The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Globalisation unstoppable: Abid Hussain

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 28, 2005

Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Globalisation unstoppable: Abid Hussain

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN. 27. Renowned economist Abid Hussain has said India could gain nothing out of viewing globalisation with fear and suspicion, since it is an unstoppable process that will have to be confronted head-on.

Delivering the inaugural annual developmental lecture programme of the Kerala Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) here today, Dr. Hussain, a former member of the Planning Commission, said there were still many people in the country who perceived globalisation as a threat.

They feel it would usher in a new kind of colonisation, with the U.S. hegemony prevailing over the economy of the country. They also fear that globalisation will spell the doom of Indian culture.

Having been victims of colonisation for centuries, they cannot be faulted for entertaining such fears. "However, empires cannot come back. Those days are gone," he said.

He cited the instances of the U.S. military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq to substantiate his point.

Despite military victory in both countries, the U.S. could not make the people of these two countries to accept its desire to impose its supremacy over them and their right to decide their own destiny.

Big powers are no longer the powers they were earlier. They may have superior weapons and economic power.

But, they cannot impose their will on the people of the other countries, he said.

He attributed this super power handicap to the strength of technology, especially information technology.

The world now is knowledge-driven. Even monopolies are collapsing, because they get overtaken at every turn by unfolding new realms of knowledge.

Access to knowledge is no longer anyone's special privilege. "We have the wings to take flight and soar into the skies. None can stop us," Dr. Hussain said.

He said there would always be the tendency on the part of the powerful countries to exploit the weaker ones in the emerging world order under globalisation.

The Government here has to play its role to ensure that the country effectively counters such tendencies from outside, he said.

The Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, delivered the inaugural address at the lecture programme. The Industries Minister, V.K. Ebrahim Kunju, presided over the programme.

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