Lascars In Manama

From all accounts, Pakistan seems eager to become the bulwark of the royal families against the popular rage on Arab streets. It is said to have kept at standby two army divisions for deployment in Saudi Arabia, should the simmering discontent there spill over. Islamabad is also hiring ex-army personnel to bolster the Bahrain National Guard (BNG), which has been cracking down on pro-democracy protests in the kingdom neighbouring Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan turned its gaze towards West Asia following the visits of, first, Saudi prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdul Aziz and then Bahrain’s foreign minister Khalid bin Ahmed al Khalifa in March-end. Though pro-democracy sentiments haven’t gathered a critical mass in Saudi Arabia, Riyadh is worried that the popular upsurge in Bahrain, a predominantly Shia country over which Sunni kings rule, could well, with time, permeate across the border. Sources say the Americans have endorsed Riyadh’s decision to seek Islamabad’s assistance. In return, the Saudi prince offered support to resuscitate the Pakistan economy and meet its energy demands. Renowned analyst Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi, however, doesn’t think Pakistan would commit its regular forces to a country other than Saudi Arabia. “Even in this case, the condition would be that Pakistani troops would perform their assigned duties only within Saudi Arabia.”

But deployment of regular forces in West Asia isn’t the only option before Islamabad. Already the Fauji Security Services, a subsidiary of the Fauji Foundation, which the Pakistani army established in 1993 for helping its superannuated personnel seek re-employment, has recruited about 1,000 men in March alone, 90 per cent of whom have been earmarked for serving in Bahrain. Conducting the tests and interviews, say sources, is a team comprising Bahraini and Pakistani officers as well as a few American instructors. The recruits are promised $1,174 a month, free medical expenses and accommodation. Over the next month, another 1,500 are to be hired. Since Shias dominate the agitation in Bahrain, it has been thought prudent to exclude them from recruitment here.

True, Bahrain has long been a happy hunting ground for former Pakistani army personnel—an estimated 10,000 Pakistanis serve in various security services of Bahrain. Yet the urgency for fresh recruits is borne out by an advertisement in the Urdu daily Jang, which states that the BNG speedily requires people who have the experience as anti-riot instructors. It also furnishes the ranks of officers whom they wish to hire.

Already, the presence of Pakistanis in Bahrain’s security forces prompted pro-democracy forces to target the expatriate community. The Pakistani embassy in Bahrain has reported that two Pakistani-born policemen and three civilians were killed and another 40 injured in clashes between security forces and protesters, some of whom told the media later that they were set upon by uniformed men speaking Urdu. Pakistani writer Cyril Almeida wrote in the Dawn newspaper on March 28: “The harrowing attacks on Pakistani nationals in Bahrain... has perhaps for the first time drawn attention to the for-hire security personnel who travel from Pakistan to defend the Bahraini kingdom and its ruling class.”

Analysts also feel Pakistan could get embroiled in the Sunni-Shia rivalry for supremacy in West Asia. The Iranian media has repeatedly predicted a prominent role for Pakistan in West Asia, accusing Islamabad of “collaborating with the Sunni rulers of Bahrain”. Pakistan’s charge d’affaires in Tehran was recently summoned to Iran’s foreign ministry, which conveyed its strong reservations over the ongoing recruitment in Pakistan for Bahrain’s armed forces. Should this not cease immediately, the Pakistani official was warned that Pak-Iran relations would be adversely affected.

Comprehending the danger, The Express Tribune wrote, “Even before the uprising broke out, many Pakistanis were serving in the Bahraini police force. Since the troubles began, Bahrain has been recruiting mercenaries from Pakistan to bolster its police and armed forces. Bahrainis are understandably enraged. By allowing mercenaries to serve the Bahraini monarchy, Pakistan has dangerously taken sides in what may turn out to be a geopolitical, ethnic nightmare. Iran is naturally supporting the protesters while Saudi Arabia is on the side of the king. Thanks to the mercenaries, the impression will now stick that Pakistan is on the anti-Iran side....”

In other words, Islamabad, wittingly or unwittingly, has become the frontline state for protecting the supremacy of Sunni Islam. Says Imtiaz Alam, who is also the secretary general of the South Asia Free Media Association, “Pakistan’s role as a ‘frontline state of Sunni Islam’ would not be taken lightly by Iran, which has the capability to create problems in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.” In a lighter vein, Alam adds, “Under the present circumstances, Pakistan’s nuclear bomb would no longer be viewed as an ‘Islamic Bomb’, but a ‘Sunni Bomb’”.

Yet most analysts appear gung-ho about Pakistan’s role in West Asia. Take Dr Rasheed Ahmed Khan, a professor of international relations at Punjab University, who pointed out, “Despite the rapidly developing profile of American strategic partnership with India and apart from the US rhetoric about India’s pre-eminence in the Indian Ocean region, the hard geopolitical reality remains that Pakistan is uniquely placed to serve the American regional strategies in key areas such as Central Asia or West Asia.” Protests against Pakistan’s role have been largely non-existent, though dozens of activists belonging to small organisations did protest outside the Islamabad Press Club, decrying the hiring of mercenaries by the Pakistan army to suppress pro-democracy forces in Bahrain and dividing its society along the incendiary ethnic line of Shias and Sunnis.

With the uprising in Bahrain decidedly having a popular base, some feel it would inevitably turn Bahrainis against Pakistan. For a country already having to endure the blowback of being a frontline state in the war on terror, another such role in the West Asian cauldron could prove perilous.