NAVEED AMAN KHAN
I N my recent week-long visit to Sultanate of Oman, I witnessed height of development, supremacy of con stitution, enforcement oflaw and peace acrossthe country in worth visiting cities from Sallala to Sur. Muscat is a dream land with Matrah and Quram beaches. Sultan Qaboos University, Sultan Qaboos grand Mosque, Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex and high standardAl Sultani hospital, clean and properly well maintained cities surprise the tourists. Leave the car in any part of the country with belongings no body even will notice it. Crime rate in the entire country is almost zero because H. E Sultan Qaboos (late) has made Oman a welfare State. Sultan Qaboos bin SaidAl Said ruled the Sultanate of Oman for nearly fifty years, making him the longest-serving leader in the Arab world at the time of his death. During his rule, he transformed his country to a high-income economy with very good infrastructure aided with dedicated development programmes that changed and improved the quality of life of the Omanis beyond recognition. Sultan’s policy of modernisation involved massive spending on education, health and welfare increasing life expectancy from 50 to 77 years. In 1970, when Sultan Qaboos took over at the age of 29, Oman was dreadfully poor with almost no contemporary amenities. There were no higher education institutions, hardly any formal healthcare facilities and just three public schools that had fewer than 1000 students. Besides, the whole country could boast only six kilometres of paved roads. His vision transformed the country into a model of development with top quality education and healthcare facilities and an impressive network of roads that connects the deserts to the pristine coastline. Despite having access to fewer resources than most of its neighbours, Oman’s development trajectory ranked it as the most improved nation in the world in terms of development during the preceding 40 years. It is a befitting testimony to Sultan Qaboos’ progressive foresight and dedication for his people that at time of his departure over 95 per cent of the adult population of Oman is now educated. The Omani society has grown to value formal education as there is now increasing expectation of higher education as both a right and a status symbol. As a result, there are always demands to establish more higher education institutions. Although he was an absolute monarch, Sultan Qaboos introduced robust political structure that created a vibrant political climate in support of the citizenry. He gave them a national constitution and a two-tier Parliament consisting of an appointed upper house and a lower house where representatives were elected. Besides, the Sultan took an extraordinaryinterestin public affairs and remained connected with his people through frequent tours to meet with the public and respond to their needs and demands. He also advocated gender equality and appointed many women to powerful positions while supporting their greater role in the nation-building and share in the employment. Sultan Qaboos’ political leadership and acumen came to the fore during theArab Spring when mass demonstrations hit several Arab countries including Oman. He responded to the public protests with sympathy and, despite some violence by the public, the State response was quite circumspect. In Sohar, the excessive police action was admitted by forcing the police chief to retire. Compared to the neighbours, Oman weathered the Spring largely unscathed as the Sultan inaugurated several reforms including large-scale job creation, actions against corruption, increasing salaries and pension pay-outs, and taming the commodity prices. Before Sultan Qaboos’ reign, there was a lot of social and political discord produced by years of a violent struggle between competing power centres, and sectarian or geographical differences that had become salient over time. He managed to skilfully bridge these differences and bring together various tribes that belonged to different persuasions of Islam. This has certainly created a lot of positive atmosphere among these groups who not only live in harmony but also engage in marriages creating new dynamics of mutual relationships.Thisis an amazing achievement giventhat in immediate neighbourhood many conflicts are incubated and ossified due to these ideologically driven sectarian differences that have resulted in thousands of deaths and eviction ofmillions of peoplein Syria, Iraq,Yemen and beyond. Oman has been a pioneer in introducing tolerance towards other religions as well with Jews, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs made to feel welcome and with construction of churches, temples and gurdwaras in Muscat. With his vision and wisdom, Sultan Qaboos pursued a pragmatist foreign policy that engaged neighbours and regional and international powers with deference and little controversy. Despite Oman being a small country, his tact and diplomacy allowed the country to gain prestige without attracting censure in a region that is rife with controversies based upon personal egos of the elite or narrow self-interest. The late Sultan’s role in bringing Iran and the US together that led to the nuclear deal clearly showed his skilful diplomacy that increased the sultanate’s profile at the international stage. It is no wonder that his death was mourned equally by rival countries from Qatar to Saudi Arabia and Israel to Iran. Sultan Haitham, the new ruler, has pledged to continue his predecessor’s policies of friendly relations with all nations while pledging to further develop the country. His experience as the head of Oman’s Vision 2040 would be of great advantage to future development and might bring renewed impetus to new initiatives of progress. Vision 2040 entails bringing economic reform and introducing new social planning to reconcile development and lessen reliance on oil and gas exports. Besides, the new Sultan has served as Minister for Culture and Heritage as well as working in top posts in the Foreign Ministry. His vast experience puts him in a unique position to catalyse economic reform, increase tourism that could also help in the diversification of revenue generation and also pursue a foreign policy of cooperation and rapprochement to sustain and further Oman’s prestige and position. To pay homage to HE Sultan Qaboos (late) I thrice visited royal cemetery in Boshar where his Majesty Sultan Qaboos is resting. I have seen tens of thousands of people of different countries mourning his demise and paying homage to him. In Oman in love with Sultan Qaboos I have seen people mourning and shedding tears. Is it possible elsewhere? — The writer is book ambassador, columnist, political analyst and author of several books based in Islamabad.
