Former Nepal PM Baburam Bhattarai at IIT Bombay: South Asia’s chronic poverty a result of failed institutions, weak democracy

MUMBAI: Former Nepal prime minister Baburam Bhattarai on Saturday offered a wide-ranging critique of South Asia’s political economy, arguing that the region’s persistent poverty, inequality and instability are the result of extractive institutions, weak state capacity and a failure to build inclusive democracies. Speaking at IIT Bombay’s TechFest, Bhattarai said Nepal’s own turbulent political history — marked by monarchy, conflict and fragile governments — holds important lessons for the region.Bhattarai, an architect by training who later entered politics through Nepal’s pro-democracy movement, reflected on the country’s decade-long struggle against monarchical rule, saying it ultimately gave him the opportunity to help draft Nepal’s new constitution. He said Nepal consciously drew from India’s constitutional experience. “I borrowed many phrases and ideas from the Indian Constitution, whose author was the Babasaheb Ambedkar,” Bhattarai said. Describing Nepal’s recent uprisings as a “wake-up call” for the political and economic elite, Bhattarai said they were rooted in deep institutional failures. He cited corruption, low state capacity and chronic political instability, noting that Nepal has seen “30 governments in 30 years”, which has prevented sustained policy-making and long-term development.Linking Nepal’s experience to wider regional trends, Bhattarai said South Asia’s development record was deeply troubling. “Forty percent of the world’s poor live in South Asia. That is a slap to the face,” he said, arguing that a nation’s prosperity depends on inclusive institutions rather than “extractive and feudal” ones.Bhattarai said Nepal stagnated for decades under authoritarian monarchies and rigid traditional hierarchies. “While the West criticised, thought and voted, we remained stuck,” he said, adding that Nepal’s geopolitical position had further constrained its growth. “We have been caught between two powers and isolated for a millennium, and we got trapped in a cycle of dependency and unequal relationships,” he said. As a result, Nepal today has the lowest levels of foreign investment in South Asia, he added.Calling for structural reforms, Bhattarai stressed the need for land, labour and social justice reforms to address inequality and exclusion. He also warned of widening wealth gaps and environmental degradation across the region. “We share the rivers and the mountains, so we have to get together to take care of them,” he said, making the case for regional cooperation on climate and natural resources.Bhattarai also underlined the importance of deeper economic integration in South Asia as a pathway to prosperity. Recalling the SAARC summit in the Maldives in 2011, he said he had urged then Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan’s prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani to set aside bilateral disputes and cooperate for regional growth and stability.Critiquing ideological extremes, Bhattarai said South Asia must move beyond what he described as the binary of unregulated economic liberalism and rigid state fundamentalism. He argued for a pragmatic middle path, which he termed “scientific humanism”, that balances markets, the state and social justice.“We have fought for democracy,” Bhattarai said. “Now we have to use it wisely.”