It is quite ironic that the secular former Tunisian President Zine alAbidine Ben Ali has been able to find asylum in Saudi Arabia, not exactly known for its secular proclivities. There are serious questions to be raised about why Saudi Arabia has had no compunctions in hosting some of the world’s most repressive dictators. Mr Ben Ali is not the first Muslim autocrat to find refuge with the House of Saud. The far more vicious Idi Amin of Uganda also spent his final days living in exile in Jeddah.
Why is Saudi Arabia so comfortable with providing sanctuary to the oppressors of Muslims worldwide? For it remains a fact that Muslims around the world are oppressed far more by their own dictators and autocrats than by any ‘foreign’ power. Examples of this can be found in many countries in the Middle East, where the presence of oil has led, by and large, to high living standards but personal freedoms, especially those relating to expression and speech, remain more or less absent. In that context, one would have to say that Pakistan fares far better in that its print and electronic media, notwithstanding the constant threats to journalists from all kinds of mafias and state and non-state actors, is much more free than say, the media of many a Gulf state. Yes Pakistan does not at all have an admirable record of dealing with its religious minorities but significant sections of the media, especially the English, are vociferous in their criticism of government failings.
This issue is significant because one of the reasons for growing radicalism among Muslims is the perception ordinary people in the Muslim world have of their governments and those who run them. This perception is true, to a great extent, in Pakistan as well, with the rulers seen as elitist and out of touch with the wishes and aspirations of ordinary Pakistanis. However, in many countries in the Arab world, this frustration and disaffection takes on a whole new meaning because those who experience it cannot find any real avenues (barring the internet) to vent their anger and resentment. That needs to change, or the scourge of extremism in much of the Muslim world will not go away anytime soon.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 20th, 2011.
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