Special Issue |
“India can be a major power if it improves the standard of living”
"NUCLEAR weapons alone can neither make India a superpower nor get it respect or status in the community of nations", says Ujjal Dosanjh, a former Premier of British Columbia (the first Indo-Canadian to hold the post). "What can make India a real superpower is its socio-economic development. "I agree that possession of nuclear weapons as a deterrent is important. It has its own value but in terms of getting respect and earning the status of a superpower in the community of nations, it does not work. "Those nations which are economically sound and have a strong social fabric with high standards of quality of life not only get respect but also face no threats from other nations," feels Dosanjh, currently on a visit to India. Dosanjh, who hails from Dosanjh Kalan, near Phagwara, and moved to Canada as a teenager, is a lawyer by profession and headed the NDP Government in British Columbia. After the last provincial elections a couple of years ago, he quit politics and joined the law practice of his two sons. He says his experiences of visiting his motherland in 1977, 1985, 1993 and 1999 have been "varied" and "nostalgic". "I strongly feel that we have a dishonest or numb society which does not react to growing dirt, filth, social inequalities and corruption. "Unfortunately, there
is no one who has come forward to fight these battles for the
countrymen. The other day, I was reading a book by an American author
about the contributions being made by certain NGOs in fighting battles
against dirt, filth, illiteracy and corruption. |
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"I am a Gandhian by belief. In my opinion, India has to focus on quality of life indicators to improve the standard of living in the country. It is these social indicators which made the UN declare Canada as the best country to live in. You have multiple problems of poor sanitation, inadequate healthcare, poor or non-existent education system and rampant corruption. These indicators of quality of life have to be moved upwards. Once India is able to do that, it will be a superpower to reckon with. "I am convinced that India does not need much from the outside world. It has got so much of its own. We have enough of natural resources. We are second to none. If we are not a superpower as yet, it is because we have not done what we should have done in the past 55 years," he adds. Dosanjh, who was one of the recipients of Pravasi Bharati Samman presented by the Prime Minister in New Delhi on January 9, remarked in a lighter vein that most of the Indians whom he met during his present visit, wanted the Indian diaspora to also play a role in making India a superpower. "It is time for India
to launch its second struggle for Independence or freedom. This time it
has to get freedom from corruption. They tell us that even when the
Indians were fighting the British, the Indian diaspora played its role.
They recall the role Mahatma Gandhi, the Ghadar Movement or others who
returned from abroad to fight for the country's Independence. |