It is unfortunate that every time some major issue comes up, a spectrum of people, including some political leaders, immediately attempt to take advantage of the situation for themselves, without examining the issue dispassionately from all angles. The crucial question must remain whether the boycott is going to harm the USA more than it will harm us?
First of all, let us note that the so-called American products are not restricted to beverages or fast food restaurants only. For example, affecting our lives in a much more critical way are life-saving medicines and other pharmaceutical products, several of which have an American connection. Then who can deny that computers are today running our lives in more ways than one?
The operating systems and software banks use, the reservation system the airlines use, the software that runs hospitals, indeed the operating system and software used in your personal computers to send e-mails and surf the net, are all mostly American products. If the call for a boycott is a principled stand, then surely we must all shut down our computers, deny all patients American medicines and extend our rejection to every other products or service with an American linkage.
Are we willing to do this? Or, are we going to preach the boycott as we often preach our religion? Hypocritically, bringing in religion where it suits us and ignoring it totally where the tenets of religion restrict our lifestyle.
Another aspect of the boycott issue is the need to examine which products and services are truly American. Admittedly a number of products may have been of American origin when they first started. But today they may be Pakistani all but in name. Most of the so-called American multinationals today have majority Pakistan ownership in the operations in Pakistan. They directly employ Pakistanis, create jobs and work for several Pakistani vendors, up-stream and down-stream and they pay huge amounts as taxes to Pakistan. So boycotting such products means loss of revenue for our government, loss of jobs for our people and financial losses for our entrepreneurs. Is the USA affected? Only very marginally and very indirectly. The loss to the USA is only a minuscule fraction of the loss to ourselves.
People who are clamouring for a boycott on the grounds that it will harm corporate America are also ignorant of the economic and financial realities that govern world trade today. Yes, if the whole world stops consuming American goods and services on a long-term, sustained basis (something that is highly unlikely if not impossible), it could create a slight dent in the American economy.
Conversely, if in retaliation the USA stops all imports from Pakistan, for instance, where would we be? In 2002 Pakistani exports to the USA valued some $700 million. This figure is for direct exports only. Add to this several hundred million dollars of our exports to third countries that end up in the USA after some processing in the third country. This may even simply be adding a “made in ...” label that is put on in the third country to justify that it is originating there.
People, especially our so-called leaders who are inciting the public to boycott American goods must appreciate that if the boycott is turned against us, we stand to lose a lot. The long-term answer for us is, therefore, not to boycott USA or for that matter any other goods, but to aim for self-reliance as much as possible.
Lastly, the boycott lobby is also spreading the misconception that a lot of American companies are Jewish-owned. Almost all multinationals that operate in Pakistan are public owned companies, with shares being traded on the stock exchanges of the world. Any single company may have millions of shareholders all over the world, not just in America. Sure there may be Jewish shareholders amongst them. Then again, there may be an equal number of Muslim shareholders, including Pakistanis.
For instance, Saudi Arabian private investment overseas is conservatively estimated at some $700 billion. Of this, 60 per cent is in the USA spread across a wide spectrum of businesses ranging from hotels, banks, food and beverages, manufacturing and even education.
A boycott is thus a short-sighted, emotional and ill-conceived reaction to an issue that is very complex and which needs a different type of response. When President Musharraf came out with the “Pakistan first” standpoint, these same ill-advised people who are crying out for a boycott now, misinterpreted the President’s call and wrongly termed it as anti-Muslim brotherhood attitude. What President Musharraf rightly and farsightedly recommended was simply that Pakistan as a nation must think of its own well-being first, just like every other country in the world does and should do.
It has now become almost a cliche to mention the total lack of support Pakistan has got throughout its history from other Muslim countries to issues critical to us like Kashmir or our relations with India. True, the war in Iraq is a tragedy with many innocent lives being lost.The point here is not to debate who is the greater devil, Saddam or the US. What is obvious is that the war is not going to end with Pakistanis boycotting American goods.
As a nation, our energies and efforts should not be wasted on long marches and boycott calls. These serve no purpose save to gain cheap popularity for some people who thrive on such opportunities. Let us help the people of Iraq by gathering together huge quantities of humanitarian aid. Let us form a corps of volunteers - doctors and nurses and others— for alleviating the misery and suffering of others and let us send this corps to Iraq as soon as the war ends. This is what the people of Iraq need. Luckily we have a saintly example before us to follow. Abdul Sattar Edhi did not raise any boycott call or burn any effigies. But a long train of Edhi ambulances, loaded with relief goods is already on its way to Iraq through Iran. To serve the people truly as our religion teaches us.