United (or not) Arab Emirates

United (or not) Arab Emirates, an Arab and not-so-Arab state bordering Saudi Arabia and the sultanate of Oman, makes heavy investments in creating a light international image of a prosperous, peaceful and thriving place.

Non-citizen migrant workers, the serving class, make up the overwhelming majority of its estimated 8 million population.

Dubai, one of seven sheikhdoms that make up the Emirates, is restlessly ambitious and will try any gimmick to grab the headlines.

People have a sense of a humor that will grate on your decency.

Those living in the Emirates are constantly fed so much glossy propaganda that they suffer withdrawal symptoms the moment the make-believe reality machines go low on productivity.

Below are a few links to present a more realistic picture of the Emirates (E.nglish M.anaged I.ndian R.un A.nd (local) A.rabs T.aking E.normous S.alaries).

A UAE Royal Family member, Sheikh Issa, tortures an Afghan businessman in this video

Tuesday 7 April 2009, The Independent newspaper published 'The dark side of Dubai' by Johann Hari

Dubai was meant to be a Middle-Eastern Shangri-La, a glittering monument to Arab enterprise and western capitalism. But as hard times arrive in the city state that rose from the desert sands, an uglier story is emerging.

'This cruel game has to stop, if the Arab kings love this sport that much then they should put their own children on the camels and then race them.' Child camel jockeys

Fly Emirates, land in jail: Emirates’ Laws Trap a Doctor Just Passing Through

The world is our hunting ground: In a remote corner of northern Tanzania, Boeing 747 planes land on a private airstrip, trucks with United Arab Emirates (UAE) number plates drive across the plains, and anyone with a cell phone receives an unlikely text message: "Dear guest, welcome to UAE."

If Turkey can take action in Iraq, why not in Syria?

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's comments over the weekend that Turkey would be justified in intervening in Syria reminded me of something similar President Abdullah Gul said when I interviewed him briefly in Kuala Lumpur in 2003 (Gul was foreign minister then).

Drawing comparisons with the US occupation of Iraq (Turkey opposed George Bush's misadventure more than a decade ago but the invasion was backed by most Arab regimes), Erdogan said on Saturday: "If the ones coming from tens of thousands of miles away and entering Iraq could be seen as right, we could not remain as though our hands are tied regarding Syria, with whom we share a 910-kilometer-long border. We could not just be spectators. We have to do what is needed, and we will do it."

Read Gul's October 2003 comments, which expressed similar sentiments at that time. Iraq was a burning issue at the OIC meeting and I insisted on asking Mr Gul a few questions when I spotted him chatting with a group of Turkish journalists. (Accompanying him was Ambassador Namik Tan, based at the Foreign Ministry in Ankara at that time.)

I had a pretty good story, and it was exclusive.

The tone of Gul's response was as much remarkable as his words. One could see how frustrated he was with OIC members talking uselessly while the situation in Iraq demanded a clear, strong response.

In Syria today, you can see unspeakable death and destruction and countries located thousands of kilometers away want this macabre Assad show to continue.

As the dire humanitarian situation gets worse, some countries -- both within the region and in faraway locations -- are busy playing their usual nonsense politics.

And the Arab states that are supposed to help the anti-Assad forces seem to be listening more to their patron-manipulators like the US and France than doing what is right for regional peace.

Such ambiguous behavior from these countries doesn't help Turkey, which is willing to take decisive steps to end the misery of apocalyptic proportions in Syria.

UAE-Dubai extends pincers of control abroad

In recent days, I have been making some comments on Twitter about UAE-Dubai's meddling in my matters outside the UAE. Since I don't live in the Emirates, I do not accept their authority over me. It doesn't matter whether it is cash-starved Dubai or oil-surplus Abu Dhabi that believes in dictating to citizens of other nations how they should live their lives, what careers they should pursue, what opinions they can have and with whom they can have relationships.
Let UAE-Dubai authorities deny that they didn't try to extend their illegitimate authority overseas.
As a journalist based in India, I find it extremely worrisome that authorities anywhere would use underhand tricks to control my views or curtail my movements.
In March 2011, I quit my job as an editor at Yahoo! in Dubai after things became too difficult there and the system of checks and balances at this United States corporation failed to provide a healthy working environment for me. On different occasions I had raised my concerns with senior management about this. Yahoo! Middle East operates out of a so-called free zone where the pincers of dictatorial control are as strong as anywhere else.
It is important that I talk about these issues publicly. Journalists must be able to operate without being subjected to bullying, intimidation and unscrupulous control methods.
Inside the UAE, you can't say a critical word about the powers that be. But, yes, public criticism is allowed and reported by the local media in full honesty if the object of criticism is, for example, a cat, an ATM, a sand dune, a beach pebble, a low-paid worker... Ok, you get the picture.
UAE-Dubai panics at the mere mention of the P word (Politics). Is it on a mission to depoliticize the world and spread its fake ways of life? Does it think it can manipulate anything and anyone using money and PR?
UAE-Dubai's megalomanic audacity knows no bounds.

Media reviews of my novel The Merchant King

I would like to share some media reviews of my book, published in April 2012 in India. I am looking for a publisher outside India.

19 April, 2012: Malaysian news agency published this review

THE MERCHANT KING: GLOBAL WOES IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT

NEW DELHI, April 19 (Bernama) -- If one has to reflect on events in the last two decades that have shaped the world today in a humorous way, “The Merchant King,” a novel written by an Indian journalist, Shakir Husain, is the book to go for.

The book is definitely a reflection of his 14 years in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a journalist amid the ability to candidly capture world events since the time South African president Nelson Mandela was freed after spending

27 years in prison to the recent global financial crisis.

In UAE, Shakir has worked for Yahoo, Gulf News and The Gulf Today.

In an interview with Bernama, Shakir said it took him four years to finish the book with much time spent in shaping the characters, their roles and to be able to touch on certain issues without making any particular reference.

The story starts with a young ambitious prince named Saqr from a country called Balad (literally means nation in Arabic) studying in London with the aim of coming back and modernising his country in an undefined area, which is neither Africa nor Asia.

Like the name of the country, readers would find hilarious acronyms such as a homeland security system named the Management of Armed Defence, National Emergencies and State Security (MADNESS), Consulting Corporation (ConCorp) and Big Oil and Gas Upstream Services (Bogus) company as well as banks called Big Bucks and Borrow & Spend – just to name a few.

A lot of humor has been thrown in to keep the readers amused and the narrative light-hearted, while addressing the challenges the world was facing now.

“We are all living in it, militarism, racism, dictatorship and manipulation that goes on and on. It is a story of what we see on a daily basis,” he said, when asked about the other issues that he had touched in his first book.

Although one can relate the scenarios in the book to the actual events that had taken place, there are no direct linkage to certain personality or country, said Shakir, who used to be a stringer from UAE for BERNAMA.

Being an admirer of Malaysia’s former Prime Minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the writer has also covered issues such as globalisation and currency war.

“Dr Mahathir often says globalisation should not be about the movement of capital alone, if you believe in genuine globalisation, people should be able to move freely, but some countries have barriers and yet talk about globalisation, which is well reflected in the book," he added.

Shakir, who is looking for a publisher outside India, feels people from all walks of life would enjoy the book as the story stands by itself, but if one has interest in politics "they would love it".

-- BERNAMA

22 April 2012: India's top news agency Press Trust of India has this to say

The Merchant King: A Satirical Take on Arab World

A prince's soaring ambitions, the shenanigans of investment bankers, absurdities of Arab leadership, and the drama of human life in events that occur across continents – these are the events that give shape to a new novel The Merchant King.

Saqr Almubarak, the young prince of Balad, is studying in London, nursing ambitions to modernise his tiny island. That year his region is hit by great tumult when Scar, the supreme commander of the Arab republic of Khaufistan, invades the small nation of Benzenistan.

Saqr finds himself caught in the whirlwind of world events, playing the game of global overlords as he embarks on an ambitious plan to usher in a new era. But what looks good on paper results, first, in disorder, and later on, something more horrifying.

Journalist Shakir Husain's debut work is a satirical look at how a Western-educated Arab prince dreams big, finds allies and enemies, and battles with destiny. It captures the state of a mythical Arab nation torn between the assurance of its past and lure of the future.

Husain says his book is based on invented stories told through imagined characters.

In London, among Saqr's friends is Chandni, an Indian girl who resembles a popular Bollywood actress. They know Saqr as a firm decision-maker, a visionary whose eyesight was so sharp that he could see the grains of sand with his naked eye and, in his mind, could gaze into the future. 

Saqr and Chandni, both students at London's Rodent City School of Economic, are strong supporters of Nelson Mandela and used to deliver fiery speeches against apartheid. In fact, the novel begins at a time when Mandela is released in 1990 after spending 27 years in prison.

There is a Bollywood element also. Saqr under the name of Falcon comes to a place called Empirestate for some business at the famous Big Bucks bank, where he meets Benjamin Gross, an investment banker.

After business work, Falcon was later taken to a night club where Big Bucks often entertained its clients. There was an Indian night club nearby but Benjamin deliberately did not take Falcon as he wanted him to "wean away from Indian tastes" as a controversial Bollywood actress performs there.

Written in a lucid manner, the book has several funny names and acronyms like a homeland security being system called the Management of Armed Defence, National Emergencies and State Security (MADNESS) and a gas company named Big Oil and Gas Upstream Services (Bogus).

Financial World newspaper: "This is an easy read, with plenty of witty conversations and hot women doing erotic stuff." For some reasons I cannot find the link to the same story published on Tehelka.com

27 April, 2012: The review published by Friday Gurgaon weekly newspaper

The Adventures of Saqr

The Merchant King’ is a debut novel by Shakir Husain, an Indian journalist who has spent more than a decade in the United Arab Emirates, working for Yahoo, The Gulf News and Gulf Today. The novel is a fictional account of a young king caught between the shackles of the past and dreams of the future. Given his extensive reporting experience in the Middle East, Husain skillfully transports the reader to a mythical Arab nation, as he narrates a fascinating story. 

Saqr, the prince of Balad, studies in London, and goes on to become ‘King Falcon’ for the natives of Neolandia – who hail Balad as their ally. Saqr’s dream of modernising his tiny island come crashing down, as Balad becomes a hub of war, and gets embroiled in turbulent events. On one occasion, when Saqr’s close friend Leila, daughter of a wealthy newspaper owner, fears for Balad, he tells her, “This Island will be a brand new place. There is going to be money everywhere.” But when Scar, the Supreme Commander of the Arab Republic of Khaufistan, invades neighbouring Benzenistan, Saqr and his dreams get entangled in tumultuous drama. 

The narrative stays clear of any historical baggage. The prose keeps a good pace, liberally peppered with satirical humour, portraying the idiosyncrasies and ambitions of a young king’s tryst with bankers, doctors, scientists, models and militia. We have a beautiful Brazilian model, a gorgeous sniper, a crazy scientist and a mercurial queen, to complete the escapades of Saqr.

Please visit the Facebook page for more information about the book: https://www.facebook.com/TheMerchantKing

When Arab regimes behave like spoilt brats (or worse)

Because there has been some 'curiosity', let me make it plain: I don't need permission from the Saudis, Abu Dhabi or anybody else to write what I want to write.

Arab regimes have appalling low tolerance levels. I often cite the case of one of Malaysia's most influential editors, Abdullah Ahmad, to explain this point. His career was ruined after an article he wrote in the New Straits Times on 12 November 2003. I've just reread that article in his book "On the Record". What followed the publication of that opinion piece is an example of how Arab regimes go about curbing freedom of expression beyond their borders. And they do it in a sly, determined and destructive way.

Bush and Blair: Despicable war criminals

More than eight years since the invasion of Iraq, George W. Bush and Tony Blair continue to be despised for their illegitimate military adventure. Malaysia's former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had opposed the war when in office, remains a strong critic of the US and British leaders, calling them "the two best known war criminals".

Speaking on Friday at an anti-war forum organized by his Perdana Global Peace Foundation, Dr Mahathir lashed out at Bush and Blair. He strongly believes that wars should be criminalized as they glorify mass killings and have become profitable business for some countries. The Kuala Lumpur War Crimes Tribunal will hold the Anglo-American duo's trial on Saturday in a move that is both symbolic and part of a campaign not to forget the immense destruction caused by Bush and Blair's policies.

Blair is especially hated because of his cunning servility towards US global power, something his own country Britain is unable to project on its own. It is also apparent how this obnoxious man is profiteering from his former position as Britain's prime minister. Blair (he is Arthur Balfour's real heir) is pathetic as the so-called peace envoy on Palestine. It just gives him another tool to earn privileges for himself from the Gulf's super-rich sheikhs. The Kuala Lumpur trial is likely to find both Bush and Blair guilty of grave war crimes. Let us hope it encourages Asian leaders and unscrupulous businessmen from associating themselves with these two despicable men.

Fareed Zakaria's outlandish idea for a 'non-European' IMF chief

Indian-turned-American journalist Fareed Zakaria wants the disgraced Dominique Strauss-Kahn's successor at the International Monetary Fund to be a "non-European."

That sounds like a bold statement from someone who spends most of his time admiring European and Washington worldview. But read beyond the headline and Zakaria gives his outlandish logic why it's not a good idea to put another European in charge of an organization which is notorious for exploiting developing countries.

"If you don’t bring them in, they’re going to freelance and they’re going to grow outside of the system. That’s the most dangerous thing that could happen," Zakaria says in his CNN blog.

Then he praises the European and US-dominated international system, which according to him has imposed some degree of rules and norms -- another myth that is repeated by European and Washington officials, ignoring the chaos and lawlessness they have created.

Forget about international policy matters, the IMF has created a work culture in which women do not feel comfortable wearing skirts.

Back to the logic why a non-European should be roped in as the next IMF chief, Zakaria's boldness represents crazy Western fears about the rise of countries such as China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Russia and South Africa.

The supporters of the status quo do not mind if these countries grow in stature as long as they uphold the supremacy of European and US approach to world affairs.

Several non-European candidates have been mentioned as potential successor to Strauss-Kahn, the Frenchman who resigned after his arrest in the sexual assault case, but in the end the IMF will be headed by someone who, as Zakaria suggests, serves Western interests.