Media and Islamophobia

KHAIRPUR: A watchman at a Sikh temple in Luqman Mohallah and a young man said to be mentally challenged have been taken into police custody after the latter was found to have allegedly desecrated the Guru Granth Sahib, it emerged on Tuesday.



The above news article caught my attention the moment I read it. It is SO interesting in so many ways . Look at the selection of words "said to be mentally challenged" "found to have allegedly desecrated" . Since the individual in question was a Hindu so he was very conveniently "mentally challenged". Easy , isn't it ? If some one opens fire inside a school killing kids, mentally challenged . Some one abuses a Holy Book , mentally challenged. Of course, it is very important that the individual in question be a NON Muslim , if he or she is a Muslim, then of course , he or she is a hardcore extremist / Islamic / terrorist / jihadist / zealot ...take your pick !

This is how the Media conditions minds . This is how so-called "secularist" and "liberal" newspapers breed hatred for Islam in the minds of people. It is so obvious that the language in the above mentioned report has been consciously "watered down" to make the crime look very forgivable. After all , the individual in question ( a Hindu) , was "mentally challanged" , oh I am so sorry, said to be mentally challenged , so let us give him the benefit of doubt and look the other way.  Interestingly , when we read about alleged blasphemies in which a Muslim individual or individuals are supposed to be the perpetrators , there is never any mention of them being abnormal , nor there is any clarification later on about whether the blasphemy did or did not occur. What is highlighted is the treatment meted out to them as a result of the alleged blasphemies. The treatment , which is always inhuman , is never justified . But the question is, are the "blasphemies" always alleged or whether they do occur atleast some of the times ? No one focuses on that and the reaction towards such news items is of total out rage towards Islam and not towards the people who committed the crime .

I have shared both types of stories here . It gives a pretty interesting insight into how hate is being nurtured for Islam by our very own Media. This is just a typical example of how the Media twists words to further it's agenda. As a rule, a non-Muslim perpetrator is to be sympathized with as he or she is "mentally challenged" . If not mentally challenged then he has "the right to defend himself" . And if nothing , absolutely nothing works, then a non - Muslim is justified in carrying out atrocities against other Muslims because some other Muslims in some other part of the world may or may not have carried out atrocities against Non - Muslims. It is the typical wolf and lamb story in which the wolf sees a lamb drinking water down stream and kills it on the pretext that " you are not dirtying the water but your father might have dirtied it and maybe some other wolf drank it and fell ill ; so I need to punish you for that."

This is how things are now a days. Let alone non Muslims , there are enough numbers of Muslims out there that think Islam is the culprit in every conflict. There general feedback is along the lines of "It is being done in the name of Islam."

What I believe is that we need to stop making things easy for such Islam haters. We need to forcefully, logically , oppose the elements that are spreading such hatred of Islam. We may not be able to fight in the battle field , but what we can do is try to develop a better understanding of Islam. We should make Quran a part of our daily lives. Recite it daily, try to understand it. Be regular about the prayers. Read the history of Islam if you can. The only way to counter such malicious anti Islam propaganda is to promote the image of Islam that is closer to reality . We should try to emulate everything Islam teaches us . The Islam haters are not going to stop their hate mongering , but it would be really great if we do not provide them with more fuel. Nor should such elements be given a free hand . Make it difficult for them to oppose Islam , make it real tough for them to get their anti- Islam ideas accepted. Obviously , we can only but play a tiny part in all this but it would be much better to play a small role for the sake of Islam instead of a large role against it !!!

The Islamabad that was......

Above is a picture of Secretariat blocks in Islamabad from the earliest days of the Capital. So beautiful , so peaceful ...like the rest of the country in those days . Interesting , isn't it ? So much peace prevailing during the era of a "bad , evil" Field Marshal .

Years went by and one ruler came after another, each claiming to be the sole savior for this nation and each destroying it more and more in it's own unique manner. Each and every ruler had his own version of "prosperity" and "progress" . From the "Quaid e Awan" ZAB to Gen Zia and ,the horrible musical chairs between PPP and PMLN , The evil Dictator Musharraf ,  to the Guy Smiley Zardari , we had a lot of unique characters rule and fool the Nation. Each new leader proved worse than his predecessor.

Then we had Nawaz Sharif with his never ending Metro buses, flyovers , underpasses and Motor ways. It seemed that this carnage would never stop. I had voted for the first time in my life . I voted for PTI as I believed it was a party that had a broad vision . I did not believe that PTI would form Government , but I was determined to do my bit. To my relief , PTI managed to form a Government in KPK .

I was very excited ; I thought that finally , there would be a shift in the way the country had been headed for so long. I started looking forward to a better future for our next generation.

But wait, what was this ? What was this trend of "Dharnaas" and "protests" picking up pace? I had not voted for PTI so that I would be seeing protests ! I wanted to see progress ...real progress and not protests day in , day out that were continuosly disrupting the Nation.

The "dharnaas" spread....and they spread..like a cancer. They started becoming more violent ; anyone who did not go to dharnaas was scoffed at and looked down upon as a 'traitor' or even worse , as being 'mentally retarded.'

The Dharnas became like a massive termite nest , that started gobbling up the country. They are unstoppable now. The "Inqilaabis" are mentally drugged with the illusion that they are making History. They think they are making a Naya Pakistan. They are doing NOTHING except setting fire to the old one, Literally.

At this stage, it is too late to stop them. They are seriously "high" from the drug of "Inqilaab" IK has given them. They would burn the entire country down if IK asks them to. God knows , they are making a serious effort.

All I can do is ask ALLAH to help us . Help this Nation out of the mess it has gotten into. Help us see where we are headed before we completely ( God forbid) disintegrate Pakistan and help ourselves to it's bits and pieces.......

The Analysts

THE ANALYSTS

A to B:“Han to Zia kay daur mein jo  XYZ party ka deputy general secretary tha, who ABC Party kay WXY kay khilaf halqa number NNN say khara hoa tha……”

B to A:“Nahin, who halqa number MMM say WXY kay nahin XAB kay khilaf khara hoa tha…..”

All of us have, at one time or another, come across conversations, real heated up conversations that run along the above lines. The paths that they take vary, depending upon the group composition, the level of education, and the degree of loyalties that the participants possess to their respective candidates and parties. But one thing is always present, the mind boggling level of detail that seems to serve no particular purpose. There is just an endless, seemingly random and unrelated series of names; dates and events that would make “War and Peace” look like a book for fifth graders. The only difference is that the characters of “War and Peace” are unified in the end; they converge in terms of their ultimate destiny. The characters mentioned above just keep on multiplying like some sort of deadly laboratory virus that has grown out of control. The only characters more fascinating than the ones in discussion are the ones that are discussing those characters. For the sake of convenience, I will call them “The Analysts”. 

As a nation, if there is something, which we indulge in whole heartedly (besides basant , valentine and a plethora of similar events ), it is “analysis” . We just love to analyze any thing and every thing , as long as it is remotely related to politics. Ask some one what is “Higgs Boson” and you are bound to get a blank look. How ever, ask about the secretary of some political big shot of , say, 1958 , and you’d get an amazing level of detail about the big shot, the secretary , the party , the party members , their businesses , their likes and dislikes , their children and their children’s children within no time. 

Now, some people might defend such knowledge by classifying it as “current affairs”. But what I totally fail to comprehend is that how the knowledge of some long dead ( or even living) politician’s entire life is contributing to a bright future of this country. How would the knowledge of , for example , who contested from NA-132 in 1987 help reduce the cost of electricity , or make atta available to everyone at an affordable cost. 

For lack of a better analogy, let me compare politics to the sewage system and the politicians to the contents of the system. Now, if you want to clean a chocked sewage system, you have to get the big picture first , you have to understand how it is organized. If we just start labeling the filth that is flowing in it and monitor and discuss where it is headed to , then this is not going to solve anything. I may be wrong, but I feel this is what is happening, we are simply focusing on big and small pieces of garbage within the system without paying any attention to where the gutter of political system is blocked. 

We get a certain level of pleasure from “predicting” events. We love to display our political acumen and analytical abilities by ‘forecasting’ the future and shamelessly showing our pride when the event occurs, no matter how terrifying it is. I have met people who have ‘predicted’ the (God forbid) disintegration of Pakistan within the next few years. “Analysts” love doomsday scenarios , even within the arena of politics, anything that is remotely bright and optimistic loses their appeal for them within a small span of time. Tune to any news channel and you will see how the media thrives on conflicts , blood and death. The “analysts” are like vultures ; they can only survive on ‘rotten’ material. They would cease to exist if there were no conflicts , no doomsday scenarios , no corruption and no “siyaasat”. 

I am not against politics and its analysis, it is a complete, well defined science. But what I would really like to see is some one discussing the ‘big picture’ for a change. Someone talking about international politics, if it HAS to be politics, and not about some two bit political party’s maneuverings in the bye-elections of 3 decades ago. All such discussion results  in a waste of time, energy and simply contributes to the ever widening gulf of ideas and concepts that are not in the interest of Pakistan. 

Naya Pakistan and Inqilaabis

There is nothing "Naya" about the blog title, really. "Naya Pakistan" is all the rage now a days . It's like a major sale item along with others like "Tsunami" , "Corruption" and "Go Nawaz Go". Turn on the TV , the radio , go online . Whatever you do, where ever you go , images and sounds of this "Inqilaab" and "Azaadi March" would follow you.

The "Inqilaabis" are all for "change" . They have this romantic notion of fighting a corrupt system and making way for a "Naya" Pakistan. What is this Naya Pakistan? What would so "Naya" about it? There would be no corruption , they say. No one has a very clear idea about what this Naya Pakistan is. It seems that Naya Pakistan is rather a subjective thing and everyone sees it in a different way. It's closely related to "Secular" Pakistan , which again, is a very debatable word.

So, what are we doing to achieve this hitherto imaginary Naya Pakistan . "Dharnaas" and "Long Marches" have become very "in" now a days. There is the frequent reference to "Tahrir square" and "D-Chowk" has become a pretty popular tourist spot !

People are forever talking about "sacrifices" to get rid of corruption and make a Naya Pakistan . But what is this "sacrifice" they are talking about . There are people, no doubt, that actually sacrifice their comfort to be part of these gatherings . But their sacrifices are diluted by participation of "fashionable" inqilaabis ; people that attend the dharnas just for fun . There is quite a large amount of such people in such gatherings that come to enjoy and relax .

It is not possible to tell who are real serious "Inqilaabis" unless they are put to some real test. Any sort of revolution demands sacrifices , serious sacrifices. Revolutions also demand a seriousness and focus which we lack.As as nation , we are a loosely connected mob and this reflects in all the "dharnaas" and "Long Marches". We are not a nation yet. Being a nation is a per-requisite to a revolution. Also , any change , be it good or bad , is not sustainable if it is thrust upon the people. Such "Azaadi Marches" with it's never ending promises of deadlines of prosperity are nothing but one mirage after another. Changes take years upon years of hard work. Shallow "Dharnaas" like the ones carried out by PTI and TUQ are nothing  but a waste of time. The IK jalsaas have the 'reputation' of women behaving in disgraceful manners. If women dancing on the roads is what Naya Pakistan is all about then we might as well have the old and corrupt one. Loss of dignity like this would be a very heavy price to pay for Naya Pakistan.

What about the real price that a Revolution demands ? Hardwork , dedication. And if we are insistent upon "Long Marches" , how far are we willing to go. Are we ready to be shot at ? To go to Jail ? To sacrifice our comforts ? Our warm beds? Our filled up refrigerators? This is particularly a question for the "hardcore" inqilaabis. Because, if they can't sacrifice their safety and comfort when it comes to it, they might as well sit at home. Waving flags and giving victory signs is all very well but there would not be any revolution unless we have a collective mind set that is ready for some serious sacrifices.

So , until the "Inqilaabis" are subject to some serious hardships , it would be premature to say how dedicated they are about their Naya Pakistan. When the hardships , jails , tear gas and baton charging arrive, only then we'll be in a position to see that how many of those chest thumping Inqilaabis ( particularly the PTI inqilaabis) hold fast and fight back for the Naya Pakistan they so badly want !
 

An interesting trend...

Lately , I have been observing a very interesting trend in the online articles i come across. Specifically , the trend is related to the comments at the end of the article. I am pretty much interested in the articles written by liberals / Secularists / pseudo-intellectuals since they are forever maligning Islam and promoting it as a narrow , terrorist religion. A lot of articles are about counties where Muslims are being oppressed. It is interesting to note that one can go on and on about Islam being an evil , demonic religion and no one would complain . But as soon as someone decides to highlight the plight of Muslims , all hell breaks loose.

I have come across people on social media forums that were actually offended at the fact the sufferings of Muslims was being talked about. To them , the important issues are "Islamic terrorists " , "Minorities" , "Forced Marriages" , "Blasphemy" and of course "Qadyaanis" . Briefly , any issue that puts Islam in an unfavorable light is important to them. These "intellectuals" are of the view that "let us set our own house straight first". Oddly , this logic is absent when misguided Muslims are the oppressors . No one said "let's set our house straight first" when 911 occured , no one said it after Boko Haram incident in Nigeria but everyone talks about it when the world "Palestine" is mentioned. Why ? because we are looking at non-Muslim terrorists here. The Secularist Brigade can't stand Islam being the victim ; for them Islam has to represent something evil and oppressive. You should see the comments at the end of articles that highlight Muslims' plight and you'll see what I mean.

My advice to these "drawing room scholars" is that try to under stand Islam first before holding it responsible for your own lack of understanding of it. My own understanding is little but I do not blame Islam for the atrocities done "In the name of Islam". The atrocities are done "In the name of our lack of understanding of Islam". There is a huge difference between the two and we need to appreciate the difference.

A Fantastic World...

Today , I will tell you a story about a "Fantastic" world...not fantastic in the sense of being "amazing" , rather it is a "fantasy" world that is based on the present world.

There was this country USRael , that was obsessed with dominating the world. USRael strongly believed that he was "The Chosen One" and the President was convinced that God had spoken to him to start Crusades against the Muslims.

USRael decided that the best way to make Muslims fight each other would be to create discord among them based on sects and ethnicity. No point in trying to sell them liquor and Pork as they would not fall for it. But they were very sensitive about sects. This proved very beneficial as Sunni and Shias proved easy targets and there was a big 8 year war among two Muslim countries in which Millions of Muslims were killed. USRael was over joyed. Afghanistan had been a great success too ; not only it finished off USSR but it also devastated Af-ga-nis-tan. Palestine was getting thrashed somewhere too but no one cared about a small strip of land. Meanwhile, the Saudis and other Gulf states basked in their obscene Petro Dollars and were not a source of worry at all. The Ottoman empire had already fallen after WWI which ended there 600 or so years of rule.There was this country Pakistan which really bothered no one since Pakistanis were the biggest bastards on Earth. They cared for one thing only. Money. Given them Money and they would rape their own sisters and mothers.

So , things were running along very smoothly. Then, from the East , a horrible news came. Several news, actually.  Russia, China and N.Korea woke up! Well, they had been stirring for quite a while but USRael was sure they wouldn't pose a threat...but this didn't prove to be the case. This gradually began to hurt US more and more as even Israel wasn't bothered with non Muslim countries. Israel was only after Muslims.

USRael was cracking up into 2 countries. US and Israel. The other countries began to suspect that US was just an empty tin drum whereas Israel was the real culprit that had been invisibly pulling strings and gaining strength all the time. While the world was busy hating and loving US , Israel was busy deepening it's roots in the world's economy. They were everywhere ...from McDonalds to Nescafe , from Nestle to Intel. There was no place where Israel didn't have a stake .....and the Entire world was helping Israel and was in it's clutches. The Muslim Ummah did not exist and could do nothing about it .

Years went by. The Oil dried out . The Shia-Sunni conflict devastated Muslims. Wars and battles ravaged in every Muslim country. There was hunger, disease and famine everywhere. The Wars had taken their tolls on every one. The world had become polarized with Muslim countries scattered at one end and Non-Muslim countries grouped at the other end. Israel was leading the Non-Muslims as not taking a side was not an option. No one could say no to Israel due to it's military and economic might.

Muslims did not have any leader. Yet.

In this absolute darkness , Muslims started turning to Allah like they never had. The hardships made them realize how valuable their Faith was. They stopped taking Islam for granted and started to go into it's details. They dusted the Quran and opened it. They started returning to whatever Mosques were left. They began to repent with tears. They began to mend their ways. They seeked the past that they had lost.

Then slowly, very very slowly, the tide began to turn. No one could tell from which direction the Divine intervention came. It was very gradual and barely perceptible. But it was out there . It was in the attitude of one Muslim towards another Muslim. It was a changed attitude towards life. It was a renewed focus on Quran and Sunnah.

And it was then that Allah fulfilled His promise and sent help in a way which was utterly "Fantastic"

The Silver Lining ...

We , as Muslims in general and Pakistanis in particular , have become very pessimistic. Yes, it is very easy to say "do not lose hope" when you're sitting in a comfortable lounge . It is easy to talk about positive things when you are getting electricity ( even if it's due to a UPS) , when you don't have to worry about water, gas and other basic amenities.

But having all the facilities readily available makes us forget how valuable these things really are and we start complaining at the drop of a hat. We have started to mix up "reality" with "doomsday". We come up with the most negative scenarios imaginable . Yes, I totally agree that things are not good at all. But can we honestly say that we are in a worse condition than the forefathers of Islam ? Are we even close to suffering the hardships they were facing ? There are a lot of Muslim countries , such as Afghanistan , Yemen, Egypt , Iraq and Palestine that are going through extremely tough situations . The Western media has done any an everything imaginable to promote these countries in a negative light . They have been promoted as oppressed countries , they have been promoted as having cruel dictators , they have been promoted as being terrorist states, for having WMDs, for stock piling chemical weapons , for trying to become nuclear states , for harboring extremists.

Please ask yourself , why is the West taking so much pains ? Why is so much being invested through media ? Why so much on wars against these countries? I mean, if Muslims really are that far gone and finished off, then why waste so much resources to crush them further ? We, the Muslims , buy any and everything the Western media sells us . We accept their dictation of Islam being a terrorist religion . We have fallen for their propaganda that Muslim women are "oppressed" and "subjugated". We have totally agreed to Islam being an intolerant religion . We have accepted words like "jihadist" , "Islamist" , "Islamic terrorist" and "fundamentalist" without questioning their rationale.

For example , do we even question that what "Islamist" even means ? What is the difference between "Muslim" and "Islamist" ? What do we mean by "Extremist" and at what stage one ceases to be a "Liberal" and starts becoming an "Extremist"? We have just accepted these words and terminologies because they have been repeated so many times that we have forgotten to question them. Anyone that does question is ridiculed and given insulting labels such as being "narrow minded" , "ignorant" or "conspiracy theorist".

We need to realize that despite being in such dire straits, Muslims are not history . Not yet. We have lost touch with our religion and our history and that is why we feel so insignificant and awed by any and everyone. We are putting too much faith in the wrong places. How many times we have begged for help from "International Community" , I have lost count , really ! How many times we have prayed to Allah with the complete faith that we show in others . It's shirk day in day out for us and yet we expect miracles from Him. We have more faith in our own abilities and mechanism than Lord of the Worlds. What does this say about us ?

If there is darkness anywhere , it is within and not around us. Obviously , the "International Community" would cash this opportunity as much as possible to cure their Islamophobia. Despite being scattered completely , Muslims do hold the "International Media" under awe . The West is more aware of the greatness of Islam that Muslims are. We need to see that greatness in ourselves that the West sees but would never acknowledge.

We need to stop being so mesmerized with the West. We need to realize that Muslims have an amazing history. We need to stop listening to people who taunt us of  "living in the past". Yes, we as Muslims, are VERY proud of our golden past . There is absolutely nothing wrong about reveling in the past and getting motivated from it. We have become too accustomed to thinking negatively. We are too willing to call ourselves failures. We have forgotten how Allah helped our forefathers in the bleakest of situations.

Please, do not lose hope . Do not day dream, either but do not lose hope so much so that you start doing shirk. We are living in a very bleak time but if everything was really that bad as the Media would want us to believe then we wouldn't even have access to any Media ! If someone is working so hard to control your thoughts then you are indeed a worthy opponent .

That is the silver lining. Just put your faith in the right place and see how that silver lining would give way to sunshine in it's own time.