Adil Najam
PIA print advertisement from the 1960s (Originally uploaded by PakPositive.com which is a blog that highlights the positives aspects of Pakistan).
Let me continue with the ‘Image Pakistan’ theme in choosing the picture for today. I find this advert for PIA absolutely fascinating; both for what it says about how PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) saw itself and how it saw Pakistan (or wanted Pakistan to be seen).
Was this the reality of Pakistan before theso-called ‘darhi wallahs’ took center stage? Or was this ‘image’ of Pakistan as much out-of-sync with the reality of what was Pakistan then, as the image of the bearded-gun-totting-bomb- throwing-jihadi-Pakistani is today?
Speaking of ‘image’ and ‘brand’ the Association of Pakistani Professionals (AOPP) has recently launched an initiative on the subject and held a thoughtful and thought-provoking event on he subject in New York on June 3. I was asked to moderate part of the program, and found the discussion to be mature, reasoned and reasonable–something we should have more of.
why do we have to imagine just one Pakistan. we have 160 million people, they can have various ideas, various attitudes, various priorities. the question is whether we can imagine a Pakistan that is for all Pakistanis and for all the visions they have for themselves and their country
YES. Those who live in a society should follow the norms of society. EXACTLY. That is the definition of liberalism. So, on that point we agree. In fact, those who live in a society should not only follow the norms of society. They should SET those norms. That is the question. What are those norms, who sets them and how.
Is anyone suggesting that we should force risque dress, or controversial books, or racy shows, or whatever “down the throats of people.” Indeed, liberalism is the exact opposite of that. i.e., that we should NOT force things down people’s throats. The ‘forccing down peoples throat’ is coming from the other side. The debate here is simple. Should a few (whether they have darhis or not) dictate on others what they do and what they wear, or should people make that choice themselves (whatever the choice might be; bikini or burqa, shorts and shalwars). My vote is to be with the liberal side. To let people decide themselves what they do and what they don’t. I will support as vigorously the right of someone to wear a headscarf in France if she so wishes, as I would her right to wear a tank top in Karachi if she so wishes. It is the hypocrites who will support her right to do the one (whichever ) but not the other that I oppose. So, yes, I am a liberal. And a practicing Muslim. And, since when has liberalism become the opposite of Islam? And, no, there is no contradiction between the two.
salam alaikum all
Arshad hits it spot on when he writes that you have to respect the norms of the society you live in. I am what you would call a recovering liberal. What some friends here fail to realise is that except for the previous 2 or 3 generations, all Muslims and especially those in undivided India took pride in their Islamic culture and heritage and deemed it as a suitable guidline for ordering their lives. Something which worked for 1200 out of 1400 years! Sir Syed Ahmed Khan did his bit, but he only created an elitist entity at Aligarh, which he honestly admitted was his goal. To be a confessed liberal in Pakistan today is to take a dishonest philosophical position.
Those of us who have recieved a western education are just an aberrent tiny majority in a nation of 160 million. we are not comfortable in our own skin, confused as to which world to embrace, while the majority are rural and lacking even primary education. I mean when you are leading a hand to mouth existence without education, healthcare, or economic livelihood, would you care if it was Ayb khan’s liberalism, Bhutto’s socialism or the current ‘moderate enlightenment’ that put food on your table?
Yes we watch the racy TV shows, read the controversial books and appreciate the risque art that comes with a western lifestyle and maybe even yearn to replicate that in our own lives, but that is a personal choice. We cannot force it down the throats of people who find it objectionable. Stereotyping all religiously observant people as mullahs and ‘daarhi walas’ is not very liberal or tolerant now is it?
A case in point being the Pakistani-American doctors who famously visited Israel recently on a peace mission. We all know what happened there when they did not meet the Palestinian elected representatives. I mean here was something which even the State of Pakistan had the spine to stick to a position for the odd 50 years and which had popular support, but all undone because a bunch of greedy doctors wanted to please their jewish friends back in the US. what right had they to speak for the rest of us?!?!
Which brings us to the whole problem with Liberalism. On one hand we want unfettered freedom to indulge our whims and fancies, but yet we still insist on the right to talk down to everyone else because they are too incompetent or uneducated to know what they really want. That sounds like cultural fascism to me.
Mr. Zain Imran is welcome to come down to Beach Avenue (sea view) in his cute shorts and while he may not bring traffic to a standstill, he WILL be the focus of attention, which he should gracefully accept. This would be akin to a young woman walking on the famous nude beach in Pqaris ( which is no more) being harrased because she is wearing a hijab.
As for the PIA ad which started this discussion, someone above has mentioned that it would only be seen by a few urban folks at the time it came out. For everyone’s information there are currently numerous billboards and print ads appearing here that are even more risque, but i dont think any newspaper office has been sujected to arson on that count. Things may be different in Peshawar or Quetta, but not in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Multan, Faisalabad et all. Sadly in our part of the world we DO equate a woman’s liberation as the freedom to reveal more skin, which transalates into the freedom to make yourself a sex object
In my opinion Arshad has got it spot on when he says that when you live in a society, you have to follow its norms. I am what you could call a recovering liberal. To be a confessed liberal in Pakistan is simply a dishonest phiosophical position to take. What some of our friends here fail to realise is that barring the last two or three generations, most Muslims in undivided India were proud of their Islamic culture and heritage and deemed it sufficient as a guidline on how to order their lives.
We are just an aberrent minority who are disoriented by the western education that we have recieved, not comfortable in either skin. A tiny speck in a country of 150 million!! The majority of Pakistanis are rural and lacking in even primary education. Asking them to be liberal is just clutching at straws when your foremost priority is surviving in a hand to mouth kind of impoverished existence. Do they care if its Ayub Khan’s liberalism, Bhutto’s socialism or the current ‘moderate enlightenment’ that is putting food on their table?
Yes we may view the racy TV shows, read the controversial books and appreciate the risque art, and may secretly long to replicate that in our own lives, but that is simply a private affair. we cannot ram it down the throats of people who find it objectionable. The whole problem with a liberal outlook of life is that while we want unfettered freedom to indulge in our whims and fancies, we also insist on talking down to the less enlightened as they are too incompetent to know what they really need.
Specifically in response to equating tank tops with nudity, Mr. Zain Imran is welcome to come down to the Beach Avenue (sea view) and wear his cute shorts. While he may not bring traffic to a standstill, yes he will recieve more than his share of attention from the public and he should gracefully accept their difference of opinion. This would be the same as some young woman walking on the famous nude beach in Paris (that is no more) being hassled if she was wearing a hijab.
Dunno why every such pic,ad,film,phrase or what ever ignites an uncontrollable fire over personal liberty and religious responsibilty.
If one thinks that it is one’s responsibility to strip her of her tank top then go on do it.Stop all such things without infringing rights of others,distroying property or being unreasonable.
And if you wanna model you too go on have your way.
Bottomline:do good and dont do bad