What’s with the South Asian inferiority complex?
As a Pakistani who has lived most of his life in Canada, I have had many experiences in which I have observed the often bizarre and complex ways of the South Asian (Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh) community. One of the most prominent of these is their ability to deny any connection with their background. Now, keeping in mind that this does not apply to all the people in the group mentioned earlier, it certainly does cover several of them. Once, when I had just entered my teenage years, I had a Pakistani girl tell me that all the people who lived ...
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10 ways to put on a good TV show
Switching on the television these days is anything but uplifting. For one, you get transported back to an endless cycle of births, shaadis (marriages) and deaths. Is this all that our audience is interested in? Are we really that laid-back about the content being aired? Do we actually take our masses to be that silly? These are the same masses that watched “Ankahi” and “Tanhaiyan” and enabled these shows to get the critical acclaim they deserved. Why are we then so afraid to experiment with new themes and plots? Times are changing and people are evolving rapidly. But what about our dramas? Most are still stuck ...
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Steal a baby, sell a baby
Fact is stranger than fiction. At least with fiction, you can chew out the author for writing a predictable ending or for using outlandish plot twists. Sadly, some stories in life seem to be built entirely on outlandish plot twists. On the 22nd of March, the police in Bhara Kahu, right outside Islamabad, busted a couple who stand accused of conducting illegal abortions, including dangerous late-stage ones, and selling the babies that survived. Sounds a lot like Hell’s version of the sustainable development model. To top it off, the couple shares a bond of blood with one of the accused in ...
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Danke Deutschland, for the love
Stereotypes have always existed; while modern pluralistic societies do condemn them, certain events leave marks that often lead to prejudice and bigotry. There was a time that Jews were associated with ‘Bolshevik’. Today, the word ‘Muslim’ is unfortunately associated with ‘terrorist’. So before I left for Germany on a study trip, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and arranged by the German Academic Exchange Services (Daad), I had a preconceived idea about the country. While my perceptions about Germans were varied and complex, during my two week journey from Munich to Berlin, with the breathtaking scenery of Heidelberg and the Cologne ...
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LUMUN: Students learn the truth in a language they can’t debate in
What’s the point of debating if the person opposite you can’t understand a word you’re saying? In my previous piece, how at model United Nations (MUN) some kids were shaken by the sheer scale of competitiveness – a rampant obsession with coming first across the country. This is why events like these, which bring together such a diverse group of people from across the country, are so useful. You can glean so much from the way people interact, or in this case, don’t. I’m going to talk about the Lahore University of Management Sciences model United National (LUMUN) again, because this ...
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Musings of a ‘Westernised’ Pakistani
We often blame “the West” for constructing and perpetuating unjust stereotypes about Muslims and Pakistanis, while not realising that we’re constantly returning the favour without even knowing it! So, on behalf of the “burger-society,” I’d like to speak a little in defense of “the West.” Ready your rotten eggs if you must. Let me start by saying that “the West” does not exist. If it does, could someone please delineate it for me? Is Japan included in your definition of the West, despite being a Far-Eastern nation? What about Russia, industrialised China or Romania? When radicals make blunt statements like, “the West is waging a ...
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Stereotypes: Burning flags is easier than talking
From Islamabad to Washington DC, the cacophony of jarring voices chokes reasoned discourse. Much has been said and written about Pakistan in America after Osama Bin Laden’s death, most of it demonstrating an inherent inability to understand the country’s complexity or paradoxes. Not that journalists, wannabe pundits, some NYT columnists and Middle East experts masquerading as South Asian ones can be blamed entirely. Pakistani voices are unbelievably diverse and inherently contradictory, making representation harder. To illustrate, Aaron Bady, a graduate student and teacher at the University of Berkeley performed an experiment in which he asked his class to produce a “Pakistan ...
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Muslim immigrants: A cold shoulder for a bad reputation
After the great Messina, another tsunami has embarked on the shores of Italy. But this time, it is not water that is causing problems. 26,000 immigrants belonging mainly to Tunisia and Libya have arrived on the island of Lampedusa – a number larger than the total population of the island. Earlier, Italy had taken responsibility for 20,000 immigrants. As the immigrants keep pouring onto the shores of Italy, it is looking towards neighbouring Schengen countries to lend a helping hand. The Italian government has decided to issue a six month Schengen visa to these immigrants, a move that has given jitters to the ...
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MQM in Punjab: Free food, stale agenda
The big MQM jalsa in Lahore was touted as the game changer for the party and the people of Punjab. Roads in the city were lined with billboards as reminders of the rally that would kickstart the “revolution”. The promise was that MQM chief Altaf Hussain’s words would inspire people to stand up against an oppressive two-party political system. But now that the jalsa is over and the reviews are in, it seems that nothing has changed. The only effect of the jalsa on the people of Lahore was that they had to take alternative routes to their destinations as multiple roads were blocked off. Trying and ...
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For the millionth time, Muslims are not terrorists Mr King
Another attack has been made on American Muslims, this time by Congressman Peter King from New York, who claims that the alQaeda is recruiting and training members on US soil. The chair of the House Homeland Security Committee has initiated a series of hearings to probe the so called “radicalisation” of American Muslims in the name of national security. In true McCarthyistic tradition, the hearings are to investigate if Muslims are “loyal” to the state and whether they are doing enough to curb extremist elements. King says the local threat against Americans is real and must be addressed urgently. The Telegraph quotes him as ...
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