India

From RationalWiki

Jump to: navigation, search

India is a very large, very, very, very populated developing country (approximately one billion (109) examples of Homo sapiens). It is very proud of its spiritual heritage, having given the world both Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also a very fractious country.

There is a great deal of controversy over whether Indians have the necessary sense of identity to qualify as a nation, particularly considering the great religious, ethnic, and linguistic divides within the modern Indian state. However, by being a functioning democracy since independence (with only short-lived eras of dictatorship under Indira Gandhi), it is definitely a functional state.

Contents

[edit] Politics

India also serves as an example that shows that Eastern polytheistic religions are not as immune to fundamentalism and violence as many in the West like to believe. The constitution of India guarantees religious freedom for all. However religious extremism is an important factor among parts of the country's population, as seen in the success of the Hindu fundamentalist (commonly known as Hindu nationalist) Bharatiya Janata Party [1] (BJP, in English, Indian People's Party), the second largest political party in the country. The BJP have incited a great deal of hatred and violence against Muslims and Christians living in India.

The largest political party in India is the secular Indian National Congress [2] (INC). The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [3] is an influential national party which opposes Hindu fundamentalism and globalization, and led a coalition of leftist parties which provides the crucial support necessary for the current Congress government to be in power.

India along with other seven South Asian countries, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan and Afghanistan, is part of a regional coalition named SAARC, though there are internal hostilities between India and Pakistan in SAARC which make SAARC an ineffective multinational alliance.

[edit] Economy

After independence in 1947, India tried to implement socialist type economy. India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was a socialist. However it was a socialist mixed economy rather than Soviet-style command economy. India's economy was framed in this model until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. After USSR's dissolution, India adopted the Washington consensus and started to open the market to the private sector. From that time India's economy is rapidly growing with a GDP of $1 trillion[4] and a GDP growth rate of approximately 9.1%.[5] Some have estimated India will be the third largest economy behind the US and China by the mid century.[6] However despite this, poverty is a severe problem in India. Approximately 27.5% Indian live below poverty line.[7] Nearly 14.3% of the population live on less than $1 a day.[8] Bureaucratic corruption is also a severe problem in India and it makes economic progress slow.

[edit] Military

Militarily India is the strongest country in South Asia. Indian military is third largest in the world in terms of military personnel. Indian Army is the second largest standing army, Indian Navy is the fifth largest navy[9] and Indian Air Force is the fourth largest air force in the world.[10] Historically Indian military was heavily relied upon Soviet arms and technical assistance, although it continuously developed indigenous technology. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, India have build most modern military technologies indigenously or with collaboration with foreign countries. Indian Air Force maintains approximately 1300 combat and non-combat aircrafts,[11] Indian Army maintain nearly 5000 main battle tanks[12] and Indian Navy employs 155 vessels[13] including one air craft carrier. Six nuclear powered submarines are in construction in India[14] and the navy is undergoing a rapid modernization and expansion. Aircrafts of the Indian Air Force include 4.5 generation fighter Sukhoi Su-30MKI which is IAF's primary air superiority aircraft. India is a de facto nuclear weapon state. At present India possesses two intermediate range ballistic missiles Agni II with a range of 2,000–2,500 km and Agni III with a range of 3,500 km. India is developing an intercontinental ballistic missile named Surya.[15] However this military is vastly smaller in size compared to China. For example China maintains approximately 2000 combat aircrafts while the IAF maintains only 700 combat aircrafts. The military is also outnumbered by the US military or Russian military, though it is strong enough to keep in mind that India is a developing country.

There are human rights concern associated with the Indian military. The Indian peacekeeping force in Sri Lanka is accused of human rights violation.[16] According to the Human Right Watch,[17]

“ Attacks on civilians by militant groups[18] and Indian security forces continued unabated before and after the change in government. Notwithstanding the repeal of POTA,[19] the government continues to use other legislation to shield security forces from accountability. Indian military, paramilitary, and police forces have engaged in serious human rights abuses not just in conflict-zones such as Kashmir,[20] but also when dealing with criminal suspects and detainees. ”

[edit] Gay rights

Gay rights is a severe human rights concern in India. The Indian society is vocally homophobic. Homosexuality in India is punishable by lifelong imprisonment. Some may argue to describe the situation that being a gay in India is a more crime than being a money launderer. It has been argued that the Victorian era values imposed by the British colonialists have influence on this homophobia and anti-gay laws.[21][22] However homosexuality was not socially acceptable in ancient India. The Hindu fundamentalist BJP is an openly homophobic party. Till date, no political party in India with the only exception the Communist Party of India (Marxist)[23] has voiced support for the legalization of homosexuality.

[edit] See also

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Bharatiya Janata Party.
  2. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on Indian National Congress.
  3. ↑ See the Wikipedia article on The Communist Party of India (Marxist).
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ [2]
  6. ↑ [3]
  7. ↑ [4]
  8. ↑ [5]
  9. ↑ [6]
  10. ↑ [7]
  11. ↑ [8]
  12. ↑ [9]
  13. ↑ [10]
  14. ↑ [11]
  15. ↑ [12]
  16. ↑ [13]
  17. ↑ [14]
  18. ↑ Insurgent groups operating in India against the Indian government
  19. ↑ Prevention of Terrorism Act, a controversial act which was criticized by human rights activists for human rights violations
  20. ↑ A disputed territory which is the source of military conflicts between India and Pakistan
  21. ↑ [15]
  22. ↑ [16]
  23. ↑ [17]
Retrieved from "http://rationalwiki.com/wiki/India"
Personal tools