Of Kashmir and Switzerland

Folks from the subcontinent often say that the valley of Kashmir is ‘like Switzerland’. A recent manifestation of this thought process was in the Hindi movie ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’. A mute girl from Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, gets lost in India, and tries to inform her benefactors of her origin; by pointing to a picture of Switzerland.

I wonder if those who claim to care deeply about Kashmir, have ever wondered what makes Switzerland, Switzerland.

After all, spectacular as it may be, there is no dearth of scenery amid tall, snowy mountains around the world, or indeed, even in the subcontinent. Have those who claim to worry about Kashmir, tried to ascertain what makes Switzerland so appealing to people around the world ?

Let me put forward a rather matter-of-fact perspective. What makes Switzerland so enticing basically comes down to this:

Largest Swiss corporations. Includes Nestle, Novartis, Roche and Swatch

A moutainous, landlocked country of 8 million people. But having some of the best known companies in the world. The mountains and snow dont define Switzerland’s appeal, they merely make it improbable. And it is this improbability, which is at the heart of Switzerland’s romantic pull.

There is no shortage of beautiful, landlocked places that are utterly poor, isolated and on the throes of complete depopulation. Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Laos, Bulgaria …. being beautiful, and landlocked is almost a guarantee of poverty and neglect. And this is precisely what makes Switzerland so alluring, it is rich, and also happens to be beautiful and landlocked.

Those who claim to worry about Kashmir should ask themselves, how did Switzerland manage to become so implausibly rich ? Where did these multi-billion dollar enterprises, this spirited, sophisticated economy come from ? Why does Zurich airport handle nearly 30 million passengers every year ?

Thinking down this path, a realization has to set in. Your youth of today is your country of tomorrow. If you tell your youth, go out, acquire skills, build businesses, seek opportunities, markets and develop networks, you are going down the Switzerland path, regardless of geographical conditions. Wealth is ultimately about connections.

Ask yourselves. Are we giving this message to our youth ? If not, do we have a good reason for not doing so ? Are the stakes really that high ? That instead of telling our kids to build Nestles, and Roches we are goading them into Hizbuls and Lashkars ?