Daily Times

In a highly provocative undertaking, the Saudi regime executed Shia cleric NimrBaqr Al Nimr last week, a vocal critic of the royal family demanding nationwide free and fair elections, and political rights to minorities.

In response to his death, protests erupted in Iran. A large crowd — shocked and angry — poured into the streets and torched the Saudi embassy. Suspecting the Iranian authorities of being behind the incident, the Saudis cut diplomatic ties with Tehran whose embassy in Riyadh was instructed to shut down, its staff to leave the Kingdom. Following the footsteps of the ‘regional lord,’ Sudan and Bahrain have also severed their relationship with the Persian state while the UAE has downgraded its diplomatic connections.

As tensions grow between Iran and Saudi Arabia, grandiose ideas of self importance emerge in Pakistan, its political leaders meeting with the ambassadors of the Islamic states ‘advising’ them to show grace and stay patient.This response is neither new, unusual nor unexpected. Many scholars and politicians religiously believe in a renaissance of Islam through Pakistan, which has somehow integrated as part of their faith. With this in mind, you can understand why they think Pakistan can deescalate the tension between the two oil rich, theocratic rivals, that it can help bring them closer to each other or forge a peace agreement between them.

Seriously, how naïve do you have to be to say such things? Do you not look at the poverty in Pakistan? The illiteracy, the corruption or the nationwide insurgency? It is like a five-year-old who wants to arbitrate the distribution of assets on his parents’ divorce. Or like a rat dying to play role in a fight between two cats.However, the recent visit of the royal princes, the Saudi foreign minister followed by the defence minister, the deputy crown prince confirms some of our importance. The question is: what does a rich country like Saudi Arabia want or expect from us? What do they do not have that we have and how can we help them in winning their war?

It is not oil; we all know that. On the contrary, it is us who have begged the Saudis for decades to supply free, low cost or low interest energy resources. It is not money either; they have a lot of it in their American bank accounts and New York stock exchange, whereas we stand almost bankrupt. We know it is not about Islamic education or Wahhabi literature;the Saudis have their own echelon of enthusiastic scholars who can build up the Arab morale against Iran. Besides, they do not think our understanding of religion can match their level because we do not speak Arabic as our fist language. Is it weapons then? Of course not.If they needed weapons they would have gone to the US. The west would line up to provide them with whatever they want. And, under no circumstances, can Pakistan sell them nuclear bombs to use against Iran. It will be detrimental for both Saudi Arabia and Iran but a suicidal mission for Pakistan.

Then what is it? What do they want from us? The only thing that we all know — the elephant in the room — is that they do not have a well-trained, cheap but reliable mercenary force, dispensable human lives that can be jettisoned in the name of Islam for a few hundred dollars, a force that is not available in the free market but can be leased at a very low cost in Pakistan to restore the honour of Islam. Why would any other country (Muslim or not) send its sons to die for cash if there is no devotion, no commitment and no guarantee of paradise after death? Think about it.

In short, what makes Pakistan so uniquely important is not hard to figure out: we have got a population close to 200 million whose poor, uneducated youth thinks they can save the future of religion through their commitment to die for its honour, a state with a large army of 600,000 men on active duty and a long list of retired commissioned and non-commissioned officers, most of them Sunni who would be happy to go and fight, and get killed if the compensation is attractive enough.It would have been one thing had the Kingdom been attacked by an alien force and they needed Pakistan’s help to protect Mecca and Medina, but it is not. The Kingdom is not fighting a war with aliens; instead it is the aggressor waging wars against fellow believers who do not follow the same narrow Wahhabi interpretation of Islam. In addition, their hatred towards Shia Islam is as obvious as their repulsion towards the freedom of women, if not more. Indeed, the world faces such extreme religious views because of their narrow-minded interpretation and application of Islam, a tragedy that has reduced the religion of Averos to Osama bin Laden and Avecena to Mullah Omer.

Pakistan’s own its relationship with Saudi Arabia has damaged society ripping its culture apart. Whether it was the decision to accept Saudi money to finance the mujahideen against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan or send Pakistani workers for jobs where they are treated worse than slaves, it has encouraged rigidity in religion, unleashed the habit of belittling the faith of others, calling their devotion bidah and has upgraded extremism from vice to virtue. The results will not be any different in the current standoff if Pakistan decides to join them. Hate literature would flourish, minorities would become further marginalised and sectarian organisations would spring up. Just imagine what would happen after that.

The ultimate decision to provide the Saudis manpower is not Mian Nawaz Sahrif’s to make, even if he thinks it is his or even if he wants it to be his. It is a decision to be made by the Pakistan army and General Raheel Sharif. So, let us see what he decides.

The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com