Having my wrists shackled with the manacle of nationalism, I struggled not to write on this particular topic. I made a strenuous effort to resist my fingers from typing these words as I feared crossing my boundaries and defaming my country and its people. But even bacteria stabilise themselves after shifting from lag to log phase. What are we (I did not use “Who” on purpose!)? We, as a society, have set certain principles for ourselves, no matter how shabby and rotten. One of them is finding entertainment and amusement in others’ mistakes, sufferings and agonies. Our collective attitude, as a nation, towards dealing with almost every controversy can adopt different dimensions. While one aspect comprises jubilation, censuring, and abomination, the other facet consists of mocking, damning those who initially derided, and then being remorseful. I have reached this conclusion after my years of observation and, regretfully, this theory has been vindicated by some incidents that have occurred lately.
Back in 2012, when Malala was shot in an assassination attempt, the initial national sentiments advocated for her safety and catching the culprits. I remember how every single person prayed for her health and well-being and how supportive the whole country was towards the decision of moving her to the United Kingdom for further treatment. But then the dynamics changed and the same nation started execrating the same Malala as an ‘agent’. The same Malala who was being celebrated as flag-bearer of female education was later ridiculed for gaining the apparent windfall fame and admiration from the West. She was accused of being an opportunist who fled from her land for her personal gains in contrast to thousands of girls who are still fighting the war raged against them on the actual battlefield. This particular example followed the first course: jubilation, censuring, and abomination.
All along his career until recently, Misbahul Haq has been admonished for batting slow. Who does not remember him being dubbed as a ‘Tuk Tuk’? He was scrutinised over his captaincy in 2013 after series defeat against South Africa. After years of denunciation and threats of being removed from the team, Misbah announced his retirement from ODIs and T-20Is after playing the 2015 World Cup. The same captain became the leading run scorer in the tournament from Pakistan. The same ‘Tuk Tuk’ became the oldest captain ever to score a test century while playing against England at Lord’s in July 2016. The same Misbah’s captaincy helped Pakistan in achieving the number 1 ranking in test cricket for the first time since 1988 in August 2016. Now his slowness is described as his composure and he is no more targeted after shameful defeats, including the latest one against Australia. This specific case assumed the second approach: mocking, damning the ridiculers, and being rueful.
A few months back, the cameras of our beloved media captured the moment when Bilawal Bhutto was shedding tears for his mother while taking her name. Some proclaimed it as a proof of his effeminateness and taunted him for not befitting in the scaffold of masculinity, and yet some doubted these tears to be pretentious and weapons which could be used for emotional manipulation of the masses for political gains. What has this nation not called him? Billo Rani, Zanani, and what not? Even our politicians do not spare him when it comes to his English accent. At such times, the whole nation stands united for deploring Bilawal’s naivety when it comes to speaking in Urdu. But was this incident not poles apart from just delivering a political speech in front of a bunch of people who are more interested in the food that is scheduled to be served after political assemblages instead of the speeches? Is the realm of politics actually derived of emotionalism to such an extent that a 28-year-old man weeping in the remembrance of his mother appears sissy and is unacceptable in this misogynist society? This incident and all those related to this man mostly go through the following process of audit: mocking, damning the taunters, and regret.
Interestingly, we are such people who are difficult to be satisfied. While we would not spare any single press conference for laughing at Bilawal Bhutto’s English accent, we could not help shaming the Lahorite who accidentally blurted out a phrase that actually is not deserved by us. She impulsively uttered “We are proud of you.” We laughed and had a great time jesting at how bad her spoken English was. So is more than half of this country’s! Should we all commit suicide over this? Has it not been ages since we won freedom from Britain? Or are we still living in an illusion of being a colony and have failed to enter postcolonial era? Individuals who expressed their thoughts on social media and showed ‘concern’ that this might be her only chance to speak in front of a camera should realise that creating a Facebook or Twitter profile might be their only chance to opine about something.Quoting Jibran Nasir’s Facebook post on January 13, 2017, “All those making fun of a little girl’s English to the extent of bullying her, do you think your parents can say to you “We are proud of you”?”
It is not about one, two or a few incidents, dear readers. It is about our common way of thinking and looking at things. It is about our frame of mind. It is about our orientations and inclinations. We do not even make a tiddliest effort to control our fits of cachinnation upon seeing a person falling from stairs or slipping in a puddle. This is what we learn from others and practise throughout our lives. Why is it such a big deal? It is a significant issue for the same reason as asking our government to make more dams and barrages, i.e. sustainability of the human race, not Homo sapiens, because we proclaim our superiority over animals. We just do not have to live; we have to live wisely.
The writer is a student of Biotechnology with an interest in current affairs, politics and journalism