India, by 2020 AD, will be beyond recognition, if Dr. Subramaniam Swamy is to be believed. The President of Janata Party peers into his personal crystal glass to predict what is in India for Mera Bharat Mahaan. What about the doomsayers from overseas? Ignore them, advises the maverick politician.

INDIA will be on a roll with a 10%  growth by 2020. Our defence expenditure should be around five percent of Gross Domestic Product then as against the present 2.5 percent. India should develop a mindset for exercising power which unfortunately we do not possess today. For instance, we lacked the courage to take revenge for the dastardly attack on our Parliament. We had gone to the extent of amassing over a million troops on the border only to engage in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at the Line of Control. This simply will not do. India should realise its potentials and act accordingly. That is, its behaviour should be commensurate with its gigantic size and strength. I am sure, this transformation will come through definitely by 2020. That’s why I am harping on increased defence expenditure. Without investing money, you cannot have a powerful military.

Why do I sound so gung-ho, one may wonder. Look back to the 1950s and glean at some of the direst predictions made by global big names. All these predictions had gone wrong. The wartime British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill kept on decrying the Indian leadership and forecast that the new India would fall apart. Did it happen? Across the Atlantic, two United States State Department officials claimed in 1965 that Indians would be starved to death. There would be food riots, severe famine. All these worst case scenarios were painted in their magnum opus World Famine 1975. Look at the irony today. Our godowns are overflowing with foodgrains and we don’t know what to do with them. A different problem altogether: problem of plenty, instead of scarcity!

Again, the doomsayers went to town tom-toming that India would be caught in a perpetual Balance of Payments crisis and we would be forced to run around international capitals with a begging bowl seeking alms. Dip your fingers into the Indian coffers: $75 billion forex reserves. Incredible, isn’t it?

Another general perception was that India would never ever be able to breach the Hindu growth rate of 3.5 percent per annum. Indeed, many believed that to be a gospel truth. During the Prime Ministership of P V Narasimha Rao (1991-96), we posted eight percent growth!

What all these indicate? India is an enigma to foreigners. Above all, we are growing stronger with every crisis. Proving to the world time and again that no problem is insurmountable for India. That’s a big plus point in India’s favour. Never underestimate, otherwise or you’ll be proved wrong.

India, believe it or not, is bursting with talent in all disciplines. Except in the political arena. Managing a modern state is a complex or ticklish issue which our present crop of politicians are unable to cope with. What’s needed is men with a great deal of education, stamina and willpower. If this is in short supply, it needs to be cultivated. How to achieve this? When you begin to see University toppers entering politics, you will see a sea change in the Indian polity. I am sure this will happen sooner rather than later.

Transforming the political culture of India will be no easy task unless a new ethos is established. To begin with, at least the educated people should vote for educated candidates, cutting across caste and party lines. When people change their voting pattern by deciding to vote for the most educated candidate, the fate of India will be rewritten – for the better. Initially, if the educated lot is unable to muster sufficient votes to win, still it is better. At least these votes would not have gone to some other lesser desirable candidates. Acceptance of the educated candidates will come about gradually. Till then, one should keep trying.

On the social front, the need of the hour is renaissance. Division of society is not desirable. Negative perceptions should be eliminated totally. Try to establish a united Hindu society by attacking the caste, dowry and obscurantism and not by scaring the hell out of the minorities. We find a lot of false impressions among the Hindus because of ignorance. Take, for instance, the argument that the Muslims are growing at a faster rate. This is a fact. But if you take a look at the disaggregated data, you’ll find the growth of Kerala Muslims is much lower than the Hindus of Uttar Pradesh; or Hindus in Bihar are growing faster than Muslims in Tamil Nadu. Why so? And what do you make of it?

It’s time to have a clear understanding of history. How can we forget that the Muslims of India are descendants of Hindu forefathers? How can we forget they are an integral part of India? Wipro’s Azim Premji is a Muslim. Cricketers Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan are Muslims. Don’t forget some of Indian soldiers who die for Bharat Mata are from the Muslim community.

In a nutshell, nothing is beyond India’s reach, provided it identifies – and gets - the right set of political leadership.