August 22, 2010

They got up one day, to Play Cricket...

Do they look like murderers and robbers to you?
Mughees and Muneeb. Two brothers murdered
for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If you believe in fate and destiny, you will believe that Hafiz Mughees and his brother Muneeb were murdered for some reason. It was a piece of puzzle that fell into place, in the larger scheme of things, to keep the world taking its course, like its taking it. You will say that their time was up, and they had to meet their Creator.

But regardless of whatever you believe in, you all agree (mostly), that there is no other, more barbaric way of dying. Not only that, there is no worse barbaric way of killing someone. By contrast, the water-boarding and torture by electrocution that the Americans are notoriously famous for, appears to be quite humane now. Then it begs the question that if Muslims in the holy month of Ramadan, when even the sinners slow down in their intents, can be so merciless and unbelievably brutal, how can they even begin to demand the Westerners to be kind to their suspects?

The social faux pas that took place demonstrates the vulnerability of the masses in dealing with their emotions, or quite simple, using their brains. Each one of us, the media, the state, the government, even the political systems in place, are somehow responsible for this murder. We because as citizens of this state we have never really cared for the norms, etiquette, rules, regulations that have been laid out for us to follow. Rules and regulations that allow us to define and experience a lifestyle that is different from that which is followed in the jungle.

The media that has glorified such incidents by giving wide-ranging coverage to the lynching of robbers and thugs in the past and accolading them by heaping praise on the mob behaviors. If you were to watch the gory video of the murder, you will hear how people are proudly saying that this "....video will run on Geo, InshaAllah!"

It appears as if the people making these videos there wanted a bit of stardom. Stardom at the expense of brutality, barbarianism, and viciousness. The state is responsible because it has failed, time and time again, to protect its citizens, its people. It has failed to deliver justice every time, and whenever justice has been delivered, it was already too late. Consequently, the people have started dishing out the mob justice which does not take into account any humanitarian aspects. Whenever citizens have asked for protection, the state has never been forthcoming. Quite unlike the new adage of the style that bespoke's a king, that is adapted for our mighty, beefy, vulgar rulers.

These very rulers have been instrumental in defining how to perpetuate wrong, and spread wrong. It is our government that has taught its citizens how to circumvent the laws and regulations that are instrumental in defining and identifying nations and their calibers. It is the government that has driven such a deep sense of deprivation amongst the people of the land, that now the government appears little more than a hoax to many.

But the chunk of glory goes to the police, who in all their world class professionalism once again demonstrated why the Pakistani police is the most despicable, vile, hated, crass, and despised police force in the world. They stood there, forming a cordon to let people take turns in murdering two innocents. Not only that, they provided an escort to the tractor-trolley that was parading the bodies of the victims on the streets of Sialkot. They stood their when the victims were dead, and let the crowd desecrate their bodies. I have still to find a greater example of shamelessness in the world's history.

Dawn.com in its editorial today mentioned that it would've been better if the Chief Justice had not remarked
What message have you (Police) sent out to the world? Nowhere in the world does police let citizens die on its watch
I disagree. We are shameless and we are the champions of double standards. All the time we're sitting back and pointing at the Westerners about how wrong they were, and how right we are. Well for a change, let them gloat at us and put us in our place. We deserve that. Every Pakistani with a little bit of self respect and shame deserves that.

Some "patriotic" Pakistanis claim to be hurt by my views. Well Sir, this is not a forum where I write to boost your self respect, your sense of patriotism, or your giant-ass ego. I write discourses on undisputed facts; reality. You may not like what I write, but you know what I write is true. You may not like what goes on in Pakistan, but the fact is that it does go in this land of the pure. The thing is, instead of telling me how you "wasted your time" when you visited The True Perspective, I would advise you to take a moment out of your "busy" schedule for a bit of self introspection. Sometimes you need to stop arguing for the sake of arguing. Sometimes, your silence does the talking.

There will many discussions on what could, or could not have been. Blames will be traded over the deaths of the two innocent young lives lost. People will start their days with profane words being said about our leaders, but the world will move on. Social scientists will try to explain our state of affairs, the police will say they will do better next time. People believing in fate and destiny will reiterate their views about how the Creator had decided it was time for the boys to be called home. Soon, we'll all forget who Hafiz Mughees and Muneeb were.

Just remember, they were two brothers, who got up one day to play cricket. They just didn't know it was their last.