A special obligation to the youth

A special obligation to the youth

Sunanda K Datta-RayUpdated: Wednesday, May 29, 2019, 10:57 PM IST
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There are few signs of excitement or even anticipation here in London about the Commonwealth heads of government meeting which will be held here later this month because its original venue, the South Pacific island of Vanuatu, was devastated by Cyclone Pam. No one seems interested enough even to echo the old complaint of “no common wealth in the Commonwealth” that radical publications like the old Blitz in Bombay used to scream. But faced with the task of keeping the club of 53 nations relevant to the contemporary and future worlds, the organisers have wisely chosen the theme “Towards a Common Future”.

“We want the summit to contribute to rejuvenating the Commonwealth and to help to build a brighter and fairer future for its young citizens. Their interests and ambitions will be at the heart of this summit” says Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon in the House of Lords recently, an Ahmadiyya Muslim of Pakistani origin, he is a junior minister in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. According to him, the Commonwealth has a special obligation to the future because nearly two-third (60 per cent) of its 2.4 billion-strong population is aged under 30. At the Malta summit in 2015, Queen Elizabeth, Head of the Commonwealth, then nearing 90 years of age, joked that the personable young prime minister of Canada, 44-year-old Justin Trudeau, made her feel “so old”.

Because of this youthful population, says Lord Ahmad, who has a position in the Royal Household, “the Commonwealth is well placed to be an influential player on the world stage in the years ahead. Indeed, one could even say that it has a responsibility to play such a role.” Since membership is entirely by consent, young Africans and Asians, who have no memory of British rule and no ethnic or cultural links with the British Isles, might one day lose all interest in the club unless it can show itself to be relevant to their hopes and aspirations. The values founded on democracy and the rule of law enshrined in the Commonwealth Charter may not suffice. The decision that each of the 53 national delegations will include at least two young persons seems more relevant.

That may go some way towards meeting the global challenges of the 21st century and representing its overwhelmingly young population as well as satisfying them with a clear sense of purpose. Many believe the British decision to leave the European Union means an additional reason for making the Commonwealth connection work. But the Commonwealth cannot replace the EU. Nor do all member-nations share Britain’s interest in trade. At one time, Malta’s only ambition was to merge with Britain and become an integral part of the United Kingdom. Pakistan thought the Commonwealth would help it against India over Kashmir. The continuing talks on a free trade agreement between India and Britain has shown that nothing interests India more than visa concessions so that thousands of jobless Indians for whom India’s stagnant economy cannot provide can be dumped on Britain’s welfare stare.

Highlighting what he called “four clear priorities, on which leaders will seek to agree to take action” at the London summit, Lord Ahmad stressed India’s role in a changing world, and the need for Britain to appreciate this. “We have to reorient our trade and our investment patterns; we have to look again at our security patterns in relation to what is happening in Asia and the Indo-Pacific region, where the Indian Ocean is becoming as important in world geopolitical peace and security as the Atlantic Ocean. We have to look at the new links of cyber connection which spread across the world. Again, it is with the Commonwealth countries, particularly with India, which is at the centre of all these developments, that we have to make new connections. This was coming anyway long before Brexit, but it is now more important than ever.”

Lord Waverley, whose father, Sir John Andersen, was governor of Bengal and then of Madras, returned to the theme by drawing attention to the decision by 44 African countries to set up a continental free trade area. As he and others stressed, trade doesn’t only generate wealth. It develops good transport links and opens up previously closed regions to travel and tourism. Trade between Commonwealth states is estimated at more than $680 billion, and intra-Commonwealth trade is projected to surpass $1 trillion by 2020. According to the Commonwealth Secretariat, when both partners are Commonwealth members, they trade 20 per cent more, pay 19 per cent less and generate 10 per cent more foreign direct investment inflows. Although, this “Commonwealth effect” shows that membership contributes positively to increased trade, investment and labour flows, India will continue to harp on an escape route for Indians.

Not since India’s merchants and mariners established the kingdoms of Suvarnabhumi in South-east Asia has any Indian government seen trade as the route to prosperity. Perhaps because of the East India Company, trade is suspected of being the forerunner of the flag. India will raise no cavil, however, to Lord Ahmad’s second priority of building a safer future by addressing security challenges posed by global terrorism, organised crime and cyber attacks. The third is to build a sustainable future, especially for small and vulnerable states which must mitigate the effects of climate change. The final priority focuses on promoting democracy, freedom and good governance. “We want the summit to contribute to rejuvenating the Commonwealth and to help to build a brighter and fairer future for its young citizens. Their interests and ambitions will be at the heart of this summit.”

One last point: freedom of faith. Lord Alton of Liverpool, a former Liberal party politician, reminded the House that while 95 per cent of people in the Commonwealth profess a religious belief, the Pew Research Centre found that around 70 per cent of the Commonwealth population lives with high or very high government restrictions on the right to freedom of religion and belief. No wonder the Commonwealth charter highlights “the need to promote tolerance, respect, understanding, moderation and religious freedom which are essential to the development of free and democratic societies, and recall that respect for the dignity of all human beings is critical to promoting peace and prosperity”. The Queen, too, highlighted the need to promote religious freedom, respect for the “other”, and to defend the rights of all communities when she said on this year’s Commonwealth Day “The cornerstones on which peace is founded are, quite simply, respect and understanding for one another. Working together, we build peace by defending the dignity of every individual and community”.

The message for today’s India lies in Lord Waverley’s warning that “while heads and ministers are important, it is the people’s Commonwealth on which we should be focusing”. He meant people of all ethnicities and faiths. Nothing could be more appropriate for a majoritarian society.

Sunanda K Datta – Ray is the author of several books and a regular media columnist.

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