Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas: Sabka sath sabka vikas or surging ahead, hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder, is an excellent concept. It conveys almost everything for making this world a better place, than what it is and for flashing a glow on the faces of almost everybody, irrespective of his or her caste, creed, colour, religion, nationality, ideology and economic status and social and political affiliations. It provides a pointer towards a happy, purposeful and satisfying way of life. It contains the very essence of all that is good in the teachings of all religions. It reflects the cherished desires and yearnings of all and sundry. ‘United we stand’ is the celebrated dictum since times immemorial. Free trade agreements between states and regional and international co-operation agreements between them, are manifestations of the concept of Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas. League of Nations and United Nations were formed after the first world war and second world war for channelizing the tremendous potential of Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas for the protection of people from the scourge of war and for ushering an era of hassle free growth, peace and prosperity for all.
United States of America and Canada: USA and Canada were formed after the American rebellion or the war of American independence. America had declared independence in the year 1776 and the first president of USA was in position in 1789. However, the colonial war ultimately ended in 1815. Since then, USA and Canada have been living peacefully as independent sovereign states for the last two centuries. They have the longest common undefended border in the world. There is free trade and free travel between the two countries. They are the biggest partners in all social, cultural and economic activities. USA is almost ten times bigger than Canada in population and economic resources, but they have been able to maintain a very stable and mutually beneficial international relationship. The foreign policies of the two countries are independent, but their role in international affairs has been mutually supportive and complimentary. USA and Canada present a typical example of two independent countries, who have benefitted substantially from each other, due to lack of conflict, centuries of peace, understanding and mutual goodwill and co-operation.
India and Pakistan: India and Pakistan became two independent states after the partition of erstwhile state of India in 1947. They have fought wars and mini wars with each other and have the longest fenced and patrolled common border in the world, guarded by security forces and military personnel round the clock. Through good neighbourly relations, India and Pakistan had the potential for tremendous growth and development and for ushering in an era of plenty and prosperity for all their citizens. Unfortunately, mutual understanding, peace and co-operation have eluded them from the very beginning and a major share of the resources has been sucked in, by wars, miniwars and day to day conflicts and consequent bulging of the security and defence budgets.
Israel: With the lapse of British mandate and partition of Palestine in 1948, Israel came into existence as a Jewish State, surrounded by belligerent Arab neighbours. Israel is all desert with hardly any natural resources. However, the lore of the land drew a large number of gritty and hardworking Jews, scattered all over the world to the land of their dreams. They settled down in communities known as kibbutz and faced their initial days in extremely trying and nerve raking conditions. Those, who were not in a position to settle down in Israel, made substantial financial and other contributions for the development and growth of the state of Israel. From day one, the people of Israel have been fighting on all fronts and have emerged bigger and stronger after every engagement, local conflict and war. Israel is a living example of the people, who have been together, under thick and thin and have been able to make Israel one of the most developed countries of the world, under all types of trying and inhospitable conditions.
National Coalition in Britain during second world war: Munich Pact was signed in September 1938, by Britain and France on one side, with Germany and Italy on the other side, with the fond hope of restricting the expansionist designs of Germany in Europe. Germany was led by Adolf Hitler and Britain was represented by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who was very jubilant after the pact and declared in Britain that he had been able to seal a peace deal for hundred years. However, all hopes of a lasting peace turned out to be illusory and Britain entered the war against Germany on 3 September 1939, when Germany attacked Poland. Subsequently, German Blitzkreig propelled the fall of Denmark in April 1940, Norway in April 1940, Belgium in May 1940, Luxemburg in May 1940 and ultimately France in May 1940. Ground attack could not be launched on Britain at that time, as it was protected by the English Channel and the powerful Royal Navy. Panic buttons were pressed and the gold reserve of the Bank of England was transferred to the Bank of Canada at Montreal for safe custody and emergency plans were in offing for the functioning of the cabinet in exile from Canada, if need be. That was the time, when Neville Chamberlain resigned as prime minister on 10 May 1940 and a national coalition of all members of parliament elected Winston Churchill as the Prime Minister of Britain for the conduct of the war. People of Britain stood as one man, during the battle of Britain in 1940 and subsequent phases of war, till the tide of war turned and the war ended with the victory of allies in 1945.
Parliamentary Democracy: The parliamentary democracy, which is being followed by most of the countries of the world these days, took its roots in England in the later part of the eighteenth century. The government formed by the ruling party in Britain is known as His Majesty’s Government. Significantly, the opposition is known as His Majesty’s most loyal opposition. That is intended to provide a clear signal, that, the ruling party and the opposition are essentially components of the same government and they are expected to work in tandem for the welfare of the people and growth and development of the country. All efforts to use obstructionist and delaying tactics, hooliganism and unsavoury behaviour and stalling the proceedings of the parliament hurt the basic interests of the people and the growth and development of the country.
Autonomous institutions: Every creature in the world cherishes freedom. Leave it free and it fends for itself. Most establishments in the corporate sector are providing facilities for their people to work freely, without any barriers and hurdles for better productivity. Freedom brings out the best in man. Universities, IITs, Central Laboratories and a host of other public sector institutions and establishments involved in realms of higher education and research are made autonomous to enable them to work freely and to set benchmarks for innovation and excellence. However, in spite of the autonomy, they continue to remain institutions of the country and they are not expected to utilize their freedom for the promotion of subversive and unsocial activities, which may hurt the image and integrity of the country.
Writings on the wall: The world is sitting on a pile of nuclear devices. Countries are vying with each other in stockpiling more and more of all types of weapons of mass destruction. Scriptures of all known religions of the world have provided indications that the word is passing through the realms of doomsday, pralay or kayamat. Nobody has seen doomsday, parlay or kayamat, but, everybody knows, that, if somebody, knowingly, unknowingly or whimsically triggers the nuclear button, the world will change beyond recognition and all that people know under the name of civilization, scientific growth and development will disappear, leaving devastated wastelands almost everywhere.
Billions of people have been killed in wars going on since times immemorial, in different parts of the world. All wars had specific targets and did not involve civilian population and random killings. Gorillas fought against armies overwhelmingly stronger than their own in numbers and resources, but they never took recourse to random killings and did not hurt civilian population. Terrorists are a different breed altogether. They have their sleeper cells almost everywhere. They run training camps for the production and use of explosive devices. and strike at random places, where there is potential for maximum hurt, damage and devastation. They are not sensitive to casualties of civilians and innocent people and their actions lead to tremendous embarrassment for the governments. During the last few decades, the world had a taste of what the terrorist are capable of doing and in spite of a worldwide concern about their activities, the terrorists seem to be expanding their networks and are infiltrating in almost all countries of the world.
Writings are on the wall. World is beset with all types of physical and environmental problems. Even in ideal conditions, when there are no distractions and everybody joins hands, the problems of the world are colossal. Technology is great. It has spurred the process of growth and development and has brought about tremendous change in the lives of the people. Science, technology and management skills need to be geared further to boost the productive potential of the common man and to ensure that liberal opportunities for work are available to him in the remotest corners of the earth. Everybody has a yearning for freedom, peace, safety and security. However, the stark fact is that the people can get all that, if they manage to survive, and if the world survives. And the world will survive, if the people come out of their self imposed shells and start working for the welfare and overall growth and development of the sprawling humanity.