We’re all just afraid of something or the other. Which is why we seek strength in numbers
Pride. Honour. Respect. Self-esteem. Sovereignty. These are words that are embedded in our national discourse. These words are like Vaseline: everybody uses them but for completely different reasons. When a US drone bombs a wedding ceremony in FATA, all of the above are violated. When terror-mongers decide to declare genocide on religious minorities, all of the above are threatened. When an immigrant family butchers their daughter-in-law in some obscure part of England, all of the above are challenged. But society’s response to each of these cases is markedly different. You may be tempted to wonder why, but you must never voice your wonderment out loud, lest you too are sacrificed at the altar of national interest.
Over the course of the past week, many Pakistanis have done many stupid things. Some torched buildings. Other beat up police officers. More stormed diplomatic installations. A handful took to moving shipping containers with their bare hands. The rest were busy looting and plundering all they could lay their hands on. The rest of us were at home, watching (or refusing to watch) on TV the drama unfolding in the streets. The social media too was awash with indignant condemnation of the mayhem that was Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool (SAW). Needless to say, everyone knew there was a problem.
Everyone also had someone to blame. It could be the PPP-led government, which had tried to appease the right-wing by calling for a national holiday. It may be the religious right-wing, which had led the call for rallies, demonstrations and other miscellaneous outdoor activities last Friday. Also the stupid hordes that descended upon Mai Kolachi, MA Jinnah Road, Constitution Avenue and Saddar Bazaar and laid waste to areas of commerce, brought life and governance to a standstill and ground common-sense to a screeching halt.
Honestly, though, I don’t blame anyone for this mayhem. This was going to happen, whether the revolting ‘Innocence of Muslims’ had came out or not. This was the manifestation of the anger pent up in the hearts and minds of all and sundry across the country. Think about it, Shias riled up by the murder of their brethren in Gilgit, Chilas and Balochistan; daily-wagers frustrated by the lack of economic opportunity on the day of a strike; window washers and other miscellaneous ruffians who are routinely battered by their handlers for not making enough money; banned outfitters pissed at not being able to fly their faction’s flag at Namoos-e-Risalat events… the whole country was primed to explode anyway.
The issue here is not that we have collectively lost our marbles. We haven’t done anything collectively since we cheered Team Pakistan to victory over India in the warm up T20 match some days ago. In fact, cricket may be the only thing that brings us together anymore. All other causes lead to fragmentation: divisions on the basis of ideology, race, caste, colour, creed or even body odour. So, obviously, you’re not going to get the same numbers in a protest against violence against minorities as you will in a protest against blasphemous material, even though you could very well have both and neither cause would contradict the ideological foundations of the other. But the Shias are afraid of coming out in support of their brothers because they fear they will be a target. The Christians fear rallying in Rimsha’s name because they are vulnerable to violence. FATA residents are hesitant to come out (in support or opposition to) drone strikes because the FC has been known to be quite ruthless.
We’re all just afraid of something or the other. Which is why we seek strength in numbers.
But alongside these numbers, come varying agendas. When different interests align, they come with their own set of conditions. So group ‘X’, that participated in the Youm-e-Ishq-e-Rasool (SAW) riots, could have hailed from a fundamentalist group that did not want to see cinemas flourish in Pakistan. Group ‘Y’ may be out to sabotage Pakistan’s foreign policy interests (for whatever complex reasons) and group ‘Z’ may just be a bunch of uncouth youths looking for thrills. But they will all converge upon the same five-star hotel in the capital and proceed to mount a break-in because, at the end of the day, that is the one thing that will gratify all of their desires and motives.
It is very easy to get swept up by a mob. We’ve seen that on the streets, we’ve seen it in newsprint and we’ve seen it on the media, social and mainstream. Extremist sentiment is not confined merely to those who would loot and plunder; indeed, those who advocate disembowelment and other corporal forms of punishment for these protesters are also guilty of the exact same crime, albeit on the opposite end of the political and intellectual spectrum.
What we need now is not condemnation, but realization. Why are people so upset? Where does the provocation to be violent come from? Is it a lack of access to justice and legal remedy? Is it because surviving on an honest day’s work is becoming more and more difficult in Pakistan? Are political forces and non-political actors at work, trying to destabilize Pakistani society? Is there disconnect between the values of ordinary Pakistanis and the more privileged ones? These are all stale questions, but they need fresh answers. Not from academics and statisticians, but from politicians and journalists. This is a human tragedy and should be set right through more human, subjective means. We need to understand who we are dealing with rather than what we are dealing with. That is the only way any semblance of order and normalcy can be restored to our fair backwater. Until then, it’s every man for himself.
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