I. A. Pansohta Life forthe people of South Asia, especially the Indians, still continues to reel under tremendous tragedy, misery, and an unending saga of fear and tears. Despite the mushroom growth of Human Rightsgroups; organisation of several seminars and conferences; and the passing of resolutions passed by international organisations such as the United Nations, the politicians havemiserably failed to achieve any worthwhile success to reduce poverty and suffering of the people. One such example is the publication of the list of the 100 most powerful Indians in 2011 by the Indian Express. Surely, these men may live in self-conceit,as being the most successful Indians, but there is no denying the fact that most of them have reached this position by sucking the blood of their poor countrymen without any compassion for their suffering or hardships. Be it a Pakistani, Indian, Bangladeshi or Sri Lankan everyone should look around what he or she is contributing to society, irrespective of caste and creed. Anyway, the list compiled by the Indian newspaperalso includes figures of the establishment such as parliamentarians, diplomats and bureaucrats, who are far morepowerful than those in the past, who have yoked 1.2 billion poor and helpless people either in their desire to command their influence over them or to milk theirearnings for their near and dear ones. Therefore, those who claim that they have reached the pinnacles of great success through their talent are certainly mistaken.May I ask:How many of them have used their good office to deliver good governance to the deprived and deserving classes?And how many of them have earned their wealth through lawful and fair means? Granted, a few or most of them may be regarded virtuous due to their academic or professional achievements, but did they use their prudence to administer their power without any negative misgivings?Do they realise that power disrupts or blocks the entry of the most deserving god-gifted genius to capture any slot or win the race, in one of the most corrupt governments?So lets have a look at the names and the achievements of those who are included in the list: The first one is:Mr S.H.Kapadia, the Chief Justice of India, whose was selected for the post despite a number of corruption charges against him - the news that surprised many people in India. The second one is: Sonia Gandhi, who provides a balmy political cushion to hatch the eggs of conspiracies in South Asia, Northeast India andKashmir to keep the international critics at bay. However, she deserves to be acknowledged for challenging themembers of the Congress and the BJP,who are accused of corruption. The third one is:Manmohan Singh, who succeeded to host the heads of states of all the permanent Security Councils P-5, during the last six months in India - one of the unique honours he has earned during his government. Despite all the feathers in his cap for the policy shift as an economic reformer, the fight between the haves and have-nots continues to ruin the lives ofa significant majorityof Indias population. The fourth one is: SushmaSwaraj, member BhartyaJanata Party (BJP), who has been able to work with all the opposition parties and has put the government more frequently on defensive than her predecessor did. Also, she has kept the Indo-Pak composite dialogue hanging on rather than playing a constructive role to defuse the tension between the two countries. Unfortunately, thereare many more included in the list of the 'powerfuls without knowing what they have contributed for the great cause of humanity or towards global or regional peace - a duty everyone owes to his Divine Creator. The writer is a freelance columnist.