Which path to follow?

 

 

Consider Idi Amin and Robert Mugabe. While both stand as legendary examples of why Africa’s plight would forever remain an eternal saga, they also hold important lessons for the rabble rousers and chauvinists of Mumbai, i.e. Shiv Sena and MNS. To prove his indisputable devotion to the cause of Uganda and ethnic Ugandans, in early 1970’s President Idi Amin ushered on the ethnic South Asians residing in Uganda, an all out economic war. He not only forced them to flee but also usurped all the enterprises owned by them. And thus, he sowed the seeds of the economic collapse of Uganda. The ethnic South Asian fraternity in Uganda, had for long been the very backbone of Uganda’s economy. With their exit, the reverse march of the economy had only begun whose end is still not in sight. By 2000, Uganda had already entered the unenviable club of Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC).

What Idi Amin did, Robert Mugabe bettered. His endeavor to expropriate the fertile farmlands of the remaining white farmers and drive them away from Zimbabwe heralded the advent of an exemplary reign of economic chaos. Robert Mugabe and his brand of economic management through redistribution of the seized farmlands and enterprises (among the native Zimbabweans) made sure that he would take his country where few could ever reach. Today, Zimbabwe with an astounding 23 crore per cent inflation (unofficial figure stands at 516 quintillion per cent), a near 80 per cent unemployment, a GDP of a pittance of $3.5 billion and an economy where trillion dollar (Zimbabwean dollar) bank notes are a norm, has consistently created new benchmarks as to how badly an economy can be managed. At least, in this millennium, it’s difficult for anyone to beat Mugabe in his feats, except for some of his fellow African brothers, who could still give it a try. Essentially, one should not be surprised, if he is requested to give a lecture someday in global forums as to how he achieved this incredible avant garde.

The mindless and utter absurd regional chauvinism that is being spread in Mumbai is much akin to the acts of Amin and Mugabe. For long, Mumbai has been a harbinger of hope and dreams for Indians. People flock in there and don’t even mind to temporarily live a less dignified life (in ghettos) with the hope of a better tomorrow. The city in turn, seldom disappoints the hardworking and the enterprising. Thus, Mumbai has been for India what the US has been to the rest of the world: a place to nurture and incubate impossible dreams, a place to think and act ahead of time, a place with a never-say- die attitude and a place which in itself is a microcosm of the world. In essence, the success of US economy lies in the fact that there isn’t any ethnic US race. For ages, Jews along with people of Irish, Italian, Scottish, German, Spanish, English and of late Chinese and Indian origin have migrated to that place and through excellence and perseverance made it their nation of dreams. While the fanatic Hitler considered the Jewish community as a threat to Germany and through holocaust and World War II brought the world much mayhem and agony, it is the same ingenious Jewish community which has been the backbone of the incredible economic strides that US made since the end of World War II.

The ones, who are claiming to have absolute ownership of Mumbai today, should realize what differentiates US from the likes of Uganda and Zimbabwe. Without the Khan legacy of Bollywood, the enterprising Marwari and Gujrati communities, the legacy of Bengali music and the spirit of Punjabis, Mumbai would have just been another port with a natural harbor and not the ideal manifestation of India.