Passports ranking, IS' mapping and us

The endearing identity that Bangladesh passports had carried for its holders abroad after the liberation of the country would subsequently mutate into subtle-to-crude forms of 'reception' at the immigration desks. Now octogenarian Kazi Fazlur Rahman, a reputed civil servant of the country once wrote a piece in The Daily Star lamenting the loss of magnetism of the Bangladesh passport. 

But now, thankfully, we seem to have landed on a comeback trail. Arton Capital, a global financial firm headquartered in Montreal, QC Canada, has put together an index of the 'best passports to have'. According to its rankings, Bangladesh is 67th out of 197 countries listed with 50 of them being easily accessible for the Bangladeshi passport holders. Sri Lanka, Pakistan and even Iran (which should now be placed higher though!) ranks lower than Bangladesh with 70th position for all of them and countries easily accessible being 47 for Iran and Sri Lanka and 46 for Pakistan. 

Kia's article dated July 11, 2015 under the title 'The world's most powerful passports – ranked' opens with the eloquent subtext resonating with a reader all at once: Travelling can be a bureaucratic nightmare for those on restricted passports. Here we look at the best passport to have based on the freedom it provides. 'Best' is defined by the number of countries the passport holder can visit either without a visa or by obtaining one on arrival. 

US and UK are joint # 1 with accessibility to 147 countries. In spite of the turmoil-ridden US' international relations, the country is welcome with open arms across most of the world. 

The worst passports to have, in the eye of Arton Capital, the industry-leading global advisory firm specialising in investor programmes for residence and citizenship around the world, are from 'comparably unstable countries' like South Sudan, Palestine and Myanmar. They secure the joint ranking at 80 with access to only 28 countries.

Bangladesh being assessed favourably, as one of the fast emerging eleven economies of the world, entitles it to a niche reckoning. The up-scaling of the passport is indicative of the country's potentiality as a vibrant investment destination. We must build up on the image, and not allow it to be chipped away by any indiscretion whatsoever from any quarter. In concrete terms though, the priority strategic concern must necessarily centre on putting in place a composite, modernised infrastructure for development. In such a context we need to take into account the global extremist threats.

Speaking of which, we have the mapping of the spread of ISIS done by Foreign Policy (FP), a think-tank of a magazine based in the USA. The gist of what it says is, 'The Islamic State is rapidly expanding its operations far beyond its strongholds in Iraq and Syria. Washington – initially reluctant for political reasons to acknowledge the group's growing reach – is scrambling to keep up.'

Constantly morphing and outside Iraq and Syria, the IS has declared 'provinces' for its self-declared caliphate in nine other countries – Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Russia. 

The FP article by Dan De Luce, C. K. Hickey warns that the IS may soon plant its flag in Tunisia, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Somalia. 

There is an irony in the American position in that while they are so knowledgeable about the phenomenon they are not proportionately proactive in fighting IS. The US is focused on supporting anti-Assad forces rather than combating the IS.

US President Obama who came on a promise 'to reduce America's involvement in the Middle East, is weighing sending more US troops to Iraq to bolster the fight against the Islamic State and is poised to open a new front against the militant group in Libya.' He is still caught up in a rhetoric web as he weighs up the pros and cons as the cliché goes. 

Lately, US intelligence chief James Clapper said: 'The government (Bangladesh) has denied that Islamic State group has a presence in the country and has accused domestic Islamist groups and political opponents for the violence.'

In a typical American perspective, he thought such an approach may 'provide openings for transnational groups to expand their presence in the South Asian countries.'

Pertinently, it needs noting that the Indian central intelligence organisation found out that as many 30,000 Indians were preparing to join the IS. Going by the Indian influential newspaper The Hindu, at least in 12 states of India IS influence has been detected. Although Maharashtra and South Indian states have the most IS influence, West Bengal and Assam are not far behind. 

An AFP news report from Abu Dhabi says, 'A majority of Arab Muslim youths in a poll voiced in chorus their disapproval of IS and al-Qaeda for committing a perversion of Islamic teachings. 

The same news item attributing to Zogby Research Services poll of 5,374 young Muslim men and women from the Middle East and North Africa also 'blamed corruption and repressive governments for the rise of jihadist groups'.

Of necessity, the primary antidote to the IS must come from the communities themselves. They are the ones who see up close the embryonic stages of the doctrinal infusion into the minds of malleable young boys and girls and that's where they are ideally suited to deter them convincingly away from the suicidal path. A sense of importance that bewildered youth is hungry for must be catered to them by providing a new feeling of self-worth and direction. 

They are a dynamo of energy and information, something that demands superior thought process to replace the bigoted radicalisation mode. 

The writer is Associate Editor, The Daily Star.