Somalia—A Symptom:

May 14/2013: The malaise of Somalia has interestingly and for the first time, drawn international attention but in the matterof development. A poor country. No law and order machinery in place. No governance system worth the name. Thus goes the story of a dismal State that has completely ‘withered’ away. Located on the north eastern coast of Africa, this country has been in the news for the past few years as the motherland of the most vicious modern day pirates.

Seizing ships of all sizes, starting with massive oil tankers coming from the Gulf to private luxury yatchs, the Somalian pirates have methodically manipulated their power to control the waterways in that part of the ocean. A point to note is that these desperados have invariably succeeded in taking over vessels inspite of most of them carrying armed guards. One of the major reasons for their successes is the stealth with which they operate. Add to this their desperation and one gets a clear image of the scenario. Yet another fact is that these pirates, it seems, generally do not kill any of the hostages that they acquire by virtue of over powering ships sailing on the high seas. They have  valid reasons for little mercies such as this. A dead sailor fetches no ransom on her or his head. Unless there is resistance from the ship intended to be taken over, these high seas pirates are known to not fire even a single shot from  their weapons except to terrorize and scare away any one with a spirit of bravado.

What happens afterwards is hell for those taken captive. Mostly they are not fed properly as the pirates themselves run low on food all the time. Arguments or simple disobedience are met with cruel backlash since the bandits themselves have tattered nerves. According to first hand reports, many sailors have managed to remain unhurt if they kept quiet and obeyed instructions from their captors without any hint of rebelling. Unlike the Moslem jihadis who kill captives for impression of terror they create in front of the television cameras, the pirates allow all captives to remain alive.

There may be many horror stories known or unknown about the Somali pirates but one thing is very clear that they are not extortionists working solely for aggrandizing their personal wealth. Most of them operate with the support of large chunks of people living back home in their villages. With mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children starving on land, these pirates risk their freedom and also lives working what they are working for. It is easy to sit back in our homes with safety and security and condemn these ‘barbaric’ ocean sailing hoodlums who disrupt the world  by disturbing one of the most important sea lanes that modern society is dependent on. The water passage through which most of the world’s petroleum crude is ferried across  is the ones populated by the Somali pirates.

Somalia is a symptom of a great big disease that is spreading its tentacles across the world. The disease is extreme poverty, hunger and long term deprivation. Nothing can possibly justify piracy on the high seas to the developed 21st century mind. Yet, we also can not wish away this malaise so very easily any more. Notwithstanding the fact that most major navies of the world today are patrolling these waters, the pirates are also proliferating and  becoming a greater menace each day. The strength of hunger may not be minimized.

Somalia and one of its major national employment avenues—piracy—must become a lesson for the world today. While these kinds of acts may be considered deplorable by most ‘civilized’ people who would want immense force to be used to crush these pirates, the other side of the coin also must be considered and taken care of by minds that do not get swayed. With the State having withered away, we have a set of people here who are willing to take care of their old, infirm, helpless and weak, being fully aware of great personal risks. It is easy to damn them. It is more important to understand their humane qualities that most of us, especially in India, seem to have lost very consciously and without any regret. Somalis have proved to be a people who take care of their society without any existing government. We have transformed into a group of undesirables who think of none else but our very own pleasures and existence. I would very much prefer to be a Somali of today with feelings and concern for fellowmen rather then an Indian boasting of great history and culture but no humane values.