Some weeks back, I learned
from a history teacher of mine that the Syrian government had requested the Pakistani government to intervene and help the royal family if a revolt broke out in Saudi Arabia. I, being a staunch supporter of the revolutions occurring in the Middle East, spoke out against this and hoped that our government would never do such a thing but my teacher thought that our government would, not just because Saudi Arabia is considered a sacred country by the masses in Pakistan but mostly because of the oil; Saudi Arabia has repeatedly provided Pakistan with low-priced and at times free oil. Now this got me thinking: is oil our price? Is oil what it takes for us to relinquish our ideals and our principles?
It has been said that every man has his price — is oil ours?
In recent history, the necessity for oil has compelled man to commit numerous wrongdoings. In World War Two, the attack on Pearl Harbour by Japan was prompted by the oil embargo that had been imposed by the US. The oil embargo would have ruined Japan and thus, Japan attacked. Oil has been used as a weapon in both Arab-Israeli wars. Other than that, countries, at multiple times, have turned a blind eye to the crimes of others just because of oil. No country has yet pointed out the oppression that women face in the Middle East or the barbaric sentences that are carried out, especially in Saudi Arabia, while the same faults have somewhat been pointed out in Iran. No one has objected to the fact that there is no democracy in much of the Middle East and that the indigenous population’s human rights are not safeguarded and are being violated on a daily basis. No one seems to be bothered by the fact that many of the madrassas and religious political parties in Pakistan are being funded by Saudi Arabia’s oil money. No significant light has been shed on the fact that Pakistani troops and Saudi-backed forces are aiding Bahrain’s crackdown on protests. The injustice that Israel is committing every day on Palestinians has been quietly ignored by the west and the US has, at times, answered with military assistance, which played a crucial role during the Arab-Israeli wars.
The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have inspired other revolutions and hence many protests have started to take place throughout the Middle East. In almost every case, the governments of these countries have taken illegal and immoral actions to curb and stop these movements.
Although the media has played a commendable role in these revolutions — Egypt is a good example — it has at the same time failed in its, needless to say, very crucial role. The protests that took place in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have barely received any light from the media and, yes, President Obama in his recent address did mention Bahrain, but he failed to mention Saudi Arabia. The president of a nation that takes pride in its democracy and human rights and considers itself almost as a beacon of hope for the world is brushing off the injustice that is taking place in these countries. Even right now, most of the world’s focus is on Libya and Syria and hardly on any of the countries such as Saudi Arabia, which has actually made it illegal to stage a protest and is continually violating its citizens’ rights. Bahrain has even started prosecuting the brave medical professionals who actually had some humanity and were not afraid to do what is right: treat injured protesters during the uprising.
It is really unfortunate what oil can make our world leaders do. The Middle East is the largest supplier of oil to the world and, when a country has to choose between oil and what is right, sadly, oil is always triumphant. During the Libyan revolution, when oil prices went up, the world actually, for just a small time, changed its tone and started calling the rebels ‘insurgents’ and ‘terrorists’ whom once they were calling freedom fighters. It is a bitter and grim reality but it seems as if the world’s first preference is oil and everything else comes second.
But, at the same time, can we really blame our world leaders for committing such inhumane injustice? Are they not just doing what is best for their country? Maybe they are just exercising the cynical view of ‘sacrificing a few to help a lot’ or maybe they are aware of the fact that oil has been used as a weapon during wars and that it has had very critical repercussions, or, maybe it is just true: every man does have his price and for us it is oil.
And can we really blame oil for all of this? The world is constantly trying to overlook the human rights violations that are continuously taking place in China. In the 1980s, the world started to hail General Ziaul Haq, a military dictator, as the saviour of the free world when he decided to side with the US in the Cold War and agreed to provide a conduit to Afghanistan to counter the Soviet invasion. Ironically, it was during General Zia’s regime that the radical Islamisation of Pakistan took place, giving birth to this extreme ideology, which now the US is trying to fight off and eradicate. NATO has diligently aided and abetted the rebels in Libya on the grounds that it has become a humanitarian crisis while, at the same time, other than a rhetorical response, NATO has stayed aloof from the entire protest in Syria, where shots are being fired on unarmed protesters on a daily basis.
But does the world really need all this oil? Does the US really need to control and consolidate its hold on oil? Can they not simply curtail their consumption of oil and stop being an over-consuming society? Maybe it needs all that oil to maintain its position as the dominant superpower in the world. Maybe it is just greed; the greed to have more power, have a stronger economy, to have more of everything.
And can we resolutely credit Pakistan’s silent response to the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia and their funding of the political parties and madrassas in Pakistan? Is it not true that the masses in the country are and always have been sympathetic to the religious clergymen? That sympathy is what aided General Zia’s dictatorship. Also, does this male-dominated society not silently condone the oppression that women face in Saudi Arabia? We may pretend and try to be liberal but are not women without pardah looked upon disapprovingly? Is the mingling or socialising of men and women generally not deemed as wrong or by some even as a sin? Do many people not still crave for male offspring rather than female ones?
Maybe it would be a bit improper to put all the blame on oil. Maybe, it is a necessity, the need to survive by any means necessary or maybe it is just greed; the insatiable hunger for power that compels our world leaders to take such actions and, at times, not taking any at all — at times being just a fly on the wall.
Perhaps it is true: every man does have a price, we just need to be pushed against the wall enough to find what it is. Maybe it is just human nature and the reality is that the ugly side is apparently more prevalent than the other.
The writer can be reached at [email protected]