Dragon vs Elephant

China is fast outpacing India in terms of national competitiveness, but needs to learn from India's legal system and protection of “vulnerable” groups, the country's top think-tank has said in a report.

A report on “national competitiveness” released by the official Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), which is China's leading think-tank, also forecast that China would become the world's second-most powerful nation after the United States by 2050, and overtake the U.S. to become the largest economy in 2030.

CASS publishes “blue books” ranking countries in terms of national power, which are widely read by academics and officials here. Many CASS scholars advise the government on policy issues.

The findings of this report, which measured economic factors, were published in many official newspapers on Tuesday. While the rankings are a subjective assessment by Chinese scholars, who assigned points on criteria ranging from progress in science and culture to technology and workforce talent, they are a reflection of how academics here view their country's position with respect to other nations.

The report ranked China 17th overall in terms of national competitiveness in 2008. India was ranked at 42, one spot below Bulgaria and ahead of Kazakhstan.

“China's overall national competitiveness is slightly stronger than India, but India is ahead of China in some areas,” said Ni Pengfei, the editor of the report.

The report pointed to the rule of law, protection of vulnerable groups and the preservation of traditional culture as areas where China ranked lower than India.

The study featured a detailed comparison of China's and India's respective advantages. It said before the year 2000, the two countries were “at a similar level,” but in the last decade China made “quick adjustments” that had resulted in a widening gap in competitiveness, since 2004.

India had “obvious advantages” in industrial structure, the report said, pointing to a services sector which accounted for 52.94 per cent of economic growth, compared with China's 41.89 per cent. It forecast “a more intense level of competition” for resources between “the world's two fastest growing countries.”

“China's comprehensive competitiveness has seen a leapfrog promotion over the past two decades, and it has huge potential and strong capability to catch up with and surpass developed nations in the future,” said Mr. Ni.

China, however, lagged behind the U.S. and Europe when it came to higher education, technological talent and cultural appeal. The report particularly stressed that China needed to do more to boost its soft power, amid increasingly negative perceptions of China's rise both in the West and among its neighbours.

“We should think of a country's cultural power when talking about its national competitiveness,” Chen Shaofeng, a scholar at Peking University, told the China Daily.

China should learn from India by encouraging religious beliefs and promoting democratic values, a retired official of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has said in a commentary that has stirred debate in Chinese cyberspace.

China also needed to follow India's example in strategic affairs, devoting more attention to its navy to project power across the oceans and being steadfast in enforcing its territorial claims — as India was over Arunachal Pradesh — wrote Song Zhongping, a retired military instructor at the PLA's influential Second Artillery Force and now a widely-followed military strategist.

His article, titled “China should be humble and learn from India”, has sparked debate in China's thriving online community, receiving more than 250,000 views within just two days of being posted on the news website of Hong Kong-based Phoenix television.

“We should not only learn from the West, but India as well,” Mr. Song argued, pointing to five specific areas where he felt China could learn from India. Most Chinese, he said, tended to “look down upon India”, showing “contempt for a poor, democratic country” when they saw images such as huge crowds on trains that often circulated on Chinese blogs.

However, “China should be humble and learn from India since each country has her merits and faults,” he said. Most of the comments in response to his piece supported his views.

The first lesson, Mr. Song said, was to learn from a government that encouraged religious beliefs, in contrast to China where “a national grief” was that “people regard money as their only pursuit”. “Our nation attaches primary importance to economic development and everything else should give way to it,” he said. “As a consequence people are morally bankrupt.”

He also pointed to India's more balanced economic model, amid a challenge faced by China's export-driven growth to stimulate domestic-driven demand and innovation industries. “India has enjoyed strong economic growth without overdependence on foreign trade,” he said.

Mr. Song said India was also better at “protecting the national core interest.” While India had ensured it had strong claims to Arunachal Pradesh — which China refers to as “southern Tibet” — China had “lost control over this area of over 90,000 square kilometres”, he claimed.

India also projected its power better across its borders. He viewed India's growing presence in the Indian Ocean region as favourable in comparison to the protracted disputes China faces with many of its neighbours across the South China Sea. India was developing and modernising its navy rapidly, acquiring three aircraft carriers, while he viewed China's progress as being slow with fears in Beijing of reinforcing a “China threat” perception. “We should realise the value and interests of the sea, because others are already one step ahead of us,” he noted.

A fifth area was in diplomacy and soft power, with the world, according to him, welcoming India's rise but fearing China's. India's democratic values were largely behind the positive reception accorded to its rise, and also acted as an enabler by giving India access to technologies that the West denied China.

“If we are to make friends with Western countries, we should have the same values,” he said. “China is trying to improve its democratic value system, but there is still a long way to go.”

FRITS STAAL, AN INDOLOGIST

Apart from several books, he also wrote more than 150 articles on Sanskrit, philosophy of language and history of science
Some of the earliest and rarest recordings of Veda recitation and chant were made by a foreigner, Frits Staal, during a ride he undertook across south India on an old Royal Enfield.

He went on to be one of the most influential Indologists and experts in the Vedas abroad.

Staal, who had been Emeritus Professor of Philosophy and South/Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, died on February 19 at his home in Chiangmai, Thailand.

At Mylapore in Chennai, he studied Panini's Sanskrit grammar under an expert. At Varanasi, he imbibed Navya-Nyaya logic under the guidance of another.

The combination of Panini and logic opened the door to modern linguistics.

Staal argued that ancient Indian grammarians, especially Panini, had completely mastered methods of linguistic theory not discovered again until the 1950s. The Indians had thought about it long before modern mathematical logic was applied to linguistics by Noam Chomsky.

The early methods allowed the construction of discrete, potentially infinite generative systems, experts maintain. The formal basis for Panini's methods involves the use of auxiliary markers, rediscovered in the 1930s by logician Emil Post, whose rewrite systems are currently a standard approach for description of computer languages, experts say.

Staal wrote, “Panini is the Indian Euclid.” The Indologist describes how Panini had expanded the spoken Sanskrit to a formal metalanguage.

In 1975, Staal organised Athirathram, an ancient Vedic ritual involving ‘homas' and chanting, in Kerala and documented it with grants and donations from institutions such as Harvard University, Smithsonian Institution, and the Rock Foundation.

The ceremonies required construction of a fire altar in the shape of a bird, using 1,000 bricks; the participation of 17 priests; libation of Soma juice and oblation of other materials.

Staal recalled the willingness of Namboodiri scholars to share their knowledge. The details that he garnered from his interaction with the scholars went into a two-volume book on Athirathram, ‘Agni – The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar'.

He also studied the application of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and astronomy in this complex ritual.

“Over the decades, while I penetrated the riches of their Vedic heritage, I made many Namboodiri friends and came to know them better. I have found them sincere, straightforward and disciplined. After initial reluctance, they are eager to explain the intricacies of their recitations, chants and ceremonies. They never claim knowledge that they do not possess. They will not preach or become pompous. They will express no interest in going to the U.S. Though no longer averse to modernisation, they remain attached to their simple habits,” Staal observed.

In the 1960s, some Namboodiri scholars became concerned about the weakening and possible disappearance of Vedic traditions. “I urged them to perform once more the 12-day Athirathra-Anicayana. It had been performed in 1956. The Namboodiris agreed,” Staal said.

At a seminar in the University of Amsterdam, he was asked to name six persons whose scholarship had impressed him the most. He first mentioned Noam Chomsky. And then Cherumukku Vallabhan Namboodiri (CV to his friends and admirers) and Mammannu Itty Ravi Namboodiri.

Staal had learned the finer points of ‘Somayaga' from CV and Itty Ravi in the 1960s and the 1970s. Staal remembered with great awe Itty Ravi's knowledge of Sama Veda and CV's scholarship of Rig Veda and Yajur Veda.

India's sacred knowledge is contained in the Vedas, the Brahmanas appended to them, and the Aranyakas and the Upanishads that serve as an epilogue or conclusion.

Johan Frederik (Frits) Staal was born on November 3, 1930 in Amsterdam to architect Jan Frederik Staal. He studied mathematics, physics, and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. A scholarship instituted by the Government of India brought him to India for three years of studying Indian philosophy at the University of Madras and Banaras Hindu University. He secured a PhD from the University of Madras. He became Professor of General and Comparative Philosophy in Amsterdam (1962–67) and became Professor of Philosophy and South Asian Languages at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1968. He retired in 1991 and relocated to Thailand.

Apart from several books, he wrote more than 150 articles on Sanskrit, philosophy of language and history of science. Throughout his life, he campaigned for the preservation of the Vedic culture.

“Shrauta Sutras are concerned with continuity and survival of the Vedic tradition. Substances and people change. But mantras and their syntax do not,” he said on a visit to Panjal, near here, last year to witness Athirathram.

He observed that rituals could not be fully understood by mere access to texts. “Whatever texts may say, language does not explain activity. For the ritualists, action comes first, and action, which includes recitation and chant, is all that counts.”

Staal noted that the survival of Vedic traditions signified the triumph of the human spirit over limitations of matter and the body. His own work on the immortal values of the East marks such a triumph over the mortal.


The worldwide community of Indology scholars, among others, mourn the passing of Professor Johan Frederik Staal, known to his many friends and colleagues simply as ‘Frits.' He died at his home near Chiangmai in Thailand on Sunday, February 19.

Born in Amsterdam, he studied mathematics, physics and philosophy at the University of Amsterdam and took his undergraduate degree in 1954. He moved on to studies in Indian Philosophy and Sanskrit at Banaras Hindu University and the University of Madras. It was in Madras (now Chennai), that he completed his doctorate in 1957.

During his long career, Professor Staal served in a number of notable institutions. He was Lecturer in Sanskrit at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London from 1958 to 1962. He was Assistant and Associate Professor of Indian Philosophy at the University of Pennsylvania during 1961-62. He was Professor of General and Comparative Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam from 1962 to 1967. He served as Visiting Professor of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology during 1967-68. He was Professor of Philosophy and South Asian Languages at the University of California at Berkeley from 1968 to 1991. As a member of Berkeley's Department of Philosophy, he founded the university's Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies (originally called the Department of South and Southeast Asian Languages and Literatures) in 1973, and served as its first Chair. He took early retirement from Berkeley in 1991 and served as Visiting Professor in universities around the world.

Professor Staal was an internationally known authority in Sanskrit grammar, mysticism and ritual studies. He was especially highly regarded for his original, if often provocative and even controversial, studies of Vedic rituals. This was exemplified by his magisterial 1983 study of the Vedic agnicayana rite, titled, Agni: The Vedic Ritual of the Fire Altar. This he published in collaboration with two experts in rituals, C.V. Somayajipad and Itti Ravi Nambudiri. His film, Altar of Fire, on the performance of this rite in 1975 by Nambudiri Brahmins in Kerala, became a widely viewed classic of ethnographic film-making.

Professor Staal was noted for his insistence that the formal disciplinary boundaries of academia were largely artificial. In keeping with this belief, he ranged widely across many fields that are conventionally divided up into the categories of Humanities, Social Sciences and Natural Sciences. Thus, he was equally at home in exploring such areas as Vedic studies, mathematics, philosophy, philately, linguistics, religious studies, ritual studies, mysticism and birdsong. A list of his published works will give a good idea of the range of his interests and scholarly imagination.

Following his retirement from Berkeley, Frits moved to Thailand. There he built a beautiful house on a secluded compound a little outside the northern town of Chiangmai. Here, with the exception of his very active schedule of travel, he lived with his long-time partner, Wangchai.

He is survived by his wife Sarasvati of Berkeley, California, a son and a daughter.

He was a learned, iconoclastic, charming and generous teacher, scholar, and colleague His loss will be felt by his many friends and colleagues. His passing constitutes a serious blow to Indological studies.

ANDRE BETEILLE ON CASTE CONSCIOUSNESS

Those who try to keep up with discussions on current affairs in the newspapers and on television may be forgiven if they conclude that caste is India's destiny. If there is one thing the experts in the media who comment on political matters have in common, it is their preoccupation with caste and the part it plays in electoral politics.

Many are now coming to believe that, despite the undeniable demographic, technological and economic changes taking place in the country, the division into castes and communities remains the ineluctable and ineradicable feature of Indian society. They also believe that to ignore those divisions or to draw attention to other divisions such as those of income, education and occupation is to turn our backs on the ground reality. The more radical among them add that ignoring those realities amounts to an evasion of the political responsibility of redistributing the benefits and burdens of society in a more just and equitable manner.

Does nothing change in India? A great many things have in fact changed in the last 60 years both in our political perceptions and in the social reality. The leaders of the nationalist movement who successfully fought for India's freedom from colonial rule believed that India may have been a society of castes and communities in the past but would become a nation of citizens with the adoption of a new republican constitution. They were too optimistic. The Constitution did create rights for the citizen, but it did not eradicate caste from the hearts and minds of the citizens it created. For many Indians, and perhaps the majority, the habits of the heart are still the habits of a hierarchical society.

Inter-dining rules

Universal adult franchise opened up new possibilities for mobilising electoral support on the basis of caste and thus prevented the consciousness of caste from dying down. Democracy was expected to efface the distinctions of caste, but its consequences have been very different from what was expected. Politics is no doubt an important part of a nation's life in a democracy, but it is not the only part of it. There are other areas of life in which the consciousness of caste has been dying down, though not very rapidly or dramatically. The trends of change which I will now examine do not catch the attention of the media because they happen over long stretches of time, in slow motion as it were. They are not noticeable from month to month or even year to year but across two or more generations.

Let us start with the ritual opposition of purity and pollution which was a cornerstone of the hierarchical structure of caste. The rules of purity and pollution served to mark the distinctions and gradations among castes and sub-castes. Characteristic among them were those relating to commensality or inter-dining. They determined who could sit together at a meal with whom, and who could accept food and water from whom. Only castes of equivalent rank could inter-dine with each other. In general people accepted cooked food and water from the hands of their superiors, but not their inferiors.

The ritual rules governing food transactions were rigid and elaborate until a hundred years ago. Nobody can deny that there has been a steady erosion of those rules. Modern conditions of life and work have rendered many of them obsolete. The excesses of the rules of purity and pollution have now come to be treated with ridicule and mockery among educated people in metropolitan cities like Kolkata and Delhi. It is impossible to maintain such rules in a college canteen or an office lunch room. To insist on seating people according to their caste on a public occasion would cause a scandal today.

In the past, restrictions on inter-dining were closely related to restrictions on marriage according to the rules of caste. The restrictions on marriage have not disappeared, but they have eased to some extent. Among Hindus, the law imposed restrictions on inter-caste marriage. The law has changed, but the custom of marrying within the caste is still widely observed. However, what is happening is that other considerations such as those of education and income are also kept in mind in arranging a match. At any rate, it will be difficult to argue that caste consciousness in matrimonial matters has been on the rise in recent decades.

In politics, the media

There continues to be a general association between caste and occupation to the extent that the lowest castes are largely concentrated in the menial and low-paying jobs whereas the higher castes tend to be in the best-paid and most esteemed ones. But the association between caste and occupation is now more flexible than it was in the traditional economy of land and grain. Rapid economic growth and the expansion of the middle class are accompanied by new opportunities for individual mobility which further loosens the association between caste and occupation.

If, in spite of all this, caste is maintaining or even strengthening its hold over the public consciousness, there has to be a reason for it. That reason is to be found in the domain of organised politics. Caste had entered the political arena even before independence, particularly in peninsular India. But the adoption of universal adult franchise after independence altered the character and scope of the involvement of caste in the political process.

The consciousness of caste is brought to the fore at the time of elections. Elections to the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabhas are now held all the year round. For logistical and other reasons, elections to even the Vidhan Sabhas may be stretched out over several weeks. There are by-elections in addition to the general elections. Election campaigns have become increasingly spectacular and increasingly costly, and they often create the atmosphere of a carnival. The mobilisation of electoral support on the basis of caste is a complex phenomenon whose outcome gives scope for endless speculation.

Even though for the country as a whole the election season never really comes to an end, the individual voter participates in the electoral process only occasionally and sporadically. The average villager devotes far more thought and time to home, work and worship than to electoral matters. It is well known that the voter turnout among urban professional Indians is low. But even when they do not participate in the elections to the extent of visiting their local polling booths, they participate in them vicariously by following on television what happens in the outside world. Television provides a large dose of entertainment along with a modicum of political education.

Private television channels have created a whole world in which their anchors and the experts who are regularly at their disposal vie with each other to bring out the significance of the “caste factor,” meaning the rivalries and alliances among castes, sub-castes and groups of castes by commentators who, for the most part, have little understanding of, or interest in, long-term trends of change in the country. These discussions create the illusion that caste is an unalterable feature of Indian society. It will be a pity if we allow what goes on in the media to reinforce the consciousness of caste and to persuade us that caste is India's destiny.

( The writer is Professor Emeritus of sociology, Delhi University, and National Research Professor; the illustration is from Seventy Two Specimens of Castes in India, General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University .)

SYRIA

Two facts are evident in the situation in Syria. The “international community” is determined to topple Bashar Al Assad's regime, and there is heavy and undisguised involvement of external forces, with active encouragement and assistance including financing and arming of anti-regime elements. There are reports of Libyan fighters having been brought to join the dissidents in Syria. The Al Assad regime — the father and the son — has been a thorn in the side of some countries, especially Israel — and hence America — because of its alliance with Iran and resultant backing of the Hezbollah, its alleged role in the assassination of pro-West Prime Minister of Lebanon Rafiq Hariri in 2005, its initial alleged support of the Baathists in Iraq, as well as its continuing alliance with Russia. (Did the Cold War never really end or has it revived?) Saudi Arabia, which has never been comfortable with Syria because of its tendency to follow an “independent” line, was particularly upset with Bashar following the murder of Hariri, who was a protégé of the Saudi ruling family. Given Saudi domination in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), it is logical for this group also to be opposed to Syria.

The Turkey factor

When the United States, major European countries and nearly all Arab states, the largest repositories of crude oil, combine against him, what chance does Bashar have? How long can he hold out? The Russians and Chinese can perhaps help in preventing sanctions being imposed on Syria in the Security Council, and Russia can give Assad more weapons because they have their own interests in the Middle East, not least being the Syrian port of Tartous on the Mediterranean. But once the dissidents in Syria manage to seize control over some territory anywhere in the country, the external involvement will become decisive in tilting the scales against Bashar, as happened in Libya. In addition to acquiring a foothold in some parts of Syria, the opposition would also need to put together a coalition of their own so that foreign aid can be channelled to them — again on the lines of what happened in Libya. Once the objective of getting rid of the regime is achieved, the opposition can go back to squabbling among themselves, once again like in Libya.

What we are witnessing in relation to Syria is a manifestation of the great game in the Middle East, namely the Shia-Sunni hostility which translates largely into Iran-Saudi Arabia rivalry, but in some respects it transcends that. Turkey, for example, cannot be on the side of Saudi Arabia in so far as the competition for dominance in the region is concerned because Turkey has its own ambitions in this regard. Turkey has joined — in fact it is the major regional power in the anti-Assad coalition — because of several reasons, the anti-Shia campaign, the Syrian support for PKK, the banned Kurdish party in Turkey and Syria's lack of gratitude for Turkey's good offices for hosting the negotiations with Israel.

It may be recalled that a few years ago, the U.S. had encouraged the formation of a coalition of moderate Sunni states in confrontation with Iran. There are reports of the Sunnis in Iraq readying themselves to go to the aid of their fellow Sunnis in Syria. Al-Qaeda is waiting in the wings to acquire one more base in the region which ought to give considerable discomfort to the monarchy in Jordan.

Support for Assad

There are a few factors working for Bashar Al Assad also. He continues to enjoy popular support in the country. Forty per cent of Syria's population consists of minorities of different kinds, all of whom are united in not wanting a hard-line Sunni establishment taking over power in the country. The army, which is largely Sunni though the officer corps consists mainly of Alawites, is by and large, still loyal to the regime. The number of defectors is most likely exaggerated in the western media. And then there is diplomatic and limited military support from Russia. He can also count on the strong support of Iran which itself has a huge stake in Bashar's survival, but it is not clear how helpful Iran's support means in practical terms. He can also perhaps enlist the Hezbollah on his side to make life a bit difficult for Israel, but the same may not be true of Hamas whose leadership is making its own calculations on the advisability of continuing to put all its eggs in the Assad basket. Bashar also presumably continues to have enough leverage to destabilise Lebanon, and not only through the Hezbollah. On the whole, however, the odds are stacked against Bashar. His capacity to fight the combined onslaught is not unlimited; his finances are dwindling just as those of his opponents are increasing and will increase even more, and his diplomatic supporters might not stand by his side for too long depending on what other pieces come into play on the international chess board,

One more fact is certain. Bashar Al Assad is not going to give up, because the stake for him is nothing short of his life. Bashar could hold out for much longer than expected. Once again the analogy of Libya comes to mind. This means prolonged civil conflict which will take the lives of thousands. That region is not unfamiliar to civil war, Lebanon having endured 14 years of a bloodbath among its various confessions. If he concludes that the army will always remain with him, he will decide to fight it out, but that cannot last too long because of diminishing coffers, etc. Will he then seek refuge abroad?

Russia's last ditch effort to bring all Syrians parties together around a negotiating table reminds one of the desperate attempt to stall the first Gulf War in 1991 when Primakov, a former Prime Minister and the best Soviet expert on Arab affairs and a friend of Saddam, tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade Saddam Hussein to make some compromise gesture. The present effort also is not likely to succeed, first because the opposition is divided and second because the opposition has much more to gain by not cooperating with Russia and remaining on the side of the U.S. and the rich Gulf states. What can Russia offer to the dissidents? The other side can offer a great deal. Further, Bashar has made it difficult for those who might wish to help him for their own reasons by failing to carry out reforms which he has had ample time to implement since succeeding his father a decade ago. Since the principal though indirect target of the anti-Assad movement is Iran, there is almost no chance of the Russian effort succeeding. Similarly, the difficulty with the Arab League idea of a U.N. peacekeeping operation is that it presupposes existence of peace or ceasefire which peacekeepers can keep or maintain. However unpalatable and deplorable, there may be no alternative to the civil conflict playing itself out until the bitter end.

The Arab Spring

The brief history of the phenomenon which goes by the dubious name of “Arab Spring” has established a clear trend. Every successive country involved in this development has witnessed increasing levels of violence. Tunisia's was the least violent revolution. Egypt has suffered many more casualties than Tunisia. In Libya, hundreds and possibly thousands have died, in Yemen even more. The Syrian revolution, if it can be called that, has cost thousands of lives on both sides — it is essential to emphasise this point, the number of dead on the government side is not much smaller than on the opposition side — and will surely claim thousands more.

Muslim Brotherhood is the only party, besides the official Ba'ath party, with a reasonable base in Syria and will almost certainly be the largest beneficiary should the Assad government fall at some time. It is reported to be receiving large-scale help from some affluent Sunni governments. This ought to be a cause for concern for Israel, Jordan, Iraq and the West in general. However, for Israel, the highest priority is to isolate and weaken Iran; Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafists can be dealt with later. It should be stated that Israel has every justification for its total hostility towards Iran, given some of the anti-Israeli statements of its leadership.

For India, the stakes are high, not so much in Syria by itself but in the whole region, especially the sub-region of the Gulf. As was mentioned by this writer in an article entitled: “The new great game” (The Hindu, April 28, 2011), India might have to practise a new form of non-alignment or dual alignment between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The time for this has come. Continued instability in Syria might make the region unstable, affecting the production and export of oil, and, most importantly, the situation of the six-million Indian diaspora working in the region. India's vote in favour of the resolution which was vetoed by Russia and China on February 4 should not be seen as “no longer sitting on the fence”; rather, it was, one likes to think, a demonstration of our readiness to adapt our positions to changed circumstances. Consistency is not a virtue in international relations. It is quite possible that future challenges might produce yet different responses.