Friday, May 15, 2009

Why I Am Still Not On Seventh Sky

I have been told that I have not been paying close attention towards the Pakistani Civil society,even though I am part of it.I am a Pakistani,born,raised and living in Pakistan.I have never denied that Pakistani society is worried about Taliban and a portion,maybe a large one,is working towards peacefully eradicate extremism from our country.However,Pakistani civil society is doing today what it should have done the first day it heard about the peace agreement between the government and the Taliban.At that time,I heard one of the TV News anchor remark,at the end of the report concerning the peace agreement, that what a wonderful achievement it was.As an editorial in The Friday Times put it:''Ultimately,this 'free media' drummed up support for all the dangerous peace deals between the Taliban and army or government,especially the last one in Swat on February 28,and enabled the Taliban to exploit the political space and public support to seize large areas of the Frontier''.Many defended the peace agreement,saying that now atleast Swat's poor people could go to work safely.Never mind their children are going to be taught how to blow up a church and much more importantly a synagogue.Never mind their women are going to be forced to wear a hijab.Forced to stay inside the four wall of their 21st Century harem.But you see,it all doesnt matter because atleast they are going to be fed.
And now Pakistani media is furious.Because it has been threatened.Suddenly Taliban are those who shall not be named.If Chand Bibi's video of being flogged at the hands of morally righteous had not surfaced,if Sufi Muhammad would not have been stupid enough to declare Democracy,Parliament,Supreme Court and all the liberal elements as 'un-Islamic',if the media had not been threatened,who knows we might have been complascent with the wise decision of our leaders.Now that the things have gone out of hand,Pakistanis have started to unite together.Not that I am complaining.Its never too late.But human lives are precious.And when those were being either lost or oppressed,there were few(such a political party of MQM,and liberals) who were disgusted by the notion of two forms of government in the same state:a state within a state it was to be.But the liberals were dubbed as being inhumane.An idea was generated to shut up the concerned citizens and to make them think that it was all good and well in Swat.Although it was right to question the mobile generated video of Chand Bibi's flogging,to think that women were not going to be flogged at the hands of Taliban was a foolish idea.Those who believed in it have learnt noting from the Afghan-Taliban history.
On their part,if Taliban believe they will successfully subdue the Lahoris,Karachites,and Islambandis,they are insane.Although Pakistan is not a Secular state,as envisioned by Jinnah,its not an extremist one either.Karachi is pseudo-Secular,Lahore and Islamabad liberal,varying in degrees when it comes to their liberalism.But who knows,Taliban just might succeed.
Why?Because although almost every Pakistani is appalled by Talibanized version of Shariah,most are not ready to stand up.What if Taliban shoot them out.When I told my mother I wanted to attend the peace rally,at first I was told that even if I thought about it she'll break my legs(because at first she thought the rally would be like those of concerning the restoration of Chief Justice and the supremacy of rule of law).Then I was allowed to attend but warned that its going to be my first and last.And that too I got to attend after a hell lot of humiliation at my mother's hand.So,not many people are ready to be a part of this whole job of getting the Taliban out of this land.They loathe Taliban,but loathe untimely death more,not knowing that once Talibanized,their lives will be lost,most probably,anyway.
I am really happy that Pakistanis are united.But this unity is limited,or atleast that is my perception of our society.Our people are not standing up as they should.Where is Aasma Jehangir(the great Human Rights advocate)?After the first peace rally atleast I didnt see her anywhere,even on television.What about our lawyers who fought for restoration of rule of law?Most probably they are interetsed in banning the songs of Naseebo Laal,which are considered immoral(while Akon's song 'I Wanna Fuck You' gets away with it).That passion is just not there in the amount that I desire to see.Although it exists,it is limited to a few thousand individuals and NGOs who have the guts to come out on street.But middle-classis just not concerned much.I know they have to feed their families.But if they dont help take a stand against Ttaliban now,children will a past in their lives.Even the amount of work that we are doing right now should have been done long ago,when it first surfaced that the Athenian intellectuals and Spartan barbarians are going to shake hands with eachother.

2 comments:

  1. well written! but just on a side note.. who are the Athenian intellectuals of Pakistan? Indeed, who is the real power in Islamabad? It's ironical that as opposed to the Taliban, we don't have a strong democratic institution, but rather a self-righteous, self-propagating narcissit army that'll do anything in order to retain its clout over the Pakistani state.

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  2. Nipun,
    The Athenian intellecuals of Pakistan are many.Included in them are Raza Kazim,Iftikhar Malik and our dearest at the Pak Tea House(not the weblog but the actual place in Lahore).But its our fault that we havent promoted our intellectuals well enough.Had that been the case,today secularists would have been dominant in Pakistan.
    As for the narcissist army,just THANK GOD that this time our army,thanks to Kiyani,didnt take hold of our country under the pretext of the failure of Zardari government to address the issue seriosuly and tactfully.

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