Not by bread alone

True, the earnings from huge reservoirs of oil and the toll on pilgrims for the Haj have made the development affordable to the kingdom. Yet what has made it possible is the labour from the subcontinent. There are nearly 30 lakh people, 16 lakh from India alone. They are engineers, doctors, economists, scientists, educa-tionists or mere labourers. They are still the backbone of the country's economy.

Surprisingly, the key to the progress as they are, they have no privileges, no security of tenure or no right to residence. They can be thrown out any time without notice. The status of newcomers or those who came 30 or 40 years ago is the same: no legal domicile, no automatic nationality and not even temporary citizenship. All depends on the preference or the permutation of the government. It may want people from a particular country at one time and from another at some other.

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Once the Pakistanis were allowed in droves. Then the Indians came to be liked. They still "sell" well because of their reputation of minding their own business and working hard. Policemen treat them with consideration. Still when it comes to having any tangible rights, the Indians are no better than the others. New entrants are few and far between as the time goes by.

I can understand if a person is thrown out for having committed an offence or for having violated even the unwritten laws of the country. Any consideration other than that is capricious. But then that is the reality. The sword of Damocles is constantly hanging over the heads of those who are working. But they have learnt to live with it.

Openings are shrinking because the Saudi youth is entering the market and demanding employment. Some of them are brilliant. But the average is indolent and wants the best of life without working for it. Even those Saudis who are below par are pushing out old hands to the background or even out of the country. I know the son-of-the-soil theory has come to prevail

in every country. Yet those who have given their sweat and toil to build Saudi Arabia should have been given a sense of security in the jobs they occupy or ensured a salary for the period they would have served if they had not been retired early.

It should not, however, come as a surprise that the Americans, employed at similar jobs, have a fixed tenure and comfortable living. They draw a salary which is three or four times more than that of people from the subcontinent. The anti-American feeling is strong, particularly after what has happened to Iraq. Still they throw their weight around and continue to enjoy a pre-eminent position.

But then New Delhi is no less dazzled by those employed in America or elsewhere in the West. The Indians in Saudi Arabia or, for that matter, the Gulf countries, proudly cling to their nationality while those living in America, the UK or Canada have jettisoned their nationality. But the latter are considered more important even as non-resident Indians (NRIs).

There was a big jamboree of NRIs last year at New Delhi without any invitee from the Arab countries or the Gulf. New Delhi's criterion for importance is the quantum of money which the community from a particular area contributes to foreign reserves. I have no idea how large is the financial input of NRIs from the West. But the Indians from Saudi Arabia alone remit seven billion dollars every year. This is apart from the money which Air India make because its Saudi Arabia route is the most paying.

Ninety per cent of Indians in Saudi Arabia are Muslims. It is amazing how closely they follow the day-to-day developments in their country through TV channels. With no firm future in Saudi Arabia, their main concern is: What will happen to the Indian Muslims? In one way, the question is easy to answer: the country has the constitution which is secular in letter and spirit. The word 'secularism' figures in the preamble. Individual as well as collective freedom of religion is guaranteed under Articles 25, 26 and 30. Non-discrimination on grounds of religion under Article 15 and equality of opportunity under Article 16 automatically ensure the basic principles of secularism.

In another way, the fact remains that the BJP, which has increased its strength from eight to 181 members in the Lok Sabha in the last decade, has anti-Muslim bias. The party has divided the society more in its five-year rule than the British did during their entire stay of 150 years. Still Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani has the temerity to say that the "ideology of the BJP or the RSS has been an unifying factor for the nation." How can those who want to found a state on religion, not the nation, unite the country? But any desperation or retaliation in terms of fanaticism will be counter-productive for the Muslims. They should maintain their faith in the constitution which gives equality before the law. They should remember that wading through blood in the wake of partition and adopting a secular constitution was not easy. But what then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said at that time was as much true as it is today: "The government of a country like India with many religions that have secured great and devoted following for generations can never function satisfactorily in the modern age except on secular basis."

This is what the then King of Saudi Arabia admired about India when I interviewed him many years before. Today's government at Riyadh is no different. What is not understandable is why the government prefers a Muslim to head the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia. Ours is a secular country and our diversity is the country's strength. Singling out any religious community for representation gives a handle to communal elements.

"Do you have freedom," I asked one of the Indian friends at Riyadh. He said it all depended on what was meant by freedom. "My wife, wearing jewellery, can travel all by herself throughout the country even at night," he said. "Nobody would even imagine that any harm would come to her. Compare this with India which has all the freedom."

My friend was right in one sense. The security of life and property was important. Still the freedom of expression is something basic to human beings. It is heartening to see that Saudi Arabia is holding elections for setting up its first municipal council. With all the luxuries, the say of the people is necessary. Man does not live by bread alone.

Kuldip Nayar is an eminent Indian columnist.