Donald Trump, a reality TV celebrity and an avowed racist, after holding the reins of power imposed ban on entry of Muslims from seven Muslim majority countries. There was much hue and cry about his executive order, both from rights activists and Judiciary. Trump's aim to demonize Muslims sans looking at faults, flaws and divide that lies at the root of racial fraction in US needed a fall guy. In Muslims he found one. The generalization of equating all Muslims as terrorists is akin to labeling all American white males as members of Ku Klux Klan-a white supremacist group. 

Well, let us indulge in a little introspection and ask ourselves that aren’t we doing the same with Afghan migrants? 

A sizable chunk of Afghanis were born and raised in Pakistan during last 30 years. Pakistan is their country, but we still consider and call them citizens of Afghanistan. They have ID cards but still they have to suffer every single day. Every other day, dozens or more Afghanis are hauled to local katcheris recently after huge racial profiling of 'Pashtoon looking' people in Punjab and Sindh. 

In the aftermath of attack on Army Public School in Peshawar, the police harassed and abused Afghanis in KP, Punjab and other parts of the country. A large number of Afghanis were sent back, the slum in I-11, Islamabad was razed to the ground back in July, 2015, as a result thousands lost a roof on their heads.

The day of attack in Sehwan  Sharif when the Defence Minister tweeted that the terrorist activity might be taking place in Pakistan from sanctuaries in Afghanistan,  social media was flooded with things such as take out these Afghanis,  these Afghanis shouldn’t be living in Pakistan. The hatred reminded one of Trump and his take on Muslims.  

We, the sagacious, brave people of Pakistan mimicked Trump in all its ugliness, its brutality, and its indifference. 

The question that gawks at us is this: when we have the same attitude towards immigrants then how could we criticize Trump? Why what is done by US brutal and inhuman, while what we do is for the greater good of all and sundry? 

A cliched line goes thus, and like all cliches it speaks of eternal truths:

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that".

It's about time that we shed the darkness within. About time that we use what lies between our ears and behind our eyes - it's called a brain. About time that we refuse to make everything a trend and blindly follow it. About time that we unlearn the hatred and prejudice we are taught. About time that we stop to stereotype an individual's actions as hallmark of a group. 

And lastly, about time we learn to look at the borders as lines that divide, that segregate, that 'otherize' us from people who are neither much different nor more vicious than us.