The upper middle class happens to be the most influential segment of the Pakistani population who have a significant influence on the thought process of the policy makers in this country. The same class also happens to be educated enough for being well versed in the ways of the world. What shocked me in the last couple of days and jolted me to my senses was the reaction of the majority to Pakistani director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy getting an Oscar for the short documentary she made on honour killings in Pakistan.
At an official level the documentary got kudos by the Pakistani government while it was played at the PM house and the prime minister formed a national task force for woman's empowerment. However, the nationalists of Pakistan saw it as something bringing shame to Pakistan by depicting the ugly side of the Pakistani society. Despite the fact that the Oscar for best movie this year went to a film which showed the biggest ever global child sexual abuse scandal by organized clergy in the US, the Pakistani hard-line patriots decided to bash the only Pakistani who won the Oscar not once, but twice. This false sense of pride indicates the deep rooted problem within the Pakistani upper middle class, which prefers to remain oblivious to the ground realities in their country and instead of raising voices to bring an end to the disgusting chauvinistic attitudes in the country, wants to keep it business as usual with a "happy go lucky" attitude towards life in their surroundings. Its understandable that the majority of them wants the beautiful side of Pakistani society and her natural beauty to be showcased around the world, but the problem lies where they only want to show all that but brush the ugly realities under the carpet.
The Pakistani society is seriously infested with issues such as domestic violence and general brutality towards women, extremism, Jihadist tendencies of the Pakistani youth, corruption to the core and problems like lack of healthcare facilities, sanitation and above all low literacy and poor education standards for the masses. Pakistani nationalists wants to brush all these issues not under the carpet but address them behind closed doors which is noble by patriotic standards, but has it really ever worked? No is the answer keeping in view the track record of over five decades. Stubborn attitudes like this are one of the reasons why Pakistan happens to be the country with the second worst passport in the world. Pakistan has been made into a laughing stock and is ridiculed by the majority of the world, when they hear Pakistanis bashing people like Sharmeen Obaid for showing the ugly yet true picture of the Pakistani society.
These Pakistani educated masses are not willing to accept the problems deep within their existence like extremism which seriously undermines the efforts and sacrifices of Pakistani people and their military to purge the rein of terror from Pakistan which has already cost more then a hundred thousand precious Pakistani lives.
These attitudes attuned to "All is Well"/Sab Acha mantra is in essence what's really damaging and poses to be the biggest hurdle in sorting out the deep rooted corruption and injustice in the Pakistani society which breeds extremism in the Pakistani society.
The eyes wide shut practice of the Pakistanis who matter allows the injustice to occur through corrupt national practices producing disillusioned youth ripe to be exploited by the extremist segments of the Pakistani society who more then often happen to be the militant arms of the Pakistani Clergy (Mullahcracy)
The Pakistani moderates with nationalistic aspirations are the definite reason why the process of fundamental reformation in the Pakistani society has been stalled for decades. They want to somehow remove the tumor from a patients body without having to operate. It makes you wonder what they are really thinking.
Pakistani society suffers from a definite issue of extremism which won't ever be resolved until the Pakistani nationalist does not let go of his extremist tendency to kill any critique directed at the Pakistani society. The society will only be purged of the issues threatening to destroy the very fabric of this culture if they are allowed to be openly debated without the fear of persecution. If this attitude continues,Pakistan will keep on facing tragedies like Salman Taseer and psychotic fanatics like Mumtaz Qadri.
Pakistanis need to allow the ideals of their founding father reshape the contours of Pakistani civil society. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was himself a progressive and modern man who was open to debate of any sort and the same debate won us this country. Let's never forget that and encourage all possible critical critique while directing it to reform the ugly aspects of Pakistani society instead of brushing them under the carpet.
At an official level the documentary got kudos by the Pakistani government while it was played at the PM house and the prime minister formed a national task force for woman's empowerment. However, the nationalists of Pakistan saw it as something bringing shame to Pakistan by depicting the ugly side of the Pakistani society. Despite the fact that the Oscar for best movie this year went to a film which showed the biggest ever global child sexual abuse scandal by organized clergy in the US, the Pakistani hard-line patriots decided to bash the only Pakistani who won the Oscar not once, but twice. This false sense of pride indicates the deep rooted problem within the Pakistani upper middle class, which prefers to remain oblivious to the ground realities in their country and instead of raising voices to bring an end to the disgusting chauvinistic attitudes in the country, wants to keep it business as usual with a "happy go lucky" attitude towards life in their surroundings. Its understandable that the majority of them wants the beautiful side of Pakistani society and her natural beauty to be showcased around the world, but the problem lies where they only want to show all that but brush the ugly realities under the carpet.
The Pakistani society is seriously infested with issues such as domestic violence and general brutality towards women, extremism, Jihadist tendencies of the Pakistani youth, corruption to the core and problems like lack of healthcare facilities, sanitation and above all low literacy and poor education standards for the masses. Pakistani nationalists wants to brush all these issues not under the carpet but address them behind closed doors which is noble by patriotic standards, but has it really ever worked? No is the answer keeping in view the track record of over five decades. Stubborn attitudes like this are one of the reasons why Pakistan happens to be the country with the second worst passport in the world. Pakistan has been made into a laughing stock and is ridiculed by the majority of the world, when they hear Pakistanis bashing people like Sharmeen Obaid for showing the ugly yet true picture of the Pakistani society.
These Pakistani educated masses are not willing to accept the problems deep within their existence like extremism which seriously undermines the efforts and sacrifices of Pakistani people and their military to purge the rein of terror from Pakistan which has already cost more then a hundred thousand precious Pakistani lives.
These attitudes attuned to "All is Well"/Sab Acha mantra is in essence what's really damaging and poses to be the biggest hurdle in sorting out the deep rooted corruption and injustice in the Pakistani society which breeds extremism in the Pakistani society.
The eyes wide shut practice of the Pakistanis who matter allows the injustice to occur through corrupt national practices producing disillusioned youth ripe to be exploited by the extremist segments of the Pakistani society who more then often happen to be the militant arms of the Pakistani Clergy (Mullahcracy)
The Pakistani moderates with nationalistic aspirations are the definite reason why the process of fundamental reformation in the Pakistani society has been stalled for decades. They want to somehow remove the tumor from a patients body without having to operate. It makes you wonder what they are really thinking.
Pakistani society suffers from a definite issue of extremism which won't ever be resolved until the Pakistani nationalist does not let go of his extremist tendency to kill any critique directed at the Pakistani society. The society will only be purged of the issues threatening to destroy the very fabric of this culture if they are allowed to be openly debated without the fear of persecution. If this attitude continues,Pakistan will keep on facing tragedies like Salman Taseer and psychotic fanatics like Mumtaz Qadri.
Pakistanis need to allow the ideals of their founding father reshape the contours of Pakistani civil society. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was himself a progressive and modern man who was open to debate of any sort and the same debate won us this country. Let's never forget that and encourage all possible critical critique while directing it to reform the ugly aspects of Pakistani society instead of brushing them under the carpet.
A well versed article. The problem stems from our habit of mixing Islamic rituals with cultural ones, while the former has sound basis and rationale, the later is marred with social and economic factors.
ReplyDeleteYou are spot on Eisa
DeleteA well versed article. The problem stems from our habit of mixing Islamic rituals with cultural ones, while the former has sound basis and rationale, the later is marred with social and economic factors.
ReplyDelete