Both the PTI and PML-N are doing a disservice to the Panama case with their ridiculous press conferences. If one sits down and forces oneself to tolerate Fawad Chaudhry’s rants, PTI seems to be the clear winner. However, in a few moments, Mr. Daniyal and the rather sad attempt at an information and broadcasting minister, Marriyum Aurengzeb, take the podium and insist on the exact opposite. Their exclamations are so ferocious that one feels there was no case to begin with.
This has been the normal routine on many TV channels since the Panama leaks. However, given the same is being done after deliberations of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the two are simply making a mockery of the institution of politics that both represent. It is also a blatant insult to the respected judges of the court who’d requested no discussion over the case. The two sides now hold these rants on constitution avenue, insisting that the court asked them simply not to do it in the premises of the case. How smart they probably think themselves to be.
That’s that about the Panama gate. Anything beyond needs to be solely the words and decisions of the Supreme Court. Our populace too, must realise, that this is no media trial. When waiting for a decision to come, one must indeed look exactly where the trial is taking place. Not anywhere else.
Now for the graver issue of recent times: the abduction of the four or so activists. The moral brigade is having a good time in these circumstances. Some renowned persons are shamelessly quoting the ‘I told you so’ mantra. Others are seen justifying the abductions by bringing about the argument that the blogs allegedly run by them, were either blasphemous or anti-army. For either, these personnel insist that they’d readily give away their lives. It’s a pity how they fail to understand how this claim neither makes them a better Muslim not a better Pakistani.
Such abductions have indeed been part of our recent past. Journalists have indeed been fired upon, harassed, beaten and in some very unfortunate cases, killed to make them understand how they’re playing with fire. If these four bloggers were in fact running the pages in question and did in fact post the things that are on the page, connecting the dots is no mean feat to get an idea of who may be behind the disappearances.
That said, even if they did, are their abductions justified? The world at large embraces a humanist discourse; at least the evolved nations do. The human value is valued above everything else and rightly so. Above, let me emphasise, dogmas, culture, myths, legends and beliefs. But, it is not the developed world alone. The conundrum lies where the same has also been emphasised by the religion our moral brigade insists it protects. Killing one innocent is equivalent to killing the whole of mankind. Apparently, these words fall short on the ears of those who believe killing alone is the answer to ensure the respect of their beliefs. What makes the situation worse is the state’s blind eye towards everyone who boasts these feelings. Turn on a channel these days and you will see evangelists insisting that the respect of an esteemed personality requires enough devotion to do away with a life. If the dark and dank curtain of emotions are taken away from this claim, what comes forward is a blatant call for murder. How and when our society became so insensitive, so as to treat this as norm, escapes me.
And then there are the nationalists who claim that the only definition of being Pakistani is being a blind lover of the army. These too fail to understand what disservice they do to the institution they love. The army has made its fair share of mistakes, to deny that would be to eliminate all accountability and demand for further improvement from the institution. Under its recent commands, the army has managed to free itself from some past baggage and here is to hoping that the cleansing continues. This process indeed must be attributed to the brave souls who criticised it and reminded it of its duties to the state and the common Pakistani men and women. The bloggers in question too, much as the writers who are often termed as agents of RAW, play a part in working and reviving the conscience of our nation. If anything, this is a noble deed. Criticism is not a crime. Killing is.
It is earnestly hoped that those abducted are released soon. It is hoped with much faith that the we understand that coercion is a thing of primitive societies. The voices they try to shut down will only should louder now. This makes all of the abductions terribly futile.