View From The Neighbourhood: History lessons

Gwadar attack

The May 13 editorial in Dawn weighs in on how to deal with the insurgency in Balochistan in the aftermath of the second attack in the region this month. “Even more disturbing, the incident took place in Gwadar city, whose port is the gateway to CPEC and the veritable jewel in the crown of the multibillion dollar project — which makes the area one of the most heavily secured in the restive province,” remarks the editorial.

The motive behind the attack is clear: “Baloch separatist groups have made no secret of their hostility towards CPEC, which they perceive as yet another manifestation of state plunder of Balochistan’s resources. They seem to have stepped up their campaign in recent months with a number of high-profile attacks.”

According to the editorial, “the only long-term resolution to this extended, if low-key, conflict is a political one. The state must reach out to disaffected nationalists and individuals who have some currency with the more obdurate Baloch.”

Decoding desperation

Ziauddin Choudhury, a former Bangladeshi civil servant, puts into perspective Bangladesh’s “economic miracle” in a Dhaka Tribune article on May 16. Between 40 and 60 Bangladeshis reportedly drowned in the Mediterranean earlier this month attempting to migrate to Europe. While others that perished were fleeing war, destruction and instability in West Asia, Choudhury asks “why this group would include people from relatively “politically stable” countries such as Bangladesh and Pakistan. Is it so difficult to live in their countries that they have to take such measures to leave their country for unknown territories?”

In addition, the article states that many of those seeking a better life in Europe are not peasants or the illiterate, but “the majority of these voluntary refugees are young people; they are not peasants who left farming in search of better occupations. They are high school-educated, many with some college education. I know, because I have met many such young people in Italy, Spain, and Portugal who had succeeded in their adventurous journeys across the seas”.

The article then states that “we (Bangladeshis) flatter ourselves by gloating over our economic miracle. Our GDP quadrupling in the last 15 years. Our growth rate being consistently ahead of neighbouring countries. Our rate of literacy growing ahead of expectation. ” Yet, he argues, that unemployment has been left unaddressed and the education system has failed the youth. An argument that could be made for nearly all of South Asia.