I, like the majority, was dumbfounded. My bewilderment was increasing with rapidly swinging polls. The climax, I must say, was even more flummoxing. The result was being proclaimed by many as a political earthquake, which, like any other earthquake, is being speculated to be an expensive disaster for humans. Just as a strong quake in the wrong place at the wrong time can cause great financial damage along with loss of lives, the aftereffects of this phenomenon can only be hypothecated on tentative grounds for now. However, the majority of the humankind, except for his supporters and voters, is afraid of the ideas of racism, discrimination, bigotry and extremism that Donald Trump has promoted all along his presidential campaign.
Insulting the parents of a Muslim US army officer; claiming a judge as biased because he was a Mexican; not renting his apartments to blacks, and discriminating against them throughout his career and campaign; vilifying the disabled; ridiculing the LGBTQ community; and objectifying women as commodities to be grabbed by their genitals were the most highlighted and debated on notions of his political campaign. His bias towards the white and Caucasians has stirred up and surfaced the latter’s long-hidden sentiments and opinions that they hold of dark-skinned, scarf-wearing, bearded and handicapped people. Nonetheless, this did not sound to me a completely unwonted, bizarre and atypical idea. Why? Let me explain.
“The world has gone mad. Americans should have realised that they are electing the president of the whole word, not only their country,” said an aunt of mine while shifting to a more comfortable posture on her sofa. “Shakil ke abba (Shakil’s father), they apparently want to ‘make America great again’. They are now targeting girls in hijab. A racist white American woman suggested to a woman in hijab to hang herself with the scarf around the neck, yesterday at Wal-Mart. What is happening to this world? Muslims, blacks, the innocent disabled people…I mean, what will happen to them now? Is it their fault that some people are born dark-skinned, and some with disabilities? In my opinion, everyone is beautiful and every soul is innocent, Shakil ke abba.”
“I agree, Shakil ki amma (Shakil’s mother). The Day of Judgment is close. All these are signs of that. Beards and head-coverings have always been a part of our religion. And it is Allah who has divided us in races and ethnicities. I don’t think people will understand this ever.” [Phone rings] “Wait! Let me take the call.
“Hello! Yes please wait!
“It is Mr Khurram. The mother of the girl we went to see yesterday.”
[After two minutes of apologising] “I have refused them, Shakil ke abba.”
“Why, Shakil ki amma? She seemed to me a very nice and decent girl.”
“What use would her niceness and decency be to me and my son? I want to make my son’s life better, not deliberately ruin it. Did you notice how dusky her complexion is? And how wide her hips are? And how she had wrapped around her head a scarf? I could not even see her hair and its colour. Shakil will never accept such a girl who hides herself behind a veil. He needs a confident and poised girl. Umm, just like Mehwish Hayat! Plus, she is not even a doctor. What benefit can her simple bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology give us? And how small is the house in which they live? What will they give to our son when they don’t have anything for themselves?”
“All daughters are alike, Shakil ki amma.”
“Oh please! Don’t get started again, Shakil ke abba. Complexion, figure, height, confidence, and financial status are the things that are evaluated. I don’t want my grandchildren to be Neg***s. She was not the only option for my son. Shakil is attempting CSS exam for the third time. I don’t want such a bride for my CSP son.”
The claim that the aforementioned ideas are new-fangled, recently developed or have unravelled from the hidden seems more absurd and ludicrous to me than Donald J Trump’s win. In fact, who are we to criticise the Americans for choosing for themselves a bigot as the president when almost every mother of a son examines every girl like a sacrificial goat to decide whether she is marriageable and suitable enough for her son? As a reality check, what mother would gladly choose a brown-skinned, fat, hijabi girl, or one who is handicapped for her ‘moon-like’ son? How can we expect Trump to welcome us as emigrants and treat us fairly when a bride, the one who leaves her home like an emigrant, is physically and mentally tormented over meagre things? What makes us worthy of foreign immigration and scholarships abroad along with unbiased reception when we do not think once about changing the prevalent norms that shatter a bride’s hopes in her future family?
As an unmarried, Muslim, hijabi, brown-skinned, Pakistani girl I request everyone to ponder over their own approach and attitudes that they show towards the apparently dependent lower stratum of this society. A woman, no matter how brown-skinned or fat, and irrespective of the degree she holds, is equally a human as a man and, therefore, deserves equal appreciation for her existence and position. Just as all racist Americans should realise the equality of fellow countrymen, including emigrants, the mothers-in-law of our society must think of their daughters-in-law as respectable women, the ones belonging to their kind. Also, it is high time there was a realisation that disabled people are, in fact, differently abled. Otherwise, the fright, concern, trepidation and consternation that we have for the West are much the same as our fake standards and dual personalities.
The writer is a student of Biotechnology