The Blind Alley of Development
In the recent conflict between India and Pakistan, and that
between Iran and Israel, the true winners were the Chinese J10c fighter jets
whose market value soared, and the Irani missiles that crossed over 2000 km,
enough of them causing strategic damage. The losers were French Rafale jets
whose market plummeted, and the Iron Dome and David’s Sling whose invincibility
was shattered. Few are concerned about
the millions of dollars these killing machines cost, and human casualties and
homes destroyed are of even less consequence. Colonel Douglas McGregor in a
sobering interview with Jay Martin, tellingly titled Follow the Money, Not the
Missiles, revealed the financial motives of faceless investors behind
neutralizing countries that are seen to be an obstacle in accessing control of
resources.
Is this the final achievement of becoming a modern state? A
naïve question, but it is the naïve who are roused to battle, to laying down
their lives for what turns out to be vested economic interests.
Sociologist, Wolfgang Sachs, says “development has changed
the face of the earth, but not in the way it had intended”. Development was meant
to enable “escape from the undignified condition called underdevelopment”.
To achieve this, he says, nations were expected to follow
Athenian ideas of democracy, read the English novel, follow US guidelines on
parenting, emulate western social values, and educational and economic systems.
Monolithic notions of development set aside the history and
traditions of individual countries to line them up in lanes of a race track to
“graduate” countries from LDCs ( Low Development Countries) to LICs ( Low
Income Countries) and finally to MEDCs ( More Economically Developed Countries)
such as United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, a race
which of course they can never be allowed to win, but eternally strive for, becoming
what one may call EDCs (Eternally Dependent Countries).
Modern is a relative term. There are many historical
examples of progressive nations that modernized. 5000 years ago, the Indus
Valley Civilization was probably the first example of organized urban planning,
with an extensive trade network, standardized weights, well planned housing,
sanitation, a seemingly peaceful, egalitarian society, and granary and water
storage systems.
By the 5th Century, the Gupta dynasty had
established the golden age of India with political stability and significant
advancements in literature, astronomy, mathematics, medicine, and art. India
soon became the world's largest economy.
In the 7th century, the Khalifa Umar ( RA)
established the first modern welfare state. The bait ul mal was established to
fund development projects and the welfare of the needy. Administrative departments managed different
aspects of the state, along with a special department for the investigation of
complaints against the officers of the State. There was an independent
judiciary, a salaried state army and police, with a list of able-bodied reserve
army when needed, regulation of prices and licensing of traders, urban
planning, formal schooling and the protection of minorities. With the expansion of Islam, many of these
ideas filtered into Europe.
These great ages stand lost in time devalued by the great
disruption. Yet the distinct identities
of many nations lumped together as underdeveloped, has survived through art, craft,
song, dance, language and story-telling.
Perhaps as in Pakistan where only 8% speak English as their first
language, they remain uninfluenced by the ‘influencers’. The Ghanian concept of
Sankofa - "go back and gather",
is seen as a powerful tool for
navigating changes while maintaining a strong and spiritual sense of identity. As
Mir Taqi Mir wrote “chashm ho to aina-khana hai dahr/munh nazar aata hai
divaron ke biich” (If you have the eyes to see, time is a house of mirrors. You
see your reflection within each wall).
While governments of developing countries are pressured to follow
the European ideal of progress, the larger community lives within their
vernacular spaces, picking and choosing technologies and systems deemed useful
while maintaining their traditional practices. The governments need to catch up
with the people, to redefine the trajectory of progress, and look for success
in the eyes of the people rather than intergovernmental agencies.
Some governments have done just that. Guyana is the only
country in the world that has complete food self-sufficiency. In 2020, the
agricultural budget was increased by 400% and young people were encouraged to
turn to farming. Burkina Faso’s strategic disruption of foreign exploitation
keeps the nation’s eye on long-term goals of dignity and self-reliance. Their
message: It’s time to move on.
Durriya Kazi
June 29,
2025
Karachi
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