Author: Zafar Hilaly
Publication: The News
Date: September 04, 2009
URL: http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=196477
Deposed and discredited Pakistani leaders
can always bank on being rescued by the Saudis. First it was Nawaz Sharif,
he was plucked from Musharaf's clutches, and now it is Musharaf himself. Hopefully,
Mr Zardari will also be able to bank on the Saudis if things go wrong. However,
the bar in his case may be higher, for obvious reasons, the kind in which
Agha Shahi's candidature for the OIC Secretary General's post was vetoed by
the Saudis.
It's a pity that an innocent, newly-married
Pakistani couple, now in a Saudi prison facing decapitation if convicted,
have not as yet benefited from a similar humanitarian concern. Strange are
the ways of the Saudis. They abhor political assassinations but not judicial
murder. Hence there was no royal plane when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was being
lynched by their favourite dictator. The British too insisted that they had
a right to decide who should hang or go free in undivided India. Back then,
we didn't have a choice because we were a colony. Today, we once again have
no option though we claim we are free.
From a juncture when a former custodian was
told politely to not come to Pakistan because of Mr Jinnah's preoccupations,
we have reached a point where our leaders are summoned to make an appearance
which they dare not refuse. The reason, of course, is their deplorable sense
of self-worth, the dismal manner in which they have governed and the sorry
pass to which they have reduced the economy. Grovelling for Saudi dole outs,
be it discounted oil or F-16s, we dance to the tune of the piper in Riyadh
or Washington. When asked to jump, we never ask why but only how high.
Ironically, it all started with Mr Bhutto.
Keen to benefit his people from the petro-dollars boom in 1973, he began the
courtship of Saudi Arabia in earnest. Later, he dragged in the Saudi Ambassador
to referee his fight with the PNA in 1977. Earlier, he had badgered the Saudis
to allow the Imam of the Prophet's (PBUH) mosque at Madina and the imam of
the mosque at Ka'aba to visit Pakistan to preach to adoring audiences; which
according to an ISI report submitted to Mr Bhutto helped Mr Bhutto steal the
thunder from the PNA. The ISI, we late discovered, was wrong once again.
Since then, the Saudis have become increasingly
embroiled in our domestic affairs, but not, one suspects, out of choice. Who,
after all, would want to acquire the headache of fashioning one's wit out
of so many half wits?
The Saudis have counselled successive regimes
on how to run the country although judging by the results, all were poor listeners.
Private Saudi citizens too have shown a propensity for dabbling in Pakistani
politics, the most notable being Osama bin Laden who agreed to fund an assassination
attempt against Benazir Bhutto and then connived to support a no-confidence
motion against the PPP in 1989.
Prior to that, the Saudis had generously supported
the Mujahaideen in their brave fight against the Soviets. No doubt, they would
have done so regardless of whether or not their mentor and ours, the United
States, had wanted it. It is quite another matter that stemming from that
decision, Pakistan now finds herself in the grip of an onslaught of terror
that no country has ever confronted; and much of it at the hands of the son,
younger brothers and, on occasions, of the same mujahideen who the Saudis
funded through their favourite Pakistani dictator.
Luckily, the official Saudi interest in Pakistan
has mostly been a benevolent one. The custodian's family at least oozes good
will for Pakistan. They regard our strength as their own. The Islamic bomb
gives them as much joy as it does us. But how can it guarantee Saudi security
because it is inconceivable that our weapons will be used for the defence
of anyone but ourselves?
About the only malevolence the Saudis have
ever displayed towards anything belonging to Pakistan has been towards our
Houbara Bustards which they massacre at will every winter during hunting season.
There are legion instances when successive
custodians have come to our assistance by putting in a word here and there
on our behalf with countries where their oil gives them leverage or where
Islamic bonds exist. Much of the munificence that has come our way from the
Gulf States also came initially as a result of Saudi prodding. The OIC, basically
a Saudi show, also extends loans for projects at the behest of Riyadh.
Pakistan has tried to reciprocate by sending
our army to guard the Saudis but here again, apart from the psychological
comfort the custodians may have gained from such a deployment, one is hard
pushed to discern the threat. Of course, in Jordan one of our officers, none
other than Ziaul Haq, enthusiastically participated in a war against the Palestinians,
people for whom we profess as much love as we do for the Jordanian monarchy.
It is small wonder then that many countries of the ummah take our Islamic
brotherhood peens with a pinch of salt. A similarly dramatic display of a
mismatch between word and action happened at the time of Suez (1956). On that
occasion, we sided with the infidels against Muslims.
But what has outweighed all benefits the Saudi
equation has brought has been the export to Pakistan of their creed, that
is, Wahabism. This has proved deadly. As interpreted and practised in some
madrassas in Pakistan, Wahabism has wrought havoc on Pakistan's social structure,
producing an army of bigots who believe that the ultimate simplification of
life is murder. They revel in killing and make no distinction between friend
and foe when it comes to achieving their purpose.
In the several thousand nurseries of hate
which have sprung up in Pakistan, thanks to generous private Saudi funding
which the government is no longer capable of shutting off or controlling,
lies a deadly weapon far more dangerous than a bomb. This lethal weapon has
a weak delivery system at present, hence the greatest danger that it poses
is at the point of manufacture, namely, Saudi Arabia, but more so Pakistan,
where their numbers are greatest. However, in due course, as their endeavours
become more effective and gather strength, they will loom more threateningly.
It is to this threat, rather than the fate of a discredited and desperate
trigger happy commando, that both countries should pay attention.
- The writer is a former ambassador
