A Memorandum to the Government of India (1955)

http://indiapolicy.org/debate/Notes/friedman.htm

by jangid • 11 years ago

39 10 11 years ago

indiapolicy.org

TheMagicHorsey• 11 years ago

Excellent advice. If only it had been heeded then.

So many decades lost.

protomyth3• 11 years ago

I'm a way outsider and not as studied as I would like on India, but my question is "why hasn't India broken up further?".

argumentum3• 11 years ago

There's no "natural" reason why the subcontinent should be united or divided, rather the governing states that exist at any point in time are a function of history. Like Europe, India has at times been divided and other times united as a single polity (first under asoka ~300bc, then akbar ~1500ad and finally the Raj ~1850ad until independence).

If by "further" you refer to 1947 division of the subcontinent then it has in fact broken up again, in 1971 when East Pakistan became Bangladesh.

There is great value in being united of course, which is also the original intention behind the EU. When constituent states disagree or want to split up, like Telangana and Andhra Pradesh did recently, they can do it through a constitutional process rather than a war. Being a larger state also provides greater opportunities for its citizens.

As time has passed, the part called "India" today has faced a few separatist movements, but has held together primarily by creating a more successful shared narrative so it means something to be "Indian" in addition to being a Punjabi or Gujurati or Muslim, Hindu or Jain. This is likely to continue.

rvn1045• 11 years ago

Friedman had not won the Nobel prize during the time of this writing. Only later did he gain prominence and influence the economic policy making of several countries.

hga• 11 years ago

Well, he helped invent income tax withholding in WWII....

argumentum3• 11 years ago

This article converted me to classical liberalism when I first read it a decade ago.

jangid• 11 years ago

In the Indian context, till India achieves what it is capable of, this article will remain a guiding principle; and it will remain relevant.

A Memorandum to the Government of India (1955)

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