Libya, An Overview
Libya is in the news these days for all the wrong reasons; its dissenting populace being brutally annihilated by its very own leader and the US-British-French coalition forces doing the rest by bombing the civilian and military targets with huge ‘collateral damage’. Libya has been a joint domain of these former colonial powers in the post (second) world war era. There are hoards of articles in the local and international press about this country and a few ignorant writers, taking a lead from the happenings in Tunis and Egypt, are creating some misconceptions in the minds of the readers. Having lived in this country for quite a while, initially with the Ministry of health followed by an assignment with the University of Benghazi Dental Faculty, I am a witness to the ‘whole truth’ as far as this hapless country, under the one man rule for over four decades, is concerned.
First let me give a brief account of the place and its people for the benefit of the readers. Double the size of Pakistan in area it is a country with low density population and immense natural resources. Ninety percent of its under six million population lives along the fertile 1800 km long Mediterranean coastal belt, covering ten percent of the total land mass. The annual per capita income is a staggering 10000 US$. Basic food items are subsidized, health care and education are free, literacy rate is nearly hundred per cent and the gap between the rich and poor is enviably small. Everyone has a house, a car and all the modern gadgetry one can dream of in this age of electronic advancement. People from all social strata travel abroad for vacationing which they can well afford. All in all it is a social welfare state and the credit must be given to the military ruler for this good work.
“For all practical purposes he is a monarch with a false tag of democracy hanging on his collar.”
Having said this there is a darker side to the picture most people from across the globe are not aware of. Ghaddafi is an usurper, a tyrant and a ruthless killer. He is treating the rich oil revenues of the state as his personal property and has accumulated unlimited wealth and tonnes of bullion abroad. He bought a Ph.D degree for his son from London School of Economics for a hefty sum of 1.5 million pounds. It is a police state. Intelligence agencies are hyperactive and anyone thinking loud in a private gathering is likely to spend the rest of his life in a local version of Guantanamo Bay. His critics have been put to gallows at public crossings, military uprisings have led to killings by firing squads by the dozens and expatriate Libyans have been ‘liquidated’ in Europe and Middle Eastern countries. There is a marked hatred against him, especially in the eastern territory of Cyrenica, the colourful town of Benghazi being its capital city. He removed the king in 1969 and has clung to power ever since. Four decades in power is no mean period. He claims to be a democrat but he is an autocratic ruler by all parameters. For all practical purposes he is a monarch with a false tag of democracy hanging on his collar. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. He has conferred himself with absolute powers to run the country he thinks he owns.
This country is blessed with immense oil wealth, friendly Mediterranean climate, beautiful Greco-Roman heritage sites, virgin beaches, green mountains and a vast desert with a sea of liquid gold under its surface. Its low density populace, self sufficiency in food, friendly people and close proximity to Europe make it an ideal place for tourism but that is not encouraged. It has been turned in to a closed society for the vested interests of its leadership. I am afraid this country could be split in to eastern and western halves, formerly known as Cyrenica and Tripolitania respectively, at least which is what the striking coalition forces want. They want their share of the flesh. It is also a bitter reality that the people of these former provinces do not see eye to eye with each other. People from the east are more friendly and hospital while those from the west are just the opposite, Ghaddafi coming from a small town in the west of the country being a perfect case in point. This lovely country has been marred by one man rule over the decades and I feel sorry to see the deterioration of the place which has lot of potential to develop in to an enviable country. This man must go and go he will but not before devastating his country and its loving people. All the developments over the years will turn in to ruins but who cares. He wants to bring the country under his dynastic rule and a lot of spade work has already been done in this direction.
Written by Dr. Shahid Qayyum
The writer is a dental surgeon and can be reached at dsq006@gmail.com
