HAJ STAMPEDE-AGAIN- SAUDIS MUST ANSWER

Tragic scenes in Saudi Arabia in yet another Haj Stampede in which thousands were killed and many more injured. The incident managed to expose the injustices and fallacies committed by the ruling clan of KSA, the royal house of Saud. Their prejudices and wrongdoings are well known but many turn a blind eye due to one reason or another, the main reason usually being fear of the totalitarian regime and their harsh punishments. The tragic accident highlighted the ugliness of the situation. The religious tourism business in Saudi is generating billions of dollars for the House of Saud and their plan for expansion of this lucrative trade is defacing the archaeological identity of Muslim Holy city of Mecca. More so, the operational mismanagement in particular during Haj season is costing the lives of the pilgrims from all over the world. These people pay huge amounts of money to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order to fulfill their religious obligations but are still faced with difficulties and racism.

The stampede on this years pilgrimage caused around 1400 deaths.Iran among other nations blame the stampede on the Saudi royals movement which forced the closure of an exit resulting in the incident. However the Saudi government laid the blame on the pilgrims for causing the stampede themselves. The information wars go on, raising questions that are still not being answered by the rulers of the Islamic holy land.

• Why is there  consistent repeated failure in managing the pilgrimage?

• Why, despite this repeated failure causing the tragic loss of lives are the Saudis only concentrating on expanding their billion dollar religious tourism business ?

• Why are healthcare facilities the least priority in the 60 billion dollar expansion of Mecca that focuses on the hotel industry alone?

• Finally, why is the concept of human rights and freedom of speech in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia bottom of their governance priority? 

The only answer to all these questions from the House of Saud and their paid clergy is that it is their God given right to rule their lands as they please. The Arab cultural arrogance is automatically displayed once it comes to answering questions like this.

The kingdom's crisis management inevitably always resorts to information and media blackout, however, on this occasion hajis (pilgrims) on their return to their respective countries are challenging the Arab's claim to divinity. There is a general feeling of disgust and displeasure towards the Saudi regime for the first time ever among the conservative Sunni Muslims. This dust won't settle easily for the House of Saud and their minions operating around the globe.

The house of Saud held a clout over the Sunni Muslim world through funding their religious schools and their religious leaders in each respective country. The establishment of mosques around the globe funded by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and similar investments buy them this leverage to maintain dominance over the Shia Muslim religious establishments similarly led and funded by Iran. Iran on the other hand, irrespective of all its troubles is winning the war of influence through ideology and the info wars. The credit of this advantage to Iran in the Arab-Persian conflict goes to the inefficiency and mismanagement of Saudi Arabia by her rulers who have in turn employed equally inept managers to run their Kingdom's affairs. Iran is fully utilizing the opportunities provided by the Saudis by exposing the fragile nature of perceptions about the Houses of the Arab Royals.The nature of the armed encounters in this great Middle Eastern war of influence between the Arabs and Persians is written in blood and terror, however that's another tragic story.

Arab Royals live overly extravagant lifestyles around the globe. Some of them even commit felonies abroad and get away with them by leaving in their private jets and using their billion dollar individual assets. The western world is their summer play ground while the rest of the year they enjoy the palaces and estates in their kingdoms run by expats who are treated like slaves. They are given state level protocol by the Muslim countries they visit and whose leaders they fund and many hold shady business empires made over the oil money all around the globe.

The lower oil prices have fundamentally created the first ever budget deficit at the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This called for the diversification of the Saudi economy which is heavily dependent on the oil revenues. As a result the most profitable diversification of the Saudi economy is in the shape of expansion of the Haj and Umra pilgrimage business. The Muslim holy pilgrimages in Mecca and Medina form the top tourist destination globally. It is not only the most frequented  place visited by religious tourists, but also promises to hold this status for the foreseeable future. It can be seen as an excellent business plan, hence its execution by the House of Saud even at the cost of death and misery of the very people paying to keep the business running. The focus of this religious tourism business is the hotel industry while unforgivably neglecting the healthcare and fire and rescue facilities required to run this mega operation that generates their billions in profits.

It is known as the hospitality industry around the globe but hospitality is the least displayed trait here except to those who are the guests of the ruling house or their paid clergy.The difficulty in concealing this matter is apparent on this occasion .They will have to invest in the healthcare and mass management apparatus providing adequate emergency and rescue services matching the nature of the biggest and most congested human gatherings in the world. They will have to address the problem areas highlighted repeatedly if they don't want to be forced to answer the questions that they are not answering still. They will have to improve their present management and change their attitudes which seems highly unlikely.

The Saudis need to realise that the world they are living in today is a global village with access to the majority of information and incidents. They will loose their authority, prestige and influence if their attitudes fail to change. The Pakistani parliaments refusal to send the Pakistani Army to Yemen to fight for the Saudi empire is just the beginning. It predicts the loss of dominance of the house of Saud in the Sunni Muslim world if they fail to mend their ways. The Saudis in their arrogance are not making or keeping friends they desperately require to sustain their kingdom's influence around the globe and domestically. Much to their dismay, democracies around the world are debating the Saudi behaviour . These democracies include the Sunni majority Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Uncomfortable questions are being asked which will have to be addressed by the Saudis at some point, whether they like it or not. The mirage is finally being seen for what it is.                                                   

Impediments To India-Pakistan Peace - Distorted Perspectives

The South Asian nuclear armed republics of India and Pakistan are daggers drawn yet again. No surprises there. The hawks from both sides are spitting fire at each other as usual. The Indian government led by Modi is hell bound to create all sorts of troubles for Pakistan, whereas the Pakistani side under its powerful Army Chief General Raheel Sharif is replying every Indian move with an equal audacity if not more. The world realizes that any limited or full scale war between India and Pakistan has the sure potential of MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) scenario under the nuclear warheads both countries possess. Any such eventuality will have a global effect far beyond South Asia, and complete world would suffer directly or indirectly. The genesis of this conflict dates back to the bloody partition of both countries  in 1947 and the creation of two independent states after almost two centuries of British rule. The state of Kashmir remains to be the principle bone of contention ever since partition of both countries which fought three all out wars since then. Both countries are still engaged in a cold/proxy war even as of today. UN resolution on Kashmir calls for a plebiscite to decide its final settlement. Pakistan calls for the implementation of the UN resolution for the settlement of the conflict knowing fully well that the Muslim majority population of Kashmir will opt for Pakistan and India on the other hand refuses out-rightly to abide by the UN resolution on Kashmir due to the same reason. Hence, Kashmir remains as the unfinished agenda of India-Pakistan partition.


The resolution of Kashmir conflict and other bilateral issues is not something which can not be resolved through dialogue. However, since hate sells much easier then love, hawks of both countries under its security dominated historical perspectives continues to preach hatred towards each other to their respective younger generations, keeping the fire of emulation alive and burning to date. Under the current security standing of both India and Pakistan, it is least likely that a military solution of Kashmir conflict will be possible without mass destruction of both countries. Both sides won't also ever give up the respective parts of Kashmir under their control. It happens to be the perfect catch twenty two situation exposing the entire region to the risk of a nuclear holocaust.

India aspires the status of a regional power in Asia pacific, however, Pakistan continues to be the biggest impediment in achieving Indian dreams. No matter how much the west supports India to rise as a counterweight to the Chinese influence, no sane mind will invest for long term in a country which is a direct target of an extensive nuclear arsenal. The situation surely does frustrate India which is thrice the size of Pakistan and possesses a vibrant economy compared to that of Pakistan. Pakistan on the other hand does not even flinch a bit having established credible nuclear deterrence towards her enemies . India has thus far tried all proxy warfare strategies against Pakistan, only to be met with failure under extreme resilience which marks the very fiber of Pakistani society. Pakistan for decades fought a proxy war against India at Kashmir, only to be halted by Pervaiz Musharraf regime in 2004 under intense American pressure post 9/11. Both countries leave no stone turned to harm each other's interests at any international forum. Top politicians in both countries score winning points on the hate agenda against each other. The text books of both countries are designed to preach hate against each other and so on and so forth. The print and electronic media of both countries under the influence of the security dominated mindset again propagate hate and chest thumping is frequent phenomenon.

Efforts for peace between both countries at large scale mostly remains restricted to achieving limited business objectives by few elite who are in turn the sole beneficiaries of such efforts. There is a genuine desire among the intelligentsia of both countries which share rich cultural traditions to mend fences. However, the "average Joes" of both countries led by respective fundamental nationalist forces are made to believe that any prospect of peace is impossible as the other side wants to drink their blood. It is not in the interests of the fundamentalist nationalist forces at both side to let any sort of peace through dialogue get through, as their bread and butter would be at stake if it happens. The situation allows for the hawks at both sides to thrive and doves can at best duck down and take the beating. It is always a bad idea to talk and promote peace by any individual or group belonging to either India and Pakistan due to the distorted perceptions being promoted by the said fundamental nationalist forces on both sides. These forces are very powerful on both sides of the borders and well entrenched in their respective security establishments. They are capable of escalating any minor bilateral conflict into a battle of words and weapons and possess armed wings to hold their influence. It greatly helps politicians at both sides in general to play blame game and point fingers at the rival state as it greatly helps them to deviate the attention of the masses from the real issues they are facing due to the corruption and incompetence of the same politicians. In the meantime, the youth of both countries continue attacking each other on the web and all sort of social media forums under the influence of the said, false and distorted perspectives. Under the current Hindu nationalist government of Mr Modi in India, this hate mongering has seen new highs.

Both India and Pakistan together forms the main bulk of South Asian region. The majority of the population in both countries live in poverty with none to low access to social and essential services for example provision of healthcare and even clean drinking water. The world bank in its 2015 review of South Asia notes the following :-

"  poverty in the region remains high. About 399 million people—40 percent of the world’s poor—live on less than $1.25 a day. More than 200 million people live in slums, and half a billion people go without electricity. Many countries in the region suffer from extreme forms of social exclusion and huge infrastructure gaps, and the larger countries are experiencing increases in inequality. Development in the region will be key to meeting global poverty and prosperity goals".

The same report further notes:

"South Asia will play an important role in the global development story as it takes its place in the Asian Century. It has the world’s largest working-age population, a quarter of the world’s middle-class consumers, the largest number of poor and undernourished in the world, and several fragile states of global geopolitical importance. With inclusive growth, South Asia has the potential to change global poverty".

For the projections in the above report to take effect in true sense, India foremost and Pakistan as well need to realize the importance of peace while maintaining their security apparatuses but not directed at each other. There is no conflict on earth which can not be solved by bilateral negotiations under neutral mediators. But it must be noted that, any such idea may only be realized if and when the "distorted perceptions" against each other by both Indians and Pakistanis are challenged, questioned and openly debated with as much flare, as the hawks spit their fire.......