Islamic Countries: Eid ul Fitr is being celebrated all over the world. Meanwhile, former Pakistani Lieutenant General Talat Masood has pointed out the weaknesses of Islamic countries. In an opinion piece on the Pakistani website ‘The Tribune Express‘, he said that for Muslims celebrating Eid, this is also a time to assess the difficulties and hardships they are facing in different countries.
In this opinion piece, former Pakistani Lieutenant General Talat Masood has mentioned the weaknesses, problems and mistakes of Islamic countries. He explained the position of Muslim countries in the global economic scenario, the political maturity of their leaders and the strategic influence they wield and what Islamic countries need to do to improve their position.
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‘Muslim leaders are careless in matters of education’
Pointing out the weaknesses of Islamic countries, former Lieutenant General Talat Masood said, “Muslim leaders have generally been careless in promoting education. Pakistan is the sixth largest country in terms of population. It is also strategically located and is also a nuclear power. Despite this, 23 percent of Pakistan’s population is illiterate. Pakistan’s economy is largely dependent on foreign aid, whether it is from the IMF, the World Bank or oil-rich countries.”
He said, “Apart from Turkey, there is hardly any Muslim country whose universities meet international standards. Students from Muslim countries usually go to Europe or America for higher education. A few years ago, Saudi Arabia tried to establish its satellite colleges in collaboration with major American and Western universities, but this project could not progress much.”
‘Dependence on Western countries is an obstacle to success’
Talat Masood further said, “Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are major producers of oil and gas, but they are heavily dependent on Western countries for exploration of natural resources and other things. Refineries have mostly been established by Western countries, Japan or South Korea. The same situation is in UAE and other Middle East countries. In recent years, these countries have brought forward local talent to increase technology and management capacity. The situation has improved in this, but it will take more time to achieve complete success.
‘Fights among Islamic countries weaken them’
He said, “OPEC and especially Saudi Arabia play an important role in determining oil prices. The US and major western countries dominate the energy market. There is no possibility of any major progress in alternative sources of energy in the near future. However, differences among Muslim oil producing countries are reducing their collective dominance and becoming a major obstacle in their progress. Political differences between Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries weaken their political and economic influence.”
Pakistan’s former lieutenant general said this about India
“Despite the opposition of some western countries, the recent efforts to improve relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran are encouraging. Western countries oppose countries that enter into agreements on oil products with Russia and Iran and sometimes even impose sanctions. This is making it difficult to follow American guidelines. However, India’s oil deal with Russia was ignored by the US.”
He said, “Lack of focus on higher education and failure to promote science and technology has made Muslim countries dependent on foreign education. Only a few people can take advantage of this. There are no clear signs that Muslim leaders are giving priority to higher education. These leaders do not see the need to focus on education, whereas it is the first parameter to change the destiny of countries.”
