Pak Tea House » liberal Pakistan, Media, Opinion, Terrorism » Extinguished hope
Extinguished hope
By Ahsan Kureshi
A friend, who shares my ‘liberal’ perspective on almost all things, inquired why I was surprised on what had happened. ‘Shouldn’t we be used to all this?’ His question got me thinking. Are we actually so drowned in the wetsand of fanaticism that the call of an auction of the ‘Holy weapon of Qadri’ was not even a head-turner? Are we bent upon staying fearful and oblivious to all that we deem as absurd? Is a debate on the said topic too much to ask for? Too volatile of a question with a ‘playing-with-a-knife’ consequence? Indeed and sadly yes; atleast, that’s what it seems.
What saddens me today the most is the biases of the pioneers of the ‘freedom-of-speech’ manifesto, the media. The morning newspaper (5th Jan) that greeted me today, the most widely read English daily, proved to be a rude shocker. Not a single headline, news item, editorial or article mentioned Salman Taseer’s name. Except for a small box of gratitude via a hefty payment by a cable company the deceased was an ex-CEO of, not a single paragraph was dedicated to the man. The online blogs and articles however were a relief but in terms of impact, their voices are still a whisper.
On turning on the television however, I was surprised to see all the major channels shy away from the topic of Mr Taseer. Disappointed, I tweeted a renowned anchor, questioning him of the reality of media’s freedom and warned him on how him following suit in his program later at night, would leave many of us discouraged. Almost childishly, I hoped the tweet would invite a rattling of the conscious and the taboo topic would be discussed. Later that night I watched the same ‘champion of freedom’ speak selfishly on the ‘safe’ topics of Babar Awan and Hussain Haqqani while sitting in Lahore, home to Mr. Taseer’s heartbroken family.
The fear that comes with this topic scares me today like it never did before. I was never afraid to speak rather loudly on how wrong Qadri was on murdering one rational voice amid the clamor, I was hopeful. This changed today.
The existence of such mindsets that tend to translate the horrendous murder as an act of piousness irks me. The advantage of number the said population has over the opposite side leaves little to be expected. What’s worse is that Quaid’s secularity and his vision for the secular nation that he proposed would probably never see the light of the day. In a country where the shackles of conservativeness and dogmas bind us to the extreme, intellectual debate shall forever remain a taboo.
Qadri shall soon walk the streets a free man and the voices that shall continue to protest would forcefully become the Tariq Ali’s of this generation. Nothing much will change.
Lastly, I would like to apologize to the Taseer family on behalf of everyone of us. Nothing said or done can bring back the loss of the progressive mind that this nation desperately needed. The complete show of disregard by all the key players in all the walks of life disappoints me more than it would disappoint most. Mr Taseer had high expectations from this country, he would be grieved to see it as shameless as it is today. For this and so much more, I apologize.
Ahsan Kureshi is an economics student from Lahore.
Filed under: liberal Pakistan, Media, Opinion, Terrorism · Tags: debate, funfamentalism, liberal, Media, Pakistan, Qadri, Salmaan-Taseer, taboo
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[...] Extinguished hope By admin | January 9, 2012 January 9th, 2012 | Add a Comment [...]
Oh, come on. When you are younger than 25, nothing must make you take your eyes off how you want the reality to be, no matter what it actually is. However, if you continue to do the same after you are 35, you will turn into a real burden on earth – a part of the humanity’s common problem.
[...] Extinguished hope [...]
when they came for native spirituality, i was checking if coal was burning well for phookat ka darbari hukka running on Jiziya on the natives who were my true ancestors….
when darbari scene changed and found that they were coming for uprooting the native culture and making “coconut” of the so called educated, I was also busy in tiding my tie and suit and applying toxic mercurized “fair & lovely” ….
now when the brutalized uprooted Quadris are coming for us Darabari Gs, I write maudlin alien shero-shayari…..
The pakis are more interesting–my Urdu is limited but there is ample evidence here that (a) they are monsters (b) their policy can be explained as two-pronged: (a)the hegira model of exile pending conquest and (b) behaving, for all intents and purposes, as though muslum league achieved its confederation with separate muslim electorate having, in effect veto power over the self-definition of the subcontinent.
“TSP – a country where the Army can open doors for you, if you are in their good books, otherwise they open the sun-roof ..and let some fresh air in..
“
good article! im glad there are young people who think this way. although the above commenters seem to be high on some weird myopic broth
A religion based on fear and intimidation, piety competitions, finalist arrogance, a monolithic-totalitarian god-concept, self-glorification as the only permitted freedom of expression, exaltation of life after death, molestation of children with propaganda instead of giving them good education results in such a society.
The proof is there clear to see in 57+x nations and societies and many other sub-nations and sub-societies. But the fear that rules over the “faithful” makes them dishonest about the decrepit nature of this religion.
Death is the only escape for them. Those who survive must live as zombies and mental slaves and agents or victims of terror on the earth.
Once fascism catches you and deludes you and imprisons you there is no escape. They are a danger to whole of mankind now.
@ darabari G
darabari G UTHO AB KOOCH KARO
INDIA MEIN DIL KA LAGANA KIA
JAB GANGA JAMNA LUUT HEE GAYE
AB RONA KIA AUR GANA KIA!!
WONDER HOW MUCH BHAGAT SINGH’S REVOLVER WILL COST TODAY?? HOW MUCH WILL SOMEONE SELL GHAZI ILM-DEEN’S DAGGER??
a boy 8 year old practiced Vaishnav jan To Tene Kahiye Je Peed Parai… in the school for centenary of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVbE2pvmh1M Did not understand a word! But Bhav entered in the heart. For 2 weeks or so this boy saved half is lunch box and stopped at the brick kiln on the way home to feed a baby girl barely 1-2 year old where her mother toiled in hot sun.
There was newspaper library on the way….boy started stopping at the newspaper ..probably thinking it will improve his Marathi, Hindi…
It started giving a weird identity… connection to the brick kiln, its muddy soil, the wet eyes of the little girl and the appreciative loving look of her mother was lost… boy stopped saving his lunch and stopping at the brick kiln.
Boy was “channeled” to devils way and its Darabari Gastii and utterly dehumanized by the words channeled to him from distant delhi, mumbai and pune.
Boy was “channeled” to devils way and its Darabari GMasti and utterly dehumanized by the words channeled to him from distant delhi, mumbai and pune.
Here is how I would feel if I were a liberal Pakistani –
“I thought I was a vampire and I locked myself in with vampires, but I have now learned that I am not a vampire, but it is too late now, there is no exit, I have no choice, I might as well become a vampire”
MilesToGo
MilesToGo
exactly…
How many of pak tears are genuine and how many are for some the poor lady who has been christian for one generation? Wonder if they would shed a single drop of tear for native Hindu/Sikh? All their tears are because Angloes shed crocodile divisive tears for Christians of “other” people. May be these BA(hon.) LLB Gs attach their these writeups to their visa applications to uncle sam and aunt londy lands. Nothing more!
Arab Ka Bucha (AKB), Tumhara woh Ghazi Ulm-something aur our native Bhagat Singh. Usaka Kurani Kura Abhi tumhare rectum me erect dostum ban ke ja raha hai. Let Papiland get more and more pure islamic so that nobody is left … as my afghani doctor friend says all your masjids and all your haram ki havelis get bombed and you balls goom Gs go to Arabia to search your illusive balls in sands of Arabia. Bon Voyage!
Arab Ka Bucha (AKB), Tumhara woh Ghazi Ulm-something aur our native Bhagat Singh. – there is Jameen-Asman Ka farak between them. Arabi Ulm Something gandu is just brainless and ballless G.
Usaka Kurani Sura Abhi tumhare rectum me erect dostum ban ke ja raha hai. Let Papiland get more and more pure islamic so that nobody is left …
How many of pak tears are genuine – how many are for the lady just because she is christian for one generation? Wonder if they would shed a single drop of tear for native Hindu/Sikh?
All their tears are because Angloes shed crocodile divisive tears for Christians of “other” people. May be these BA(hon.) LLB Gs attach these writeups to their visa applications to uncle sam and aunt londy lands. Nothing more!
Ehsan, please wake up!