The countries of the subcontinent are beset with iden tical problems and even 47 years after Independence from British rule, they are not yet on the road to Industrialisation and prosperity, said a former Pakistani minister yesterday.

India. Pakistan. Bangladesh and. to some extent. Sri Lanka and Nepal — all face similar problems of corruption, law and order situation, commu iia I ism and sectarian violence and violation of basic human rights, said* Dr Mubashir Hasan. a former finance minister in Zulfikar All Bhutto's cabinet in the 70s.

He is now in Dhaka to attend a preparatory meeting of the annual South Asia Dialogue grouping private citizens of five South Aslan nations, to be held in November In the Nepalese capital Kathmandu The meeting Is being organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue a local think lank.

There is very little difference in the nature of the prob lems which these countries are facing, the difference is only in the degree. Dr Hasan, also a former professor at the Engineering University of Lahore, maintained.

In an interview with The Daily Star, he pointed out that in these countries, the police continued to behave in the same way it did during the British rule, many of the members of parliament are up for sale' and they all have severe law and order problems

"In all of these countries, musclemen, smugglers and narcotic dealers have suppori among politicians and In some cases, even among ministers."

In all these countries, to a lesser extent In Bangladesh there are ethnic problems and the provinces in Pakistan, some of the Indian states and the Tamils In Srl Lanka are all up In arms against the central government, he noted

"These countries all have highly centralised governments which are unable to perform their duties of protecting the life and property ol the citizens" and meeting then basic needs

Furthermore, communal Ism. religious Intolerance and sectarian violence are also In creasing In all these countries, he said. "It makes little differ ence as far as the problems an concerned."

Dr Hasan. 72. also talked about the agenda of the nexi South Asia Dialogue meet. I hr prospects of SAARC and about the ongoing economic ■llberall nation process In Pakistan

We have been meeting under this forum every year since 1991 to discuss frankly all Internal and external problems that confront the participating nations of Bangladesh. India. Pakistan. Sri Lanka and Nepal.

The last meeting of the forum was held in Lahore last year. The theme of the Kathmandu meet was finalised at the preparatory meeting here on Wednesday, as "strengthening democracy and empowerment in South Asia."

"We believe that unless true representation of the masses is established and they are politically empowered, the gpv-ernments in the South Asian region will continue to be dominated by greedy and exploiting elite and their henchmen." he noted.

About SAARt Dr Hasan said it has failed to be as effective as it should have been.

"But it should be hoped that in the long run SAARC will play a very vital role in the subcontinent. Eor the time being our governments are too busy with internal problems and confronting one other."

Asked which aid conditionalities are objectionable, he said the most common type is tied aid, which Is linked with the procurement of goods and services from the donor country. "It restricts competition and costs us dearly "

He was also critical of some aspects of the structural adjustments prescribed by the donor agencies, which are beyond the requirement to conform with GATT.

He also spoke out against, the privatisation process bed ing followed under the economic adjustment initiatives. "The people’s assets are being squandered cheaply and I have also noticed in Pakistan that once these assets come into private hands, the prices go up unreasonably"

Privatisation needs to be done with great care, he said, and enterprises In the gas, electricity, transport and heavy industries sectors should not be privatised. He added that mechanisms should also he put in place to guard against creating monopoly, price fixing and against causing artificial scarcity.