Maya Khan and the Size of My Bermuda Shorts
If there's a perfect example of the genre 'truly perverted comedy', this video is it. One can only watch and cringe with shame as this huge mob went about administering un-asked for justice to whichever hapless victim happened to come within their clutches; leaving stunned ones in their wake. See, I don't want to resort to clich�d retorts, so I won't. But surely a topic such as lack of parks in Karachi would've been more interesting? Or perhaps lack of trees in the city? Instead, National TV fare in this case was reduced from pressing issues to moral Maya-carthyism.
Pakistan has problems; big, big problems: problems of the existential sort. The sort that can only momentarily be forgotten by walking in a park with ones beloved, worldly troubles left outside its gates. Or can they? For a number of couples, a cool January morning in 2012 will go down in infamy as the day when an innocent or otherwise stroll in the Park turned into a terror-mela. A Mongol horde of 'vigil-aunties' descended upon a bunch of confused kids, demanding information on their marital status and associated topics.
Personally, I'm relieved that this heaving-with-a-life-of-its-own organism kept it kosher, and didn't ask any of the men to take their pants off and show their bits to prove they're Muslims.
The latter, a short saga (pun intended), began as I was applying for different schools after my O-levels. I show up outside the gates ready to hand in the documents, nervous at the size of the crowd because that just meant more competition, only to be stopped by the gatekeeper. (Very politely) I was told that I could not enter the gates to hand in the forms, as my clothing was not appropriate.
Honestly, my jhabra just fell out; not at the poor chowkidar who was merely following orders (do you know that every Nazi at the Nuremburg trial also used that excuse, to no avail?), but at the cheek and mindset of the school administration. Even my doting mommy will admit my legs are not a pretty sight, but surely they won't radically disrupt an admissions procedure, nay?
And like some lady who shows up at a majority burka-posh event in a sleeveless, I unconsciously tried to cover my nakedness. What a baptism on the boundaries of attire! Sleeveless in most countries is meant to denote the physical state of a dress. Pakistan is one of the wahid places where it used to signify the moral box one belongs to.
Are these all warning signs; portents of some bleak Talibanized future? Has mediaeval confessionalism and over-bidding of holiness insidiously weaved itself into the fabric of Pakistani psyche and society? If recent events evidenced by the ongoing extremist backlash that spares neither minister nor miskeen are anything to go by, 'tis seems we're on a fast track towards a theocratic dystopia.
Personally though, I think that's a load of oonth-gober.
Firstly, Geo politically-wise, unlike in the case of poor torn to shreds Afghanistan we don't have a scheming neighbor intent upon fulfilling military fantasies of strategic depth by letting loose highly reactionary proxy militias. The top masters of our security establishment would never tolerate the same medicine being administered on themselves. But what if this bulwark were compromised from within.? A topic for another day!
Secondly, and more importantly, the Pakistani public in general would themselves never tolerate it. Despite the variations, it is my strong belief that Pakistanis are inherently liberal. When was the last time religious parties won anything of significance anywhere?
Methinks the skewing of this perception is more a legacy of religious experimenting of our ruling lords rather than some conscious desire on part of the public. The fact that one of our biggest benefactors, and therefore influence, is a more posh version of the Taliban probably feeds this further.
In my opinion, one should not begrudge the right of someone to be religious, or even show outward signs of it. Don't we the liberalized, secularized groups flaunt our credentials outwards and inwardly? I wouldn't (and don't!) appreciate any policing of my attire and legally bounded behaviour. But there cannot be a hegemony of narrative or morality.
While culturally diverse, Pakistanis have internalized a set of self-enforced boundaries, that wouldn't be much different from our (contrary to popular belief) equally socially conservative neighbour India. Perhaps we should leave it at that?
Despite this success in putting a full stop to the aforementioned inquisition, borne on the outrage of Pakistanis, the going is still long. While the self-righteous hypocrisy of us elites knows no bounds (taxes anybody?), the liberal segment should be heartened at this principled victory. These last few years have been punctuated with scant little to celebrate. This should give us real, and not Obama-esque, hope, and cause to push back this onslaught of self-righteousness.
Furthermore, let our outrage extend not only towards personal but social issues too. Same volume, same fury. If this protest partaken by the upper classes resonated so powerfully within large segments of the population, let us turn our ire towards ourselves too. We have plenty of contribution to societal malaise, and addressing it would go a long way in removing misunderstandings.
Else, non-issues such as the permissible size of shorts will constitute as legitimate concerns and threaten to take a dominant hold on the public's imagination, while real ones (taxes, Taxes, TAXES!) are relegated.
On a side, but no less important note: the czars at Samaa tv have decided to get rid of Ms. Maya Khan as well as her entire team. I'm not sure of the level of responsibility and culpability, but it would be another tragedy if innocent bread earners on that team are thrown on the street due to this other form of extremism, especially due to no fault of their own. maya khan samaa www.pakpositive.com