NLPNLNO Wã óá?éì ÄäÅ~KÅçã República South Asian Renaissance LAND ISSUES IN SOUTH ASIA myrepublica.com Unlike in the rest of the world, land is the common and most important factor behind modern state building, political culture, socioeconomic development and transformation, urbanization and ethnic conflicts in South Asian countries. Shared climate, water and natural resources along with broader ethnic similarities are not the only bonds among the people of this region; it is primarily land, and thereby economy and culture, that shapes the universality of South Asia. The division is only in the governance and security, which necessitates borders. The landmass in the region is the sign of its richness, with 4.77 million square kilometers of land offering 2.62 million square kilometers for agriculture. Out of the total land in South Asia, 39 percent land is arable, 11 percent comprises permanent pastures and 17 percent is forest and wood land, according to World Bank and FAO studies. Afghanistan Pakistan Nepal Bhutan India Bangladesh India Maldives Sri Lanka Political dynamics of land are embodied in the political economy; however with two major factors across the region-the unjust land utilization and management, pushing 500 million rural people into the web of vulnerability; and 60 percent human mass depending on land related livelihood. Nepal and Bhutan's 90 percent, Bangladesh's 71.9 percent, India and Pakistan's 70 percent and Sri Lanka's 37 percent population is rural and their livelihood, directly or indirectly, is associated with land. Agriculture contributes 25 percent to the GDP of the region. Keeping 28 percent urban mass of the region in the background, which will double up over the next decade, it can be seen that the region and its countries are undergoing a massive transformation in human history that was only witnessed before during the renaissance era in Europe. The socio-economic transformation always carries with it a degree of political turmoil, breakthroughs in fields of science, arts and literature and always culminates into new social contracts, though after many conflicts. Will the region and countrywide gradual transformations be in unison across the board? Will there be new social contracts in individual countries or will a collective will and identity of the region emerge as well? And finally, will this transformation be able to address crucial questions including inter-state conflicts, national questions within the federations, class dynamics, manmade religious antagonism and finally, the collective niche for a universal view of South Asia? ï Ï ï KóÉéì ÄäÅ~lÅçã Léçë~âéêâí~ÄÉ| åÉi ëléÜél åÉi ë| ¿ZPTSRO NLP
W#ã ó?Ééì ÄäÅ~lÅçã Land in South Asia has many contours. The rural population in almost all countries of the region is chained under feudal and semi-feudal relations that are shared by the feudal lords with the capitalist and emerging urban population. The latter, juxtaposing its historical essence, has been minimizing the velocity of transformation; mostly due to the nexus between land and power which strengthened during the state building process in various countries of the region. Land and land related population today is facing pressing issues that include land