The Way I See It
Hello, any moderates out there?

Hello, any moderates out there?

Religious extremists, will not call me their own because my hair is uncovered and my mehram is not speaking for me.

Saba Khalid August 29, 2012

After reading the Reuters report on dance parties in Pakistan and watching the daily shenanigans of the religious extremists on television, I’m starting to feel lonelier and lonelier in this extremely dichotomous and polarised society. I do not know how it happened but it certainly happened sometime in the last few years when practically all Pakistanis chose their sides.

Today, a person is either the ‘I’m-better-and-smarter-than-all-of-you’ type of liberal or he or she is a ‘we’ll-blow-your-head-off-if-you-ask-for-any-rights’ type of religious fundamentalist. So now, the debate is always on miniskirts versus the hijab and on dance parties or dars.

In their liberal or religious extremist heads, it is impossible to live in a world where both ideologies can be practised and tolerated. You have to give up on one to take up the other fully.

It’s either black or white — no greys.

It’s a matter of: ‘You’re either with us, or against us’.

Liberals hate us ‘in-betweeners’ because we talk against US foreign policy and blame the Americans for creating these religious extremists in the first place. Religious extremists, even if they agree with me, will not call me their own because my hair is uncovered and my mehram is not speaking all of this for me.

But really, what about all of those people who want to live in a world which gives them a little bit of both? What if they want both, religious values and freedom?

What about the poor, underrepresented in-betweeners? Who is representing us?

Which party, television channel or newspaper is giving us a voice? Which leader is giving us in-betweeners the hope to stay on the sidelines?

And no, it is not Imran Khan. Because it’s pretty clear which side he leans towards.

So, my question is, are there even any people still left on the sidelines?

Or, are there just two closed-minded sides that are verbally and physically attacking each other every day, spreading more hate for everyone around them?

Are there in-betweeners out there? Please come out if you can hear me. Is there anyone at all?

Read more by Saba here.

WRITTEN BY:
Saba Khalid A blogger for Rolling Stone magazine, a contributor to Kulturaustauch and Musikexpres, Saba is an Institute for Foreign Affairs (IFA) Cross Culture scholar for the year 2012 who also teaches creative writing to young aspiring writers. She blogs at www.thecityalive.com and can be found on instagram as @thecityalive

The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (14)

Hijab | 11 years ago | Reply Exactly how I feel! Yes, I am also one of the in-betweeners. You right very well and this is an excellent article! :)

Sufi | 11 years ago | Reply Excellent Article. Stay Blessed. :)

VIEW MORE COMMENTS

Fazal Ur Rehman | 11 years ago | Reply 'The essence of everything is in balance'. Unfortunately we are losing that balance...

Mydah Tariq | 11 years ago | Reply Well we definitely are in a dire need of tolerance.

Vikram | 11 years ago | Reply Author: But really, what about all of those people who want to live in a world which gives them a little bit of both? What if they want both, religious values and freedom? Most people are already doing that, they pretend to be religious and manage to enjoy some freedom secretly or openly. Many Muslim men pray five times and hit on women when they get a chance. Many watch porn on the Internet. Many have affairs Many women wear hijab and date secretly and flirt when they get a chance. I am not sure what you mean by religious values. If you mean being nice, honest, helpful, caring, I don't know why one will object. People don't like when people pretend to be very religious and are worse then an average person. I don't think liberals force people to be liberals.

Rehana | 11 years ago | Reply mini skirt verses hijab surprises me bec i think mini skirt and dance parties are for not even one percent of Pakistanis so you can say there are more hijabis and more open and vocal in their curses for all others.I hear that they have also celebrated the world hijab day.so you cannot compare the two extremes in Pakistan.there definately are more in the middle not just in Pakistan but everywhere in the world.Yes this is another thing that extreme versions are noted more by the people and the middle talk is taken for granted so please dont be upset about it and from today start noticing people like yourself.

Harooon | 11 years ago | Reply Good blog

Nousheen | 11 years ago | Reply Great writing Saba....well actually I agree to your opinion, this extremist view at both sides is actually bringing a wrath to the society and causing a deterioration that knows no boundaries...the religious fanatics crying for the modernists to b hanged and the modernists yelling at the religious zealots to get lost somewhere, while both of them unrelated to creating and delivering anything positive to the world outside......if you're modernist you want to change your identity to that of west and forget that we do have one of our own identity to keep and maintain and if you are a religious fanatic you want to get into complete denial that the west does exist and we have to move along with our separate identification......

Midhat | 11 years ago | Reply Liberals( the Pakistani version: Leftist extremist might be the right word) find us regressive fools when we feel it unnecessary to bash religion all the time, and Rightwing extremist think of us ideology-less weak individuals who need to be dictated into accepting their rightwing thinking! Lets move to Mars! These leftist and Rightwingers will ultimatelty make it into a battleground!

Raheel | 11 years ago | Reply Yes I am one and I feel extremely lost. Saba, you are probably one of the wisest bloggers on Tribune.

Hassan | 11 years ago | Reply My thoughts precisely! I view myself as a centrist on most issues. People call me confused and dilly dallying but its not true. I cant view the world in a simple way. To understand the world we need to understand how complex such issues are. There is no one right way to do things and thats what people need to know.

Shuja Ul Islam | 11 years ago | Reply there are many...alot more than u can imagine.. but most of us are just standing,staring..n busy being confused or are lost in indulgence of life..!!

Hammad Asif | 11 years ago | Reply We as a nation tend to find solace in being on either of the groups.And to make matters worse we draw a line for the inbetweeners on the basis of level of their confusion and they end up getting the major share of the blame for present crisis.

Shireen Khan | 11 years ago | Reply I think thats the question of our time. In between the lines of Extremism, where does, as you say, the in-betweeners find themseleves. And just for the sake of general knowledge, I am one of the in-betweeners!

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ

Hello, any moderates out there?

More by this writer

FOLLOW US