Fake-blonde aunties and liberal fanaticism

Titles on Chowk such as ‘Urban Middle Class’s Descent into Conservatism and the Religious Right’ demonstrate an arrogance that is sure to create divisions. The liberals of Pakistan see no intolerance in speaking of people with different views in such terms as unfortunate, descent, dark, misguided, etc Our English newspapers and tv stations which are more British than the Windsors always speak from this liberal point of view that really is nothing but a fringe group found in the upper class neighborhoods of our major cities. Neither do they have any political clout, nor do they have any actual affect on the ground…but boy do they know how to write a witty article about the barbarian Mullahs, the corrupt politicians, and the always adventurous army. The ones who speak Urdu among them do so only to demonstrate that they are masters of Urdu poetry and are therefore equally elite in at least two languages. Ah yes, what a wonderful life when everyone else is descending into something incorrect and you get to be the one to show everyone the right way from the comfort of your living rooms. You notice how many times they talk about a barbaric interpretation of Sharia or Islam….when have they ever provided a correct interpretation of Islam that they could back up with knowledge? They speak so fondly of Art, Culture, and Painting that you would think that Liberache ain’t got nothing on these people. And when speaking of Arabic, Islam, the “Conservative Right�….you would think this crowd is purposely trying to outdo Kemal Ataturk or Avigdor Lieberman in heaping disdain on all things Islamic. Of course, the trick is in the words…..calling their self-declared foes “the right� automatically implies a balanced scale in which this blond-aunty crowd actually has an affect on the country equal to their nemesis’ constituency. Of course, call them on their bigotry towards Islam and they pull another fast one……they’ll talk about some Sufi baba or some whirling dervish who basically Deen-e-Elahi’d the religion until it became more like Bhuddism or Hinduism and therefore more palatable to this “Bastion of Pakistani Liberalism�. Lord knows that religion should abstain from political/economic and other important things and should relegate itself to silly things like prancing about with flowers in your hair while chanting colorful hymns……just as long as you don’t talk about or get involved in anything of importance!! In their minds, they are the Benevolent Class of Pakistan since they are not the feudals, nor the army, nor the PPP/MQM/PML/JUI/etc, nor the Mullahs, nor the corrupt anything….they are the ones to whom everyone should listen…and the way to do that is to pick up the editorial section of Dawn to get the prescription on everything from religion to military affairs to foreign policy….and the best part is that you’ll get it in 10 paragraphs or less. What self-importance these people have, and how pompous they are to think that they are anything more than a marginal group of privileged hobbyists who are dabbling and would most likely be on the next flight outta here if their next new years party got cancelled because most of their friends were too chicken that night to leave their well guarded homes in even more well guarded DHA or F something or another. However, when the foreigners come to Pakistan to either invade or to talk down to us…these people will be the first to stand in line to welcome them and have their picture taken for the society pages. The silver lining is that newspapers all around the world and news stations are shutting down because of dropping circulation and people shifting to alternative media. Maybe, just maybe, within a few years we in Pakistan could have the good fortune of being rid of these soap boxes that this crowd preaches from. And maybe….just maybe, the next generation will take a more mainstream approach rather than purposely play the role of the english-speaking sophisticated elite Pakistani that doesn’t mingle or fit in with everyone else in Pakistan.