The Asian Light Show

One American satellite that girdles the globe apparently does more than check out what other countries are hiding in their backyards. It actually, among other things, gives us a night-time picture of Asia, showing which parts are well-lit and which are not.

There are two reasons for darkness in the landmass. Either you have the absence of people, as in the Baloch and Afghan deserts and the Tibetan plateau. Or you have poverty—no power, no lights. The difference between South Korea's dazzling lights (next to even more dazzling Japan) and, up across the 38th parallel, the abject darkness of North Korea, is an indication of the misery of people in that dark nation. The same holds true for Burma. And Nepal, where other than the dot that shows Kathmandu, there is precious little to show for its 23 million people.

On the whole, the entire Subcontinental landmass seems rather brightly lit, enough to make out the exact contours of the coastline and where the lightless lower hills of the Himalaya-Hindukush take over. This could easily mislead one into thinking that the brightness of the Subcontinent is proof of relative affluence. In this case, however, the lights are merely an indicator of population density rather than development.

Up north, inside the great gloom that envelopes Tibet, a tiny point of light indicates Lhasa. Karachi and Lahore and the corridor of light along the route linking the two, with Multan on the way, are clearly visible. So are Bombay and the string of lights leading out southwards from it. The industrial belt around Dhanbad, northwest of Calcutta, also stands out. The western coast of India seems continuously and prosperously lit, whereas the eastern side has large gaps in it – sections of the Andhra and Orissa coast. The road and rail links across the Subcontinent and the regions of industrial concentration can quite easily be traced on the image.

Down in the middle of the Indian ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka, the dot standing alone is Male. And up there, northeast of Assam, what could be that large blotch of white? That alone remains a mystery, for ther is no city or urban corridor there.

Time for a hypothesis, at least in relation to South Asia. If, in this image, a populated region does not show bright lights, then it would seem that the conditions are ripe for popular disaffection ending in insurgency. Looking down on South Asia from this American satellite, there does seem to be such a correlation. Check out the lights along the western coast of Sri Lanka, around Colombo, and the rather gloomy north and east. That pinpoint could just be Jaffna, and that other one further down Trincomallee. Nothing else

Search out Kashmir, the Indian Northeast, large parts of Andhra and Bihar, and there is darkness. But mainly, look at the burning hills of Nepal, nearly all of it in darkness.

Yes, lights equal prosperity, and only when the dark gaps are filled in will we see a true end to violence and destruction. That is what the Asian Lights show