What are the gains of SAARC to date? A visiting scholar from Pakistan said Friday the “rulers” of South Asian countries have little to show in terms of achievement towards the goals of SAARC.

“Big promises were made, but they remained unimplemented,” said Dr. Mubashir Hasan, a retired professor and human rights activist. He was delivering a lecture on “Future of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)” in Kathmandu Friday.

“Each country in SAARC stands sharply divided into the country of the rulers and the country of the ruled,” Hasan said. “As long as there are oppressive regimes, the situation of poor people will not improve.”

He, heavily coming down on South Asian elites, said, “they have not been able to find a way to cooperate with each other, even in serving their own elite interests.” He did not specify the term “elite”, but said rulers are a kind of elite.

As a result of the policies pursued by the ruling elites, all the South Asian countries are in a state of political and social ferment, according to Hasan.  “The elites are authoritative, predatory, arbitrary and backward looking.”

On the future of SAARC, Hasan said, “the governments of the countries of South Asia have to be radically transformed into governments of the people so that SAARC may have a future.” He, however, did not mention the process and destination of such a radical transformation.

South Asian Forum for Human Rights and Martin Chautary, Nepal organised the program.