The killing of two Chinese in Pakistan has injected discomfort between the two countries, specially because Pakistan has branded the victims as missionaries
Gaurav Tyagi
The recent incident involving killing of two Chinese citizens in Pakistan is highly condemnable.
The worst part is that instead of feeling embarrassed for the complete break-down of law and order situation in Pakistan, their establishment has blamed the two deceased Chinese nationals saying that the two Chinese citizens, Lee Zing Yang, 24 and Meng Li Si, 26 were Christian missionaries misusing their business visas.
Does it imply that the Chinese Christians do not have the right to stay alive in Pakistan? Pakistan is now talking about toughening its visa policy for the Chinese nationals. This is akin to a serial adulterer talking about celibacy. On the contrary, it is time that nations in the world harden their visa policies for Pakistani citizens.
In May 2013, seven men of Pakistani origin from Oxford in Britain were found guilty of sexual grooming of minor white girls. These sexual predators made contact with victims in public places like parks and offered alcohol to these girls. Majority of these girls came from broken families or were living in Child Care shelters.The under-age young girls were later trafficked within U.K, taken to other towns for sexual exploitation by a large number of Pakistani men staying in Britain.
The Home Affairs Committee probing the case mentioned that, “evidence presented to us suggests that there is a model of localized grooming of Pakistani heritage men targeting young white girls” Councils of Rochdale and Rotherham in Britain also witnessed similar cases on a large scale.
Pakistani men in Netherlands also used to target minor white Dutch girls for sexual exploitation and subsequent religious conversion to Islam by marrying and later dumping these girls after obtaining a Dutch passport.
The irony is that the Middle East Arabs, whom Pakistanis idolize, consider Muslims from Pakistan as third class converts and avoid social interaction with them.
A large number of Pakistanis masquerade as Afghan nationals to acquire European Union (EU) Passports from different European countries. Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan. It is also the second most spoken regional language of Pakistan. Pakistani passport holders take advantage of this fact and falsely claim asylum as Afghan refugees in Europe.
Pakistan is a very risky and volatile nation. Rich Pakistanis politicians, army officers and bureaucrats reside in gated communities. They thrive on the large inflow of foreign funds.Previously this class of Pakistanis prospered on American aid and now they are getting funds from China.
The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is worth approximately $46 Billion. This sum is about twice as much as Pakistan’s total foreign exchange reserves. Middle class Pakistanis strive to leave Pakistan and settle abroad by hook or by crook.The government schools in Pakistan are in a bad shape due to mismanagement and inefficiency. Due to this reason, the vast majority of economically poor Pakistanis send their children to religious seminaries known as ‘Madrasas’. These religious schools however, primarily focus on students ‘rote learning’, the Muslim holy book, ‘Koran’. This largely turns students into religious fanatics and unsuitable for the job market.
These frustrated individuals then, turn to crime besides religious extremism. They lack material comforts of life due to their poverty and ignorance therefore, they have no qualms in killing others, and even committing suicide. They actively seek their so called, ‘martyrdom’ in the name of religion by killing non-believers of Islam.
Pakistan is ranked a lowly 122 out of 138 countries in the 2016-17 edition of Global Competitiveness Report published by the World Economic Forum. The World Bank ranks Pakistan at 144th position out of 190 countries, as regard ease of doing business. The billions which China is pumping into Pakistan for the CPEC initiative has made Pakistani establishment highly sluggish.
Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif said in 2015 that the money being spent by China in Pakistan is neither a loan nor a grant but an investment.
Sharif further said that the Chinese investment in Pakistan covers construction of motorways and installation of energy projects.
It should be a matter of great shame for Pakistan that since, its creation in 1947, the country has failed to build proper infrastructure. A report in ‘The Express Tribune’, a Pakistani newspaper, expressed apprehension about CPEC since, Pakistan is highly plagued by inefficiency, corruption and political instability.
The CPEC project would not bring any prosperity to Pakistan. The Chinese funds would disappear in the labyrinth of corrupt Pakistani establishment.
A large number of Chinese nationals, however would be going to Pakistan for working in these projects. China needs to seriously ponder about the safety of its citizens in unstable Pakistan.
In order to avoid further recurrence of such incidents, China should make it clear to Pakistan that the security of Chinese citizens in Pakistan is the sole responsibility of Pakistani government.
All Chinese nationals working in Pakistan should be provided a substantial insurance cover by Pakistan. In the event of any mishap like kidnapping, killing or injuries resulting from an attack, the aforesaid sum should be paid by the government of Pakistan to the Chinese victim or their family.
This is the least which Pakistani establishment can do for Chinese employees in their country, considering the exemplary efforts China is putting in, to uplift this parasite Pakistan and its economy through projects like CPEC and OBOR.
(The writer is a China-based journalist)
