A boat carrying 750 people, many of them Pakistanis, capsized in the Mediterranean recently. Only about 100 were rescued and the rest are missing and presumably dead. The Pakistanis on board — who usually pay an amount ranging between $5,000 and $10,000 for the trip — were reportedly made to travel in the hold of the boat, which is the most uncomfortable and unsafe area. There was very little chance of them surviving.

In another tragedy at the sea, two Pakistanis were part of a five-member party in a submersible that reportedly imploded on the seabed in the north Atlantic. They had paid around $250,000 each to see the wreckage of the Titanic — a luxury ocean liner which sank way back in 1912, and became part of the global folklore after a Hollywood blockbuster fictionalised the tragedy.

Far from comparison in Pakistani terms, the global reaction to the two tragedies at sea makes for some uncomfortable comparisons. In the case of the refugee ship, too little was done too late in the name of rescue. In fact, there are many questions floating in the air about the lack of intervention by the Greek coast guard. There are even allegations that a rope had been tied to the boat to tow it away from Greek territorial waters and that this may have contributed to the fate of the boat.

In the case of the submersible, a massive search and rescue operation was immediately launched by the American and Canadian coast guards. Besides, private vessels with the most sophisticated equipment possible also rushed to the area of interest. Maybe it is wrong to juxtapose the tragedy in the Mediterranean with that in the Atlantic, but it is difficult to ignore the very uncomfortable differences in the reaction of public institutions, the global media and, surprisingly, of the people at large to the two events.

Daud Khan

Rome, Italy