- Employment opportunities provided by the kingdom helped improve socio-economic conditions of the region, they say
- More and more girls attending school, leading to a positive shift in gender roles
KARACHI: Hazrat Islam was 20 when he left his education to support his family 15 years ago. Looking back, Islam – a resident of the Dir region and the eldest child in his family of 12 – says he has a lot of reasons to thank Saudi Arabia for, prime among them being that the country gave him an opportunity to restart his life in Riyadh.
Once Islam moved out of Dir, he was able to sponsor three of his brothers -- setting the base for his family to enjoy a better standard of living back home. “The kingdom has played a great role in improving our standard of living,” Islam told Arab News. “We could not even imagine living the life we enjoy today.”
While his brothers continue to work in Saudi Arabia, Islam returned to Dir to set up his own business. “Saudi Arabia has not only provided a source of livelihood for the people in the last two decades but also helped residents of the valley setup their small businesses locally,” he said.
He recalls a time when none of his siblings went to school as his parents could not afford the fees. “Today, our kids go to the best private schools and we can afford to pay a monthly fee of up to Rs2,000 for each,” Islam said, adding that there was no gender discrimination in Dir, with women encouraged to seek an education as much as men.
Dir, a small Muslim princely state in British India, remained unaligned for a few months and was finally made a part of newly-formed Pakistan in February 1948. Its status of an independent state ended in 1969 after it was classified as a district of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), now known as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
The Dir region -- covering 5,282 square kilometers -- was bifurcated into two districts in 1996, namely Upper and Lower Dir.
Social change
After Pakistan’s independence in 1947, when the neighboring Swat state prospered, the tyrant rulers of the scenic Dir area continued to resist change.
Inayatullah Khan, a lawmaker from Upper Dir, who has twice remained minister for local bodies and health, said that there was no school in the region until 1960. “Today, the literacy rate has gone up to 65%,” he said. “It was only in 1962 that schools were being built but even until 2001 there was no girls’ college in the two districts.”
All that changed when, according to Khan, remittances from the Middle East -- especially Saudi Arabia – started pouring into the country, having a major impact on the region’s socio-economic and educational development.
Soon, both the districts of Dir began using the finances for better road connectivity and massive development, which in turn helped generate local employment opportunities for the residents. “People started taking part in new housing schemes and constructed shopping plazas, which enhanced the purchasing power of the locals,” Khan said.
Faridullah, an owner of a private group of schools and colleges, said parents of more than 70 percent of his students now work in the Middle East. Hailing from the Karo Dara area of the Upper Dir district, Faridullah said he knew of a family who was financially very weak two decades ago, but “today, they have assets of billions of rupees due to their hard work in the Middle East”.
Shad Begum, a resident of the Talash area in the Lower Dir district, has been campaigning for women’s rights since the mid-1990s and credits several reasons for the development of Dir. “Economic prosperity is one of the major reasons for the changes that we see,” she told Arab News.
Begum, who was awarded the International Women of Courage Award by former US First Lady Michelle Obama and ex-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March 2012, added: “The people who would earlier send only male students to schools due to financial constraints have started providing equal opportunities for their daughters now. Women in Dir can be seen joining politics, sports and media outlets -- sectors normally considered prohibited for women and girls (in the Pashtun society),” she said.
“The shift in gender roles is a great benchmark of a progressive and equal society,” she said. This change has paved way for women’ empowerment and “now you can see women in Dir protesting against load-shedding and bright young girls representing the areas in legislatures”.
Economic prosperity
Haji Anwar-ud-Din, president of the traders’ association in Timergara, said that those who earned money in the Middle East mostly utilized it to finance modern homes or for start-ups. He said the development and economic progress could not have happened had it not been for the Saudi factor.
But not without its set of limitations. “In the last few years, the economic condition has deteriorated due to heavy taxes being imposed on Pakistani workers in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Anwar-ud-Din is quick to dismiss is as a temporary deterrent, saying that the move will have no impact on “Dir’s great love for Saudi Arabia and its people”.
“Today, you will find shops named after different cities of Saudi Arabia, which reflects our attachment to the country,” he said.
Islam, whose journey began with a work opportunity in Saudi, concurs. “Just take Saudi Arabia out of our lives and the wheels of our life will stop moving,” Islam said.