Pakistan has a Switzerland of the East and a potential Dubai of further east too. Gwadar and the Mekran area has a superb coast line.
‘Dubai’ of South Asia
Of all the things about this famed town Gwadar, the most enriching experience is that of walking through its bustling centre-town port where all forces of coastal life come together in a mosaic
By Rabia Ezdi
Makran is an enchanting semi-desert strip running along the southern coast of Pakistan and Iran between Sonmiani Bay near Karachi and the Straits of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. The word Makurran is said to have originated in the Persian term ‘mahi-khoran’ or fish eaters.
The Makran coast unfolds like a geological wonder: a majestic canvas of folded rock formations along an ever-changing narrative of mountain ranges. Dotted rhythmically along the rugged terrain one is met with elements of wonder and relief… untouched clay in the marshes of Hingol, golden sand dunes and a turquoise sea at Kund Malir, the calm waters of Ormara, the coastal town of Pasni, the commanding cliffs of Gwadar set against the pull of the deep-sea, and much more.
Though one of the less ventured parts of the country, it has had a rich and tumultuous past. Historically, it was through this harsh landscape that Alexander struggled with his army during an exodus after the India Campaign, in 325 BCE. From the late 18th century until British colonial rule, the Makran coast was administered under the Sultan of Muscat.
At Pakistan’s independence, Makran was made a district within the province of Balochistan, while Gwadar remained with Muscat. It was only in 1958 that Gwadar was made a part of Pakistan. Being located on a seismic fault line, in 1945 the Makran coast was hit by a severe earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale coupled with a tsunami, destroying much of settled coastal life. Until not long ago, only a dirt road linked Karachi with the town of Gwadar. The construction of the Makran coastal highway (also known as ‘National Highway 10’) was undertaken between 2001 and 2003; running almost along the entire length of the coast, the highway originates in Karachi and to date ends in Gwadar.
The area has a sparse population – concentrated along a range of small coastal ports and fishing villages, such as Jiwani, Pasni, Gwadar, and Ormara.
At a distance of only 190 km from Karachi, spread over 600,000 acres begin the rich and ever-changing expanses of Pakistan’s largest Hingol National Park. Declared a reserved area in 1988, it houses numerous species of flora and fauna, within topography that varies from arid sub-tropical forest to arid montane. Also situated here is the ancient temple of the Hindu goddess Naani at Hinglaj, one of Hinduism’s most revered religious sites even today, and three mud volcanoes. The park is also said to be the habitat of the endangered Sindh leopard, the rare Indian fox, as well as urial, sheep, chinkara gazelles and ibexes, while Hingol river and its estuary are home to numerous species of fish, resident and migratory birds, green turtles and marsh crocodiles.
Kund Malir, a part of Hingol national park, literally arrives upon the traveller as a magical surprise: a desert beach with dunes likes those seen only in photos of the Sahara, with a turquoise sea in its backdrop. Moving on, one comes upon the old port and fishing town of Ormara which is intriguing in name and unique in ambience. Being there on a day when the sky was overcast, the calm waters of its sea amidst large expanses of open land and ‘softer’ low-lying hill formations certainly create a break from the harsh arid character of the jagged mountainous terrain. It is in Ormara that Alexander stayed for several days; his army general Ormoz died here and the town is said to have been named after him.
Here, the naval base being a no-go area however comes as a sudden rude awakening. Less than 200 km from Ormara, Pasni is a medium-sized town, and the closest port to Astol – the only island along the Makran coast housing its own unique species of birds and wildlife such as the pelican, the green sea turtle, and viper.
Gwadar is at the western end of the Makran coast. Of all the things about this famed town, the most enriching experience is that of walking through its bustling centre-town port where all forces of coastal life come together in a mosaic. A public place of sorts… with brightly dressed youth coming together in a frenzy of football; children in carefree play; the coming and going of fishermen’s boats, goods and people; and an ‘a to z’ lesson in the craft of boat-making where one is flooded with the smells of freshly cut wood, boat construction, painting, and finishing.
Gwadar is clearly a town in transition. From once being a small ‘inward’ coastal port, to becoming almost artificially globalised. A deep-seaport located on a bay, the town has been eyed with both economic and political ‘interests’ in recent times due to its proximity to the Straits of Hormuz waterway which links the Gulf of Oman with the Persian gulf and is responsible for 40percent of the world’s seaborne oil shipments.
Although Pakistan identified Gwadar as a port in 1964, it was not until 2002 when China began the Gwadar port project that development began. Needless to say, China’s interest in the port is geopolitical – where it seeks to develop an alternative route to the Persian gulf and a gateway to Central Asia. American interest in Gwadar has grown both in opposition to China’s stronghold in the development of the port, and for reasons of strategic gains similar to those of China. The interest of Pakistan on the other hand peaked during the Musharraf era when the town was promoted as the ‘Dubai’ of South Asia, resulting in a boom in the real estate market and largely the Pakistani urban and military elite investing in land here.
How economically feasible the port will actually be is a fact disputed between officials promoting the port project and independent analysts who say that it is already a ‘failed port’.
While typically the spectators’ experience of the overwhelming natural beauty of the Makran coast is ‘rosy’ to say the least, it would be incorrect to overlook the strong sense of anti-Punjab sentiment that one is met with at first encounter. The Pakistan government is developing Ormara as a major naval base and Gwadar as a new commercial port. The antagonism of the Baloch people in response to such ‘developments’ does not come as a surprise, who see these as yet more examples of Pakistan’s military and Punjabi-dominated elite taking from Balochi wealth without the Baloch being consulted, involved in decision making, or benefiting from such projects.
The symptoms are loud and clear: graffiti on the walls of Pasni’s town centre reads ‘Pakistani fauj ka kabristan Balochistan’. The locals and families of Baloch missing persons greeted Prime Minister Gilani in Gwadar with a shutter down strike.
The lines along which Gwadar is currently being ‘developed’ is typical of the ‘resort tourism’ model which largely serves the already rich, largely at the exclusion of the local population. Although the Pearl Continent Gwadar is bringing both tourists and business into the city, it stands atop a cliff as a symbol of no less than a parasitic encroachment for the local populace. Acres of land surrounding the hotel is reserved for yet more hotels and gated housing communities for the rich. As such, this kind of so-called development serves as no less than acts of colonisation.
Also, because the Makran coast has been relatively less ventured as a local tourist destination, its rich and valuable ecosystems remain well-preserved. This will be a fast changing fact with the blind influx of tourism and port-related activity in the absence of a conservation policy and value system to support it.
An equitable vision of development will have to come with a set of new development values, which visualise and promote both locals and the conservation of the natural environment as integral elements of progress. It is only with such a vision, supported by processes that promote the rightful inclusion of the Baloch people both in decision making as well as in the sharing of wealth and resources, that the gap as it exists can be bridged, and the bitterness of the Baloch people may be replaced with the desire to remain a part of the country.