I think most of you are missing the point of the thread. In South Asia I know we have shiny cities, affluent neighbourhoods many of which can match the best in the world. But let's be honest about it. Those do not represent South Asia. The vast numbers of South Asian;s live in villages and small towns. A country is described by the majority and not by the small % of elite.
The intention behind this thread was to show that the average indian town is no better then it's equivalent in Pakistan - indeed in some ways there is is less squalor and poverty in Pakistani towns. one grotesque example you can see is men pulling rickshaws which informs us about the living standards of the very poor in India.
The only question is was Amritsar wrong town as a average of India? I chose Amritsar when there hundreds of other towns in India for instance in Utter Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkand or Indian Bengal that are arguably far more poverty stricken. I did not chose them because I would be open to the charge of 'cherrypicking'. Instead I chose Amritsar which is a primarily a Sikh town in Indian Punjab and one of more prosperous regions of India. So I did not scrape the bottom of the barrel.
In addition Amritsar is right next to Pakistani border and since Pakistan Punjab is the largest province in Pakistan it is a good way of making comparison with Pakistan. Amritsar should not be compared to Lahore or Islamabad but the average Pakistan town like Sialkot, Faisalabad, Gujranawala etc. Pick any average medium sized town. Because that is where most of Pakistan and India live.
What is pretty evident is just across the border in India the streets ae not lined with gold. Instead the conditions are pretty similar [in my impartial opinion] and possibly [in my biased opinion] worse then in Pakistan. If this is what Amritsar looks like yu can imagine what some average town in Indian Bihar or Odisha must look like.
And again the the thread is primarily meant for Pakistani's to peak across the border and then compare to their towns in Pakistan. This is the reality beyond the trillion dolla, 5th largest, Mars, rocket growth India. Numbers do not always reflect the reality.
According to FBR statistics in Pakistan not more then 500,000 Pakistani's should be able to afford a car because that is the number paying taxes. Go on the streets does it look like that? GDP figures and per capita are based on those statistics.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics."
~ Benjamin Disraeli
Ps. Let me reiterate again please compare your average town where your average Mohammed, Mohan lives in.
