Let me say, we humans are kind of doomed as a species. We have this ability to make death controversial. We even have the ability to celebrate it.

We can celebrate it, be critical of it, and even bash someone who has just died. The latest example: Junaid Jamshed.

He was a pop-icon turned religious scholar. Junaid Jamshed and his band Vital Sings dominated the 90s music era of Pakistan. A whole generation grew up listening to his songs. Dil Dil Pakistan became the unofficial national anthem of Pakistan.

Junaid Jamshed chose to leave all this in 2004, and opted for another path in life. But we have to be critical about it, right? So yes, we were.

He passed away in a plane crash on Wednesday while going from Chitral to Islamabad, leaving the whole of Pakistan in shock and grief. But, my friends, how can we let go of this man – who has never harmed any person, never preached hate – just like that.

As a society, overall, we are divided into two forms of extremism: religious and liberal. And both are damn good at their own brand of intolerance.

The religious extremists were celebrating, because they accused Junaid Jamshed of once committing blasphemy. And as every one of us is a self-appointed custodian of Islam, people put statuses and congratulated each other on the demise of Junaid Jamshed. This, by the way, was mainly because he was not from their “school of thought”.

And then there were the “liberals” – or at least this is how they self-identify – who, very openly and repeatedly propagate, freedom of expression and freedom of choice. But how dare a singer, a pop-star, their “childhood idol”, become religious? How could he choose a path that they don’t like? I mean how could he?

Yes, he said some controversial things (which he clarified in a private TV program), so he deserves to be hated and condemned. For many “liberals” Junaid Jamshed “died” in 2004; for them he ceased to exist, when he changed his lifestyle and chose “what he wanted.”

We have this ability to be full of hatred for people, even in times of great tragedy. And congratulations, our record is intact.

We will keep on doing this. So I am not going to say be human first, don’t be extremists. Because, yes, we will keep going on like this. So cheers to that.

We will continue to mourn just those people, who share our ideology, who belong to the same sect, who look like us, and who have a lifestyle just like us. For everyone else we won’t be wasting too much energy being sad. We will sleep peacefully when they die.