Daily Times

Nothing works. Major cities have been sealed and an angry mob rules the streets. Scenes from Pakistan on September 21, 2012 have a distinctly dystopian flavour. TV cameras cut to newsrooms happily discussing the need for peaceful protests as sweet sounding hymns play in the background and then cut back to the mob going berserk. Someone picked the wrong soundtrack for the occasion.

Pakistan, badly battered by terrorism and in an economic bind, doubled as a set for some war zone on the eve of the ‘Love Your Prophet Day’. The sight of rampaging protestors including representatives from banned outfits closing on Islamabad’s Red Zone on Thursday evening was surreal. The army was summoned to safeguard the diplomatic enclave. The military was placed on high alert. And as the nation braced for yet another day of officially sanctioned protests, the mobile networks were shut down. No one really knows why.

A BBC anchor watching the scene compared the present mayhem to past protests that he thought had been peaceful. Pakistan’s initial reaction to provocative material posted on the Internet, capable of sending the rest of the Middle East into paroxysms, did seem tame in contrast. Some wondered if the low-key response was because the nation’s attention had wavered because of a devastating industrial fire in Karachi. Come the weekend, that oversight had been corrected. Armed with the standard issue brand of outrage found in abundance in this restive part of the world, crazy-eyed protestors fashioned a violent response to the anti-film narrative, mob-style. The commercial hub of Pakistan was partially paralysed.

A religious scholar was seen downplaying the violence, citing the still standing structure of the US Embassy as proof. The reaction at the state level has been decidedly odd. They threaten to revoke Google Inc. employees’ visas, declare ‘Love Thy Prophet Day’, which really means another day of protest after a week of protest, and conferred a seal of approval on marching protestors. And the government banned YouTube, ensuring that 180 million Pakistanis who had no intention of seeing the wicked film would not be able to see the wicked film or anything else for that matter. Clicking on the link will redirect users to Google. Afghanistan reportedly had gone a step further and blocked access to the host website ‘indefinitely’, along with Google, Gmail, and Blogger. YouTube refuses to take it down. But it has revoked access in Indonesia and India and removed the trailer from circulation in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Libya. Scenes of arson and vandalism witnessed on the days leading up to the Love of the Prophet Day confirm that keeping the content off the air means little to the raging billions.

Since September 11, 2012, a female suicide bomber has targeted foreigners in Afghanistan. The US ambassador to Libya is dead. Scores have been injured in violent demonstrations across the Middle East and life in parts of Pakistan has come to a standstill. Because of all this, Bacile/Nakoula’s (or as some media folk like to say Malaoon) skewed vision has gone viral. We have done funny things in the name of God. Cadbury, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and Flickr — all have been targeted at one time or the other. One source says the government is already eyeing software capable of blocking up to 50 million websites.

The sight of politicians harping on ‘a greater conspiracy’ followed by a never ending parade of mullahs spewing poetry while urging calm and at the same time condoning the protests sent mixed signals. After the first two days of non-stop violent protests, a freshly repentant charlatan was observed waving a battered old Jewish conspiracy theory. The filmmaker’s Egyptian Coptic connection does not impress him. The cast’s outrage at being duped by the said Coptic does not interest him. What does interest him is the film’s release on the Jewish New Year; he should have thanked the Egyptian media for his thoughtful selection of the dates since the trailer has been on the Internet since July 1, 2012. The delightful monologue went unchallenged. More simpletons arrived.

One mullah happily objected to those pictures on facebook (it’s YouTube, but never mind). Another shrieked against those awful images on facebook (once again, YouTube). Another one, instead of responding to the questions, started congratulating the anchor on his good fortune that his parents named him ‘Muhammad’. Yet another naively suggests that the mob should be allowed to go up to the consulate and register their protest. After Libya, there is no chance of that happening.

This mob was out for revenge, not justice. The US has sunk $ 70,000 to distance itself from the film by running advertisements. The US Embassy is constantly broadcasting pacifying messages on twitter. Pakistanis used the remains of the Internet to urge calm, but the protestors were not online. The same message broadcast via local mosques might have been more effective.

A local channel appeared awed by the “zabardast” (splendid) protest before reporting that they burned down a cinema in Quetta. The next day media personnel came in the line of fire; three cinemas and a police checkpoint in Peshawar were torched; the Chamber of Commerce was next and a plaza was attacked. Hours later, three more cinemas, a couple of banks and popular eateries were reportedly set ablaze in Karachi. A disappointed anchorwoman asked where religious/political rallies were after witnessing anarchy all morning. On air, raging protestors were simply described as people ‘recording’ their “ehtejaj” (protest) in cities and alleyways instead of being condemned.

Now the French are braced for a backlash after a French magazine decided to publish derogatory images of the Prophet (PBUH). The BBC called the anti-establishment magazine that skewers politicians, the Catholic Church and the Pope on a regular basis, “crude, cruel, and intentionally provocative”. Their latest attack was apparently prompted by the frenzied reaction of the Muslim world. Danes will get it. A murder plot against the man behind the cartoon controversy prompted the paper to rerun the offensive images. In 2008, a text message regarding inflammatory material triggered a boycott of all things Danish and some not so Danish. Pakistanis are convinced that the Danish boycott somehow crippled the Danish economy. A scan of the Internet shows poorly worded appeals to re-apply those boycott tactics to anything sporting a ‘Made in the US’ label. Karachi has already suffered an estimated Rs 12.5 billion loss of revenue and ‘production losses in main industrial areas’. Roads have been painted over with flags of offending nations so that protestors can walk/drive/cycle all over them. Shockwaves from 17-minute clips, 12 sketches, or 14-minute trailers have the power to drive Pakistan to the edge.

The writer is a freelance journalist who blogs at http://afrahjamal.blogspot.com. She can be reached at afrahjh@hotmail.co