BBC survey reveals how world perceives Pakistan: Even Saudis think quake wasn't important

BBC survey reveals how world perceives Pakistan

By Shahed Sadullah

LONDON: A BBC survey (reported in The News International on Jan 1) carries surprising implications for Pakistanis and the amount of importance the world seems to give to what happens in the country.

In what most Pakistanis would consider flabbergasting, the survey shows that the Pakistani earthquake, which all Pakistanis see as a defining moment in their personal lives and in the lives of the nation, was seen by the world (as represented by 27 countries surveyed in all the five inhabited continents) as only the 8th most important event of 2005, with only two per cent of people considering it the most important event of the year. The breakdown of that paltry two per cent figure carries even more shocking implications.

Of the 27 countries surveyed, five were from the Muslim world — Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, and Turkey. The Pakistan quake average of two per cent was made up almost exclusively of a whopping 42 per cent vote in Afghanistan, which felt that the Pakistan quake was the most important event of 2005. In all the other four Muslim countries surveyed, the quake got a zero vote, which means that the number of people in those four countries, who felt it was the most important event of 2005 was negligible. If it was not for the Afghanistan vote, the quake would not have figured in the listings at all.

The zero vote from Saudi Arabia and Iraq would be particularly disappointing for many Pakistanis given the huge significance events in these countries have had in Pakistan. Developments in Iraq following the US occupation of that country have had far reaching implications in the internal politics of Pakistan and while 11 per cent of Iraqis voted for the hurricanes in the US, the calamity in Pakistan drew a zero vote. Even more surprisingly, while Saudi Arabia recorded a zero vote for the Pakistan earthquake, one per cent of Saudis voted the death of the Pope as the most important event of 2005!

The next highest vote for the Pakistan quake after Afghanistan’s was two per cent, which came from two European countries — Britain and Germany. Brazil, Finland, South Korea and the United States recorded a one per cent vote for the quake, while all the other countries surveyed recorded a zero per cent vote, except Argentina, Canada, Italy and the Philippines, where some votes were cast for the earthquake but they amounted to less than one per cent.

India, less surprisingly, also recorded a zero vote for the disaster in Pakistan. That may help bring home the fundamental truth that much of the bonhomie found today in India-Pakistan relations is limited to the two sides of the Punjab. Beyond the Punjab in India old attitudes die hard as the reception given to the Pakistan cricket team in 2005 would show. What is surprising, however, is the fact that against this zero vote for the Pakistan quake, three per cent of Indians felt that the London bombings, which resulted in 52 deaths, was the most important event of 2005 while seven per cent voted in favour of the hurricanes in the US, Katrina and Rita.

This in spite of the fact that almost 1,400 people died in Indian Held Kashmir as a result of the quake, an area which India claims as its own and whose people it describes as its own. It is not known how many Indians live in New Orleans but that is generally not one of the areas favoured by Asian immigrants from the subcontinent. Purveyors of the ìIndia-Pakistan-same-people-same-cultureîš theory may find this awkward to explain. Even global warming drew an eight per cent vote in India; one would not have thought that eight per cent of a country with a per capita income of less than $500 per year would know what it means!

The question asked by the poll was: ìIn the future, when historians think about the year 2005, what event of global significance do you think will be seen as most important?î The effects of the Asian tsunami and war in Iraq topped the poll with 15 per cent votes each, the US hurricanes came third with 9 per cent followed by the death of the Pope (6 per cent), London bombings (four per cent), global warming and avian flu (three per cent each) with the Bali bombings and Pakistan quake, with two per cent each, bringing up the rear. A total of 59 per cent of respondents across all the countries surveyed mentioned one of the eight events while the other 41 per cent of respondents either did not give an answer or mentioned an event that was not chosen by a large number of people. Nearly 32,500 people were polled altogether by Canadian pollsters GlobeScan. The countries surveyed were: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Congo (DRC), Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Britain, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Italy, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the US.

The poll shows the power of the western electronic media as those events which western TV stations concentrated on have come out with the highest votes. It perhaps also shows how big a role is played by political affiliations, real or perceived, in the assessment of international events.