March is usually an interesting month for the whole world. Julius Caesar’s least favourite time of year, this month also brings with it untold change on a mass level. Take Putin’s march into Crimea, for example. The impression that I had from my International Politics syllabus was that following the end of the Cold War, the world had wisened up to dictators and their smartass tactics. But its safe to say Vladimir and Co. caught the White House with its collective pants down. Now, as the United Nations scrambles to respond, Putin is sitting pretty, back at the Kremlin watching his hordes sweep into the peninsula that is so vital to Russian interests. The ball is now firmly in America’s court, let’s see what Obama decides to do (or not do, whatever the case may be).
Speaking of Russian misadventures, Afghanistan, our neighbor to the West, is going to the polls next week to finally choose a new president. These elections mark a new beginning for the war-torn country. With an impending US troop withdrawal on the cards, everybody in the region is holding their breath to see who the Afghan voters will put into office. But obviously, the Taliban are having none of this democratic monkey business. Ever since the Afghan New Year a couple of weeks ago, the ruffians have been staging audacious, suicide squad-style incursions into the heart of Kabul. So far, they’ve managed to cause carnage at the Serena on Nauroze, the Independent Election Commission, a US-government building, a guest house and a day-care facility, all in the last few days. These attacks have been complimented by daily mayhem in the provinces as well, but you don’t get to hear about that much on CNN.
Turkey, the only brother ‘elder’ to Punjab, has taken a leaf out of the N League playbook and blocked both Twitter and YouTube, despite court orders to the contrary. This marks the culmination of tensions that had been simmering in Turkey for a while now. Journalists were attacked and/or prevented from doing their duties, citizens’ access to online content was limited and has now been completely throttled. This, of course, means that the government of Punjab (read Pakistan) can now afford to censor and keep censoring. Because Big Brother is doing it and it’s all the rage. Looking at it another way, we are now members of a very exclusive club of states who aren’t shy about blocking out the voices of dissent. China, Turkey and Iran all have experience in turning off the social media valve and it has borne great results for them so far. #sarcastic
Finally, Friday’s attack on Raza Rumi left the whole journalistic community in shock. The senseless killing of his young driver, Ghulam Mustafa, sounds a death-knell for freedom of press in this country. The Express group has been consistently in the crosshairs of terror mongers and miscreants. This latest chapter though, coming as it does in the form of an audacious attack in the heart of Lahore- a city that has been relatively calmer in terms of terrorist attacks- is additionally worrying. Can it be that Shahbaz Sharif’s anti-terror force-field has finally worn out? Has the All-Weather Shield of Mandate Paints lost its luster?
Online though, it’s business as usual. Hate-mongers who peddle their wares on the TV screen and call themselves journalists are, predictably, silent on this horrific incident. These wolves-in-journalists’-clothing wanted to make a quick buck and figured what better way to “shake things up” than to incite some violence and bubble up some good old fashioned hatred. While spearheading a misguided witch-hunt against innocent people and calling them names such as “dollar khor” and “fake liberal” will get you TRPs, it will also get blood on your hands. Maybe our TV show hosts can demonstrate a little more class and actually sympathize with their colleague in his hour of need. But then, if you really thought the country that branded a teenage girl ‘a Western spy’ after she was shot in the head by the Taliban, would ever learn, you’re even more delusional than I am.
Whatever you say about Pakistan, at least there are no surprises here. We know that the people are myopic, we know that they are easily swept into a frenzy. Instead of trying to reason with them, we need to find the loudest loudmouth who can go toe-to-toe with these madmen/women. We don’t need heroes, we need ordinary people, like you and me, to stand up and be counted. It’s time we stopped just talking about this menace and started doing something about it.
The writer is a former journalist currently working in the development sector.