We all know for a fact by now that terrorists are “brainwashed zombies product of mullah ideology of Zia/Saudi[insert whatever you want here]”, that is a well-established fact by now. And that is very well. We have blackened tons of perfectly good newsprint to preach this mantra. But there is another brainwashed gang in our midst and this one didn’t go to the medressahs, they went to universities abroad.
While the extremists on the right get paid with 72 virgins, the ones on the left are paid in NGO consultancies, op-eds in NYT and journalism fellowships. The difference lies only in the type of heaven they believe in, the heaven somewhere above the clouds or the heaven on the western hemisphere of this earth. The reality of both is hotly contested and beyond the scope of this short blog.
One uniting factor for both these gangs is they both see the world in black and white. As I said, ink and paper worth millions have been spent on the lunacy of the right, lets talk about the left for a change and their wholesale hatred of our military.
The Pakistani military, like all armies in the world, has a bit of everything. They have stories of courage as well as corruption, they have had good leaders and bad, selfless martyrs and black sheep. It is a worthy cause to expose, shame and ask for investigations against the corrupt, and black sheep of our army. It is a noble and brave act to write, speak and act against the people who harm our country, willfully or ignorantly, inside our Army’s ranks or outside. And it is stupid to believe that everyone in our army is an angel from heavens.
On the other hand, it is equally stupid to believe that everyone in the Army is in it for the plots and the lands, or that all officers are rich beyond belief, or that they all call us “bloody civilians”, or that they all are madmen hellbent on destroying our precious democracy. However for some, believing these things is a rewarding enterprise. The people who constantly write for army and constantly write against army have no overlap. There is no desire on both sides to be objective, to appreciate what is to be appreciated and to condemn what is to be condemned. That is where they both lose their credibility.
Another defining aspect of the lunatics on the left is their failure to understand the imaginations and aspirations of Pakistanis. Take the example of the recent Twitter trend against Dawn newspaper in response to their article. I am sure Dawn editorial staff will dismiss it as another outburst from “ignorant, brainwashed Pakistanis – most probably fueled by some shadowy ISPR funds”, and this patronizing attitude towards the average person is the core of their problem. They, in their high and mighty castles of self-righteousness fail to even understand what the 65 war stands for in the mind of an average Pakistani. They did not take into consideration what 6 September means for a Pakistani before embarking upon their arrogant campaign of “teaching Pakistanis whats what”.
6th September, 1965 and the memorial we hold every year is not about Operation Gibraltar. As you may or may not have noticed, we do not celebrate general Musa Khan or Yahya Khan or Maj Gen Akhtar Malik, we do not show their photos on TV neither are there any songs about their heroism or ‘brilliant strategic wisdom’. What we do celebrate every year is the courage and selfless devotion to country of the thousands who did not hesitate to give their lives when the country needed them. We show Major Aziz Bhatti on TV, the songs we play are for him and many like him. This is the day to thank the nameless faceless hundreds who were ready to jump into fire so that no harm may come to this country.
We remember the sheer madness of good men who left their families behind to fight and die not for any gain or glory but to do what they considered their duty. We celebrate people like M M Alam who represented the epitome of skill and fearlessness. We celebrate Aziz Bhatti and his handful of men willing and able to stand against an overpowering enemy. We celebrate the fact that we faced an army many times our size and we resisted bravely, we did not give up Lahore and Sialkot. More than that, this is the day we pay tributes countless others who have died for our country before and after 65, not generals but ordinary soldiers and officers on the ground. We pay tributes to those who continue to die, believing, perhaps foolishly, that their deaths and sacrifices will mean something to their countrymen.
Before belittling the contributions of these men, and then blaming the reaction on some ISPR conspiracy, it would be great if these authors get down from their high-horses and try to understand the people they are trying to preach to. Maybe, excuse me for this crazy theory, people will respond positively to your criticism if after writing 150 articles against Pakistan Army, you write one article appreciating something they have done (I’m looking at you Cyril Almaeda). And maybe if you write in a balanced and objective way for these ‘jaahil Pakistanis‘, showing that the aim of your criticism is to improve the Army not to destroy it, then Pakistanis may not believe you work for Modi.
But then again, there aren’t a lot of people who hope to get their 72 virgins by being balanced, moderate and objective.
