The promise of Me Too

(This piece was originally published at the Dunya Blogs on October 19,2018)

Me Too movement is a movement against sexual assault and harassment. It went viral in the October of 2017 as a hash tag but soon it turned into a platform for the victims of sexual harassment to name and shame their assaulters. Many big names of the American entertainment industry found themselves in the middle of this movement. For the last few weeks this movement is knocking at the door of our neighboring India and many famous politicians, writers, journalists and media person have been accused of sexual harassment. This movement can turn out to be a watershed moment in the struggle of achieving women empowerment and curbing violence against them.

My primary reason for supporting this movement is very different from the rest. I know many in west and here at home will not accept it but these Me Too stories have vindicated Islam and the limits it imposes on men and women. The sexual liberation has turned out to be just another weapon used by the powerful to exploit the weaker gender and here by weaker gender I do not mean women alone in some scenarios (whose possibility and probability is less) men can also be the weaker gender.  I do not want to get into the validity of these claims but I believe that this is what all those men and women deserve who crossed the moral, social and religious bounds; bounds that are deemed as regressive but in actuality they are the guards that protect both the sexes and the bounds upon which our whole social system stands.

The common misconception here is that Islam limits a woman to her home and confines her to homemaking; the notion of “guli surri laash” gets its roots from here. First, the notion is wrong and secondly, raising the next generation- the future is not some easy task. It deserves a lot of hard work and conviction. Thus in the name of empowerment and emancipation we have made women more vulnerable and susceptible to exploitation. By offering her the so-called freedom we have made her a slave and a commodity.

I am not a sexist and I seriously believe in women empowerment but here in our part of the world women empowerment is reduced to mere symbols; these symbols talk of shunning duppata and barring one’s midriff. Still the concerned and the champions of the cause of women empowerment have failed to indigenize feminism, they have failed to bring the social change instead they have provoked and antagonized the related corners by opting for above mentioned gimmicks. Their actions closed many windows instead of opening new ones. The need here is to identify such social practices that act as impediments in achieving the goal of women empowerment and then remove them. Here many preach to change the whole social system instead of correcting the irritants that cause the problems. Resultantly, we have failed to achieve the desired change and it still hangs in limbo.

However, here arises a pertinent question that whether this Me Too movement will be able to play any part in liberating women and making this world a safer and better place for them. At the moment the answer can only be assumed and the optimist in me wishes the answer to be yes.

Me Too campaign’s main job should be looking at ways through which awareness can be created among the masses about the importance of treating women well and as equals, more importantly how to treat a woman that is a working woman and at ways through which the work place can be made safe for them but I fear that this campaign may end up only sensationalizing sexual harassment instead of sensitizing the masses about it. The main reason of my apprehension is due to the big names that are attached with this movement and all those that are being named under the umbrella of this movement. The names might hijack this movement for their self-glory and for garnering sympathy for themselves instead of the victims. It is very important that nobody owns this movement. Nobody should be the face of this movement.  It is very important that the campaign stays on the right path and purpose. Otherwise all the promise that this campaign makes will be lost and above all the golden opportunity will be lost to bring in all those who used their power to exploit and harm the weak.         

 

Rainbows

A child who loves the rainbow

He waits for the rain to come

He waits for the rain to go

Afterwards looks for the rainbow everywhere in the sky

When he could not find it

He still believes that it is somewhere near or far

But there is a rainbow, for sure

The songs that nobody sings

Words that can be something

Fear made them forbidden

Words made words frightened

You kept them secret

Hid them from the world

Have you had said them?

What would have happened?

I know words are no weak

They can move the world

That is why they are important

That is why they should be uttered

Especially to those whom you love

And to those who love you back

Where the roads are going?

Where you can take me?

To the moon?

Where there is darkness

To the Mars?

That is far away

I can’t go away

I belong here

To my pain

To my agony

They make me who I am

They are my badge of honor

They are the number plate of my car

I know no world without them

There is no world without them

The old or the young

They think that there are no bounds

Like they do not exist

But they do

They exist next to infinity

You and I

Are going to live here forever

All the roads lead to here

Here which is sometimes nowhere

Here which all the other times is home

Imran Khan- the national leader vs Imran Khan- the political leader

(This piece was written before Imran Khan's victory speech)

Over the seventy years of its existence, Pakistan has faced many problems. Those problems were not simple ones in fact, they were hydra headed. The biggest of them all was and is national unity. We have already lost our eastern wing to this infighting. For a prosperous and strong Pakistan, we need a strong federation. One of the root causes of this problem is that we always lacked good political leadership; a political leader that enjoys national affection and respect could have been instrumental in solving many of the problems that Pakistan has faced in the past, is facing now and will face in the future.

 After the loss of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, only Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was someone who showed some promise. Other than him, Pakistan lacked a leader who had any national appeal to him and has supporters in all the four corners of the country. This attribute itself gave birth to many problems. First of them all is that the federation of Pakistan is not as strong as one wishes it to be and secondly, there is no one who can play a bridge between the smaller and the big province. So, every time we have to listen to the unending cries of “us and they”. That vacuum, that gulf is widening and we are putting band aids on a wound that require stiches. Lately, Imran Khan has emerged as someone who can be our answer to this problem. He has national appeal and followers who are present in every nook and corner of the country. However, at times he acts not like the national leader that he is. His contempt for the workers of opposing political parties and his choice of words for them is downright disrespectful. He should know that they are like his own party workers, are political workers. They do not get paid; they do not get party tickets because like Imran others also think that they do not know how elections are fought. Political parties here lack any ideology, what they have is leaders, family names and symbols. They relate with it, they identify with it. There is a long way to go for us to achieve a place where electorate votes for ideologies and issues. Hopefully, we will reach their but Khan Saa’hib with your attitude the destination looks a bit more distant. 

Imran Khan should understand that once he becomes the prime minister, he would not be the prime minister of PTI but of Pakistan- of each & every citizen, of those who voted for him or against him. Calling the workers of a political party "gudha" will only push them closer to their political leadership. Contempt & ridicule brings no good & no respect. Khan should refrain from such politics of us and them. If he wants to be the messiah, then he should act & rise above any political, religious or ideological division.

It is imperative that the amount of respect that Khan Saa’hib has for his own party workers should be replicated for workers of other political parties too. We already have a lot of fault lines; we cannot afford a new one.

Now when we are on the cusp of change but are we ready to change? Imran Khan the political leader has to understand that now Pakistan needs him in the role of a national leader; a leader of all and of everyone, of those who oppose him and also of those who detest him. He has to do good by all of them. Otherwise the change that he promises will be a fail as it will be exclusive to some. This change will only widen the fissure. 

The renaming game

I would like to thank Captain Safdar Saa’hib & all of our august parliamentarians who are responsible for changing the name of Quaid-e-Azam University’s physics department. It is a very farsighted initiative which should have been taken many years ago but better late than never.

The news is that upon the instigation of the dear Captain (nothing to do with the dead poet society and rationality), the name of Quaid-e-Azam University’s physics department has been changed from some Dr. Abdus Salam to a renowned physicist Kaifi Azmi.  This is our greatest achievement in the field of physics since that infidel Zionist agent Dr. Abdus Salam won us a Nobel Prize. The initiative will immensely contribute to the field of physics in fact it will outdone the theory of relativity or any other landmark achievement in the field of physics ever made or will ever be made. It will have far reaching impact on the local physics scene as it will surely improve the quality of science education in the country because you do not need teachers, labs, home-grown role models or encouragement to opt for science; mere a change of name can do that for you. All these years we lagged behind in science especially physics because the physics department of our most prestigious university was named after some pygmy but now everything will change as Azmi will bring the azmat (glory) or more precisely azmat-e-rafta (past glory). While we are playing the renaming game, the national assembly should be called Capone, NAB should be called Nawaz Sharif, and cricket should be called gulli danda.

Why we celebrate and mourn Bollywood

The only constant in our human world is change. Change takes place for good or bad but nobody can avert it or impede it. Change has its own mind and pace.

The world of art is no exception. It has experienced change just like the others. The human necessity and aesthetics of expressing themselves started with some symbols on the walls of some cave in the Stone Age but it became a way of life once it got pen, paper and a wider audience. Then came theatre- the reenactment of what was written, another change. That change led to formation of cinema. Sciences were making progress and the cinema was one of its many perks. The dream just got bigger and better.

The beauty of the cinema is that it takes you on a journey that is life and in just under three hours you get all the shades and flavors of life. In this mayhem, those three hours are a lifeboat for many.

Our Cinema grew like any other cinema. Like anything else, at the time of independence our cinema too was in shatters. However, it remerged and we started to find our feet again. Varieties of audience were built and manufacture to consume our cinematic output. Even in those days there was a sizeable number that liked Indian cinema. Even in those days, the Indian movies use to get releases in Pakistan. The stories were relatable, the language was understandable, and the music strike similar kind of emotions. The thing about cinema is that it creates stars. People get frenzy about them. The more it gets frenzy, the better. So, Indian movie stars were now our stars too. Dilip Kumar was a big deal and Madhubala was beautiful.

The 1965 war saw a ban on the Indian movies in Pakistan. I sincerely believe that it was the start of the end of the Pakistan’s film industry. Indian movies had a better production value than our movies and they pose a challenge to our movie industry. This challenge always kept them (our film industry) on their toes and striving for excellence. Before 1965, Pakistan really produced some good movies such as Malangi (1965), Ghoonghat (1962), Neend (1959) and Anarkali (1957) to name a few which gave Indian movies run for their money. In the absence of competition, the quality of Pakistan’s cinema declined and our film industry died a slow death. Fortunately, now Pakistani cinema is in its revival phase and Pakistan is churning out some good movies but still there is a long way to go. That is why we need world cinema to not only feed our cinemas and cinema goers but also to increase their appetite and make them to appreciate a good movie irrespective of its country of origin.

However, this piece is not about Pakistani cinema or its decline or revival. This piece is about why we celebrate and mourn Bollywood? Obviously the main stimulant behind this piece is sudden and untimely demise of Siridevi and the consequent criticism on Pakistani media for her projection. The interest of the news channels in her death was natural because of the way she died and all the mystery that clouded her death. Keeping in mind the reporting of Indian media on the same issue, Pakistani news channels fared better and reported the incident in a more professional manner. First thing first, it should be understood that we can mourn Siridevi and condemn Syria at the same time. It is a doable thing and it is not inhuman.

As I have stated above, the reason for acceptance for Indian movies in Pakistan is that both of us share same kind of problems and language. So, as compared to others it is easier for Pakistani cinema goers to relate with Indian movies.

Another factor that contributed in establishing a Bollywood fan base in Pakistan irrespective of the ban in 1965 was the VCR revolution of the 1980’s followed by the Cable revolution of the last 1990’s. These revolutions gave Bollywood an access to every Pakistani household.

It should also be kept in mind that after 1980’s, at least two generation of Pakistanis have grown without the cinema of their own. Though Pakistan was making movies but they were cyclostyle gandassa vehicles, catering the needs of a particular type of cinema goers (no offence intended). Pakistani cinema seriously lacked diversity. We grew up watching Indian movies and listening to their songs. Madhuri was the first crush of many, Siridevi’s attire in Chandini was a rage among local females, sweaters wore by Anil and Rishi were local favorites, Sunny and Sanjay were our action heroes.

The only savior or the knight in the shining armor was PTV. This Bollywood onslaught coincides with the golden age of PTV. That is why both of them that are PTV and Bollywood enjoy same amount of nostalgia.

There must have been other factors too but we have to accept this as the reality of our times. There is a need to expedite the revival of our film industry without compromising on the quality of production and content. Still, there is no harm in appreciating a good performance. Sridevi was a brilliant performer and she deserved all the mourning she got. My first Siridevi movie was Mr. India and I will always remember her for the Charlie Chaplin sequence from the movie and the Hawa Hawai song. Although, I watched the movie as a kid but when I grew up the “I love you” song made me to appreciate her sensuality. Ironically, her last movies had two Pakistanis in a pivotal role and her shout out to Pakistani actors can turn many strong willed teary eyed.