Sogdiana: From Bukhara to Boston

Pakistan and the Earthquake

The devastating earthquake in Kashmir and the surrounding areas seems to have brought an endless amount of misery to the region. The death toll, now at 54,000, is expected to continue to climb, since more than 20% of the affected areas have not even been reached since the catastrophe occurred. Additionally, cold weather, disease, and exposure continue to plague those who were fortunate enough to survive. It took days for the Pakistani government to mobilize aid to even the more accessible areas, such as the capital of Pakistani Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, and other sizeable towns such as Balakot. In the absence of official assistance, the void was filled by extremist Muslim groups, who quickly martialled their legions of followers and moved in to search for survivors and provide blankets, clothing, tents, and food. Although the Pakistani military and international assistance did eventually arrive, it is difficult not to think that a critical opportunity to reduce the profile of Islamic fundamentalists in a volatile region was not squandered. Quake survivors, desperate, devastated, and embittered by a lack of government attention, would surely view Islamist groups more favorably as a result of their immediate offers of aid. It remains to be seen if Islamic fundamentalists will gain in the long-term from this tragedy, but it would seem logical to conclude that they have won at least some hearts and minds as a result of their actions.

Kashmir is a region that Pakistan and India have fought multiple wars over, and which successive Pakistani governments have passionately claimed as part of their country. The reason for this, supposedly, is to allow the largely Muslim Kashmiris to be part of a state that truly includes them and represents their interests. But if the Kashmiris and their wellbeing are so important to Pakistan, important enough to fight wars over and spend an exorbitant amount of money on defense spending, why was the response to their misery so pitiful and so late? If Pakistan is willing to commit the vast resources necessary to creating a nuclear bomb, ostensibly to defend itself from India (its opponent in the Kashmir controversy), why would it not also invest resources into developing the Kashmir region, and bettering the lives of its inhabitants? The answer, of course, is that the Kashmir issue is hollow rhetoric for Pakistan. Hyping up the importance of Kashmir and the danger of India is simply a way for corrupt, autocratic, and ineffective Pakistan officials to distract public attention from their own failures.

Neither Pakistan nor India has actually allowed the people of Kashmir to vote and choose their own destiny, whether it be as a province of one of those two countries, to remain divided as they are now, or a sovereign nation. The fundamental difference between Pakistan and India, however, is that while both have poured money into defense spending, only India has also made significant investments in its own infrastructure and taken the necessary steps to encourage economic growth. As a result, young Indians today have far more opportunities for advancement available to them, even in rural areas. Young rural Pakistanis, in contrast, have much less chance of obtaining the necessary education to pull themselves out of a life of poverty. The lack of state schools in rural Pakistan, Pakistani Kashmir included, has made attending an Islamic madrasa - staffed by Muslim extremists who indoctrinate their students with hateful and inflammatory ideas - not only attractive, but in many cases, the only option.

Picture credits: Jewel Samad/AFP-Getty Images

posted by TojikYor @ 12:30 PM