If you want to save your girls, save your boys

Imagine, an entire gender (women) is raised having a fear of the other gender (men). Imagine, an entire gender (women) is raised on the caution to be wary of the other gender (men). Imagine, an entire gender (women) is hated and wronged for centuries by the other gender (men). Imagine, an entire gender (women) to be sufferers, victims and collateral damage at the hands of the other gender (men). Imagine, generations of generations (women) living an unfair and inferior life just because of their gender.

Stare at a woman because how dare she is visible. Rape a woman because how dare she is out in public. Grope her because how dare she does not wear the clothes according to the set codes. Burn her with acid because how dare she rejects a marriage proposal. Kill her because how dare she chooses to marry by her choice. Beat her because how dare she questions a man’s actions.

Any form of violence is primarily an expression of power and sense of superiority. Similarly, the violence on women also comes from men’s sense of power and supremacy. From harassment to rape to domestic violence to honour killing, it’s men’s way to express that they have absolute power on women, their bodies and their lives and they have a right to treat them as they please.

Instead of teaching women retaliation, they have always been made accustomed to all kind of atrocities and taught to remain habitually silent and for a large part of their lives, they kept believing that this is the norm, this is the course of life, this is how men are, it is normal and talking about it is a matter of personal shame. This flawed belief convinced women to remain silent and tolerate every kind of physical and sexual abuse and resultantly, their silence widened the space for men and emboldened them to perpetuate their wrong conduct.

The centuries-old ideology of misogyny has had witnessed its dark moments but, this recent mindset-in-vogue that attributes harassment and rape to women’s clothing puts both sanity and humanity to shame. Besides that, it has also reaffirmed the fact that, as a society, our sense of (religious and social) morality and honour is misplaced. It never gets hurt by the actual evils that contaminate our social fabric but, it always gets offended by a trivial and harmless thing like the clothing of a woman.

The clothing is merely a way of covering the body as per one’s choice. It is not a symbol of religiosity or transgression, piety or impiety, oppression or liberation, conservatism or liberalism, a measure of one’s character and an invitation and excuse for encroachment on someone’s body and infliction of any kind of inappropriate behaviour.

The choice of clothing is strictly a personal matter which makes it not the business of the state, any authority or any individual to measure or control the size or design of a woman’s dress especially when the imposition of such restrictions are attached to a motive of protecting women from sexual abuse. Because by dictating the code of clothing especially as a safety measure to protect an individual from sexual assault, it not only deprives the person of his/her right to his/her body, it also clearly sends the message that if the decreed size and design of clothes are not donned, the felons are free and justified to harass or molest one and the victim will be fully responsible for any kind of ‘indecent act’.

Imagine men being told to wear gowns, grow a beard and wear a cap; imagine ordaining them to quit wearing jeans, T-shirts and shorts; imagine them being ogled, groped and molested because women get provoked by their dressing and visibility; imagine men being told that it’s their fault that they have been raped or harassed because they weren’t properly dressed.

Merely because of their gender, men have never been denied a right; their clothing never faced any objection; they never experienced the fear of going out alone; they are never pawed, raped, cat-called, acid-attacked, beaten and killed because of their gender. So, there is little to expect from a breed that has lived a privileged life, remained a brute and doesn’t know the meaning of being a victim.

Women in Pakistan are ‘sufficiently’ and very ‘appropriately’ dressed, yet if women are asked to cover themselves when they are already covered because men get provoked by their bare face, feet and hands, we know that the problem lies elsewhere.

The truth is that only a pervert gets provoked by the dressing of a woman. So, the men who think and demand that women should wrap themselves in layers of clothes because men get provoked and premise their demand on religious teachings are the men that need to be put in a bedlam or thrown in a dungeon as these are the men whose existence is a threat to the safety of women since bringing up of religion as a preventive tool is fundamentally flawed because a pervert has no religion, a harasser has no religion, a rapist has no religion. It is a cultural, behavioural and psychological disorder that no amount of clothes can cure.

The problem doesn’t lie with the clothes, the skirt, the sleeveless top, the scarf, the hijab (veil). Women’s ‘proper clothing’ can’t heal the repulsive disease that lies deep in the heads of men because men have an inbuilt supernatural talent to x-ray women’s bodies with the rays that can traverse through layers and layers of covers. No size and amount of piece of cloth can save a woman from sexual assault. The only thing that will stop predators is stopping them through intimidation and deterrence and fearlessness of woman which will come from giving our daughters confidence instead of chaadar because that they already have.

If the potential-victims of sexual assault are continued to be sermonized about the methods to evade assaults instead of nabbing the predators and reforming the mindset that fuels and justifies rape and harassment, it will not only keep their lives perpetually endangered but, it will also eternize the long-reigning culture of victim-blaming.

The protection for women lies not in submission but in retaliation, not in receding but reclaiming the space that has always been denied to them. The solution to having a protective society for our daughters doesn’t lie in clothing but in empowering them and making them fearless, in teaching them to stare back vigorously and drain out the perennial sickness and unbridled lust, to call men out instead of leaving their ground and to refuse to submit to problematic and regressive views of society.

Women must stand up for themselves and should stop themselves from being told to wear ‘proper clothes’ to escape men’s nefarious and odious intentions. It’s time that the advocacy for personal freedom and mutual respect is voiced valiantly. The dream of a safe society for our daughters and their daughters can’t bear fruition just by covering them and hiding them inside the homes.

For centuries, women are taught ‘what to do’ and ‘what not to do’ to escape men’s inappropriate behaviour. The truth is, all this investment was made in the wrong place. About time we understand that if we want to save our girls, we need to start saving our boys by teaching them the right behaviour.

Sheema Mehkar
December 2, 2019.

P.S. Published in Daily Times [December 4, 2019]
https://dailytimes.com.pk/512438/if-you-want-to-save-your-girls-save-your-boys/

Birth of Indian Fascist State and Annexation of Kashmir: Challenges faced by Pakistan

Every society has its dark side. But when its members make it to roads to defend a rapist, we know it has reduced to an ugly, hopeless place inhabited by conscienceless souls.

In January 2018, an 8-year-old Kashmiri-Muslim girl named Asifa Bano was ganged raped for four days and later strangled to death in a Hindu Temple in Kathua district of Jammu & Kashmir by a Hindu priest and local police officers. Upon the arrest of eight accused (Hindu) rapists, the members of right-wing Hindu groups along with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders rampaged through the cities defending the accused and threatening to set themselves ablaze if the accused rapists are not released. It was later revealed in an investigative report that the prime motive behind this premeditated act of terror was to intimidate and drive out the Muslim community of Bakarwals from the region.

The incident was the culmination of a state-endorsed systematic hate campaign against the Muslim community in India. The hate that has now dehumanized a vast majority of Indians.

The annexation of Jammu & Kashmir – the only Muslim majority state in India – through the scrapping of article 370 can be attributed (by India) to other reasons but the fundamental and ulterior objective behind this unlawful constitutional amendment by BJP is to accomplish its political ambition of turning India into a Hindutva state.

Hindutva also called as Hindu Nationalism, is an ideology that advocates the political, social and cultural hegemony of Hindus and the establishment of a Hindu state with little or no place for minorities. The core institution of Hindutva has been the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS): a right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organization widely regarded as the parent organization of the BJP. RSS – whose founding fathers MS Golwalkar and VD Savarkar admired Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini and advocated the replication of their ideologies of fascism and ethnic cleansing in India – is infamously known for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, the demolition of Babri Masjid and 2002-Gujarat Riots – a gruesome massacre of the Muslim population – under the watch and patronization of Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat and the current Prime Minister of India.

On August 5, 2019, the BJP acting upon its 2019 election manifesto stripped Jammu & Kashmir of its special autonomous status and split the State into two Union Territories i.e. Ladakh and Jammu & Kashmir opening the gateways for the non-resident (Hindu) population of India to settle, buy properties and secure local jobs in the valley. It was a giant step towards the execution of a nefarious plan of methodologically changing the demography of the valley to gradually and formally integrate it to India.

It is nearly two months now since the eight million Kashmiris are caged in their homes by the world’s largest democracy with a complete communication and internet blackout fearing the fierce backlash over its cowardly and cruel act of unilaterally deciding the fate of millions of people and illegally usurping their land and rights. Amidst the inundation of the valley with 900,000 Indian soldiers and inhuman curfew, the brave Kashmiris have been managing to come out sporadically on the streets to protest against this Indian atrocity and betrayal chanting ‘We Want Freedom’ and ‘Go India, Go Back’ while defying pellet-guns, baton charge, tear gas and chilli grenades.

The thing with silence is that it can’t be silenced. The voice echoes louder when it is suppressed and the chains on the mouths become loudspeakers. While India is brazenly building up a fallacious narrative about ‘normalcy’ in Kashmir, the human rights abuses in a curfew-choked and concertina-wires adorned valley dance with all their might resonating some ghastly and chilling tales of illegal detentions of political leaders; arbitrary abductions of thousands of young men including teenagers and children; violence and torture; harassment and molestation of women; ransacking of homes; and blindness and killings of innocent Kashmiris due to pellet-gunshots and tear gas.

In the wake of this alarming situation in Kashmir, the challenges faced by Pakistan are bigger than they appear on the prima facie.

Narendra Modi and BJP leaders are a product of RSS, an organization that believes in Hindu supremacy and ethnic cleansing of Muslims, Christians, Dalits and other minorities from India. Under the incumbent government of India, the world is witnessing the practical demonstration and execution of this ideology as the lynching of minorities, particularly of Muslims, has become a national hobby that enjoys the tacit approval of the Indian state and Indian denizens at large.

It is fathomable that when mobs are on a rampage to lynch anyone who goes against the populist belief, it’s difficult and costly (and might be asinine as well) to act brave but Indians’ collective silence on usurpation of someone’s land and rights reeks more of a consent than cowardice; the consent of their country becoming a Hindutva state. There is no display of even a semblance of resentment and empathy in India against this grave injustice done to Kashmiris. Although there are few empathic and protesting voices, their number simply pales into insignificance. The prime reason for this silence is solely one: Kashmiris are Muslims.

It appears that India has gone bereft of any concept of human rights and all the secular, liberal and progressive voices along with the human rights activists have suddenly vanished from the country. The deafening silence and large-scale passivity of Indians regarding the organized national campaign of persecution and lynching of minorities in India and now the human rights violations in Kashmir have shredded the ‘secular’ image of India into pieces.

In the last few years, world has not just seen the rise of Narendra Modi, it has also witnessed the birth of Indian fascist state. The ramification of having a fascist as the country’s leader is that he converts his people into fascists. The fascism has now seeped into India’s social fabric and has penetrated in the system of its populace to the extent that there is no space left for the language of sanity and tolerance in India. Narendra Modi’s ideology of Hindutva and fascism has led to the escalation of unbridled religious intolerance and communal hatred to the point that now an inhuman cruelty like rape – that too of a minor girl – is defended as a justified act of barbarity against a religious minority and the rapists are hailed as heroes.

Pakistan is not only confronted with a regime whose political ideology regards extermination and expulsion of minorities as its core tenant, but it is confronted with a nation whose vast majority deems violence against its communities as a noble act, a symbol of patriotism, a service to the nation and a source of religious and spiritual contentment.

While there is nothing Pakistan can do to undo the indoctrination of Indians at the hands of Narendra Modi, which poses a huge threat not only to Pakistan but to India itself, there is a lot Pakistan can do at the diplomatic and legal fronts to mitigate the danger that hovers over two countries.

The crude truth is that the world belongs to the powerful. Its bias never tilts towards the weak especially if their religion is Islam. Contrary to the initial sentiment when the annexation of Kashmir appeared to be a great setback for Pakistan as it was feared that in the presence of biased, indifferent and impotent international organizations, it was less likely that Pakistan’s protest and voice against this transgression will be heard especially when it is already fighting to revive its dismal economic and diplomatic image internationally. But as time progressed, it divulged that Pakistan has a strong case against India as it has flouted not only its constitution but also multiple international laws internationalizing the Kashmir dispute.

The abrogation of article 370 annuls the ‘Instrument of Accession’ as it clearly violates its clause 5) which declares that the terms of the deed are invariable and cannot be changed by amending any law/act; clause 6) that categorically bars India from making any law related to acquisition of land and forbids government of India from purchasing land in the state of Kashmir; and clause 7) under which the state of Kashmir cannot be compelled to accept any future Constitution of India. The annulment of ‘Instrument of Accession’ tears apart India’s claim of Kashmir’s (sham) accession and completes India’s journey from occupation to annexation and colonization of Kashmir. Besides that, India has also violated the UN Security Council Resolution 47 as it reneges on its pledge of plebiscite; the Geneva Convention IV (1949) that forbids the occupying power from deporting or transferring parts of its civilian population into the territory it occupies; and the Shimla agreement, 1972 that prohibits the unilateral alteration to the status quo of Kashmir until the final solution of the dispute is reached.

Against the belief of BJP government, these infringements of international laws by India came as a blessing in disguise for the people of Kashmir as it strengthens their case at the global stage.

While Imran Khan – the prime minister of Pakistan – receives some flak at home as his party’s performance during the first year of government doesn’t inspire much applause, his performance at the foreign front, so far, has been stellar. He has not only revived and revitalized Pakistan’s foreign relations but his conduct while dealing with the belligerent and hawkish neighbour on the east was that of a true statesman.

From aspiring to establish friendly and peaceful relations with India to emerging as a pacifist – but certainly, not an appeaser – despite the retaliation by Pakistan to an Indian airstrike during the brief conflict between the two hostile neighbours in February earlier this year, his demeanour remained an admirable display of maturity and sagacity.

But things took quite a turn when India annexed Kashmir and all the little hopes of peace between the two arch-rivals waned. Imran Khan, who is a brand in himself and whose words carry both weight and impact globally, has gotten into an aggressive and relentless mode and took the bull by the horns as India misinterpreted his peace overtures as a weakness.

As a first step, Imran Khan came at the front foot and played a masterstroke by equating Narendra Modi with Adolf Hitler and BJP with the Nazi Party. It has caused a lethal blow to Narendra Modi’s revived image from that of a butcher of Gujarat to India’s next Dalai Lama. One label and it was all undone and just like that, in a blink of an eye, Narendra Modi is once again recognized as an Islamophobic bigot, fascist and an extremist but this time by the larger audience. Imran Khan has awarded Narendra Modi an epithet that will haunt him for the rest of his life and even after his demise.

Imran Khan has resolutely owned the Kashmir cause as he has declared himself the ambassador of Kashmir and vowed to fight for the Kashmiris at every forum possible. In an endeavour of carrying forward his mission, he has successfully mobilized his countrymen and rejuvenated their passion for the Kashmir cause besides fervently engaging with the international community and sensitizing the world regarding India’s state terrorism in the valley. These earnest efforts have brought Pakistan a few diplomatic triumphs that included 1) UN Security council’s exclusive session on Kashmir after 54 years declaring it a ‘bilateral issue’ and not an internal matter of India; 2) The repeated offers of mediation by the US President, Donald Trump to resolve the decades-long conflict between the two countries; and 3) Issuance of a joint statement by over 50 countries at the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) urging India to cease human rights violations in Kashmir, demanding the establishment of a UN Commission of Inquiry to investigate egregious human rights violations and asking for a peaceful resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute through the implementation of the UNSC resolutions.

The biggest feat, however, came during the recent week-long US visit of Imran Khan where he has knocked out India in the battle of narratives with a speech that will be remembered by the world as one of the greatest speeches made in the times of crisis.  It was quite remarkable the way Imran Khan, in a span of  just seven days, has shaken the prejudices of the world against Islam, shredded world’s flawed perspective about war on terror, raised Pakistan from diplomatic irrelevance to an emerging world player and foregrounded Kashmir issue at the global stage making it a focal point of discourse at the UN headquarters. It was heartening to see Pakistan rising as a star on the global landscape as the persona of Imran Khan was creating its magic.

It was a delightful and pride-inducing sight that a man from the Muslim world stood up for justice and humanity and spoke as an empath who cautioned the world against the looming bloodshed in Kashmir while showing the courage and resolve to fight till the end if his country is faced with the war. In his crowning moment, Imran Khan has unveiled the true face of India and its rulers as disciples of RSS-Nazi ideology, sensitized the world about Indian atrocities in Kashmir and successfully shaken the conscience of the world to choose between the ‘appeasement and humanity’. To say the least, Imran Khan has truly honoured his role of ‘Ambassador of Kashmir’ now leaving the responsibility on the shoulders of UN, who have pledged to Kashmiris the ‘right of self-determination’, and the world to ‘take action’.

The solution to Kashmir conflict is inevitable. If not today, then someday, and someday sooner. Because, if the issue of Kashmir prolongs and it is not resolved peacefully, it will lead South Asia to become a hub of radicalization, insurgency, terrorism, conflict and unrest making future of the region dreadful and bleak and bringing grave consequences for the entire world.

One can sit across a fool and still hope to succeed in talking some sense into him, if not that, then at least at infusing some empathy. But there is no such hope while negotiating with a man blinded by narcissism, sense of superiority, hatred and bigotry. Narendra Modi is one such man and when such men make it to the position of power, they lead the world to destruction.

So, while a small man casts a big shadow on the subcontinent and two nuclear countries stand face to face, the future of billions of people lingers between uncertainty and fear.

Sheema Mehkar
September 30, 2019.

P.S. Published in Daily Times [October 1, 2019]
https://dailytimes.com.pk/476010/birth-of-indian-fascist-state-and-annexation-of-kashmir-challenges-faced-by-pakistan/

Sindh needs Bilawal

Tragedies are believed to soften the hearts and induce empathy. In the land of Sindh, however, tragedies seem to evoke numbness and apathy.

In the last four and a half years, two thousand five hundred and sixty-two children – mostly under the age of five – have gone into the mouth of death in Tharparkarparkar. The catastrophe that began with famine transformed into an unmitigated carnage due to the sheer incompetence and callousness of the Sindh government that has been in power, uninterruptedly, for over a decade now. The carnage that was unleashed on the people of Tharparkar continues to kill the children till date and this massacre has claimed the lives of 326 children in 2014, 398 in 2015, 497 in 2016, 450 in 2017 and 505 in 2018. The indifference was so enormous that while the squeezed kids were leaving the laps of their mothers, Qaim Ali Shah (the then Chief Minister, Sindh) during his visit to the unfortunate district was witnessed enjoying the lavish buffet lunch along with his ministers one of whom trivialized the deaths by calling them insignificant and a ‘routine thing’. There was not even an urge to feign the concern for the poor children of Tharparkar and sadly, nothing in the approach of Sindh government has changed till today which is evident from the fact that 386 kids have died in Tharparkar, so far, in 2019.

The multi-dimensional plight that engulfed Tharparkar was a direct fall out of protracted myopia, negligence and indifference covered over the decades. First, due to the recurring droughts and famine, the large population of Tharparkar is destitute and has a meagre source of earning. Second, the people of Tharparkar are faced with acute food insecurity and have limited access to the basic requirement of food intake. Three, mothers-to-be don’t have an adequate diet which results in the birth of underweight babies with the weak immune system which exposes them to fatal diseases. Fourth, the dismal condition of health facilities in the area worsen the woes of the inhabitants of Tharparkar with the presence of just one public hospital in district’s headquarter, Mithi to cater the needs of 1.65million people. Hence, the nexus of all these evils has been swallowing the children mercilessly.

Amidst the prevalence of such a sad state of affairs in Sindh, the outbreak of a life-threatening disease can’t be less than a nightmare. This time the victims are the children of Ratodero, a small town in the neighbourhood of Garhi Khuda Bakhsh and a capital of district Larkana’s Tehsil Ratodero Taluka, the birthplace of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. The geographical location of the town is tragically ironic.

According to the latest statistics, 830 people in Ratodero out of which 685 are children – mostly between 1 to 5 years of age – were tested positive for HIV. It is a virus which if left untreated leads to AIDS, a syndrome that weakens the immune system eventually allowing the life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive and the only way of survival is a life-long reliance on Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) which is too costly for the poor to afford.

Although the accused paediatrician, Dr. Muzaffar Ghangro, has been apprehended for the reckless usage of virus-infected syringes periling the lives of so many, holding him responsible for this atrocity will tantamount to scapegoating him for the criminal negligence of the authorities responsible for the provision of health facilities in the area which are either non-existent or are in abysmal condition.

Though the overall health care system in Pakistan is the absolute pits, that of rural Sindh narrates a haunting tale. For the population of 224,665 people, Taluka Headquarter Hospital (THQ Hospital) is the only – 30 bed – public hospital in Ratodera with no treatment centre for children in the area. Larkana, the hometown of Bhuttos, is the most affected area by HIV in Sindh with more than 2,400 patients of AIDS. People, mostly children, are dying on a daily basis in Thatta, Umerkot and Tharparkar due to malnutrition and ailments like hepatitis, malaria, dengue, thalassemia and many other diseases. Thatta is at a verge of Thalassemia epidemic, where more than 200 children have already lost their lives, yet there is not a single thalassemia centre in the district to provide treatment. This is just a small glimpse of the misery people of Sindh have been subjected to.

The lack of public health facilities in rural Sindh that include acute shortage of hospitals; dispensaries and laboratories; specialist doctors and surgeons; nursing, medical and management staff; medicines and state-of-the-art machinery/equipment have led to the widespread of unlicensed private clinics, dispensaries, laboratories and blood banks mostly run by quacks. It is a murderous healthcare system that is taking more lives than it is saving and with towns and towns turning into hubs of chronic diseases – under an 11-year long regime – it is not difficult to conclude that something somewhere has gone horribly wrong.

And that something is Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

A party that was once recognized as a ‘party of poor’ today serves as a perfect case study for the organized corruption in the garb of politics. PPP has used the ‘Bhutto and BB card’ as a permit to loot and plunder this country and exploited the political power to fill their bank accounts. The parasitic leadership of PPP has defiled the insane love of Sindhis for Bhuttos and in the name of ‘roti, kapra aur makaan’, it has given them graveyards of children.

The people of Sindh – who felt orphaned, for long, after the demise of their beloved leader Benazir Bhutto – found hope in Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and saw him as a cure to their endless worries. However, that hope – though still intact – has not morphed into a balm that could provide a panacea for the sufferings of hapless people of Sindh.

The vintage negligence of PPP which was expected to end after Bilawal’s take-over of the party affairs, unfortunately, persists. While the PPP’s misplaced focus is costing precious lives in Sindh, it also shows Bilawal and his party’s disconnect with the ground realities.

Pakistan has changed, for good. While many of its flaws linger, the nation has become largely averse to corruption. Yet, the denial and delusion that PPP chooses to live in and its failure to see that the space for corruption and corruption-apologists is narrowing fast is baffling. PPP is failing to fathom that it’s 2019 and with all the political awakening, Pakistanis don’t endorse someone’s inheritance of a political party through a piece of paper as a qualification enough for him/her to pose as their rightful leader or having born in a certain family or bearing a certain surname gives anyone the right to rule them.

Before Bilawal poses himself as a future leader and savior of Pakistan, he needs to turn back and look at the abandoned, hunger-filled and haunted eyes staring and screaming at him that more than democracy, lives of those stricken with the disease he brushed off as not a ‘death sentence’ are in danger as it has already claimed 20 lives – including a 2 years toddler – while the vast majority battling this debilitating disease dread ostracization owing to the stigma attached to it; that rescuing those dying in Tharparkar, Thatta, Umerkot and Larkna is nobler than pursuing the political wranglings and that pulling out his own people from the pits of misery will only elevate him as a true leader and will redeem and revive PPP.

Today, Sindh needs a messiah. Those who are hungry need food, those who are sick need health and rehabilitation, those who are illiterate need education, those who have been abandoned and uncared for – for long – need to be owned and taken care of. Sindh needs Bilawal, the rest of the country can wait.

Time entails for Bilawal to carve his own road to travel and give up walking on the footsteps of his predecessors as that path only leads to perdition. It’s time for him to realize that one doesn’t embark on a mission of saving the kingdom when one’s backyard burns.

Sheema Mehkar
July 3, 2019.

P.S. Published in Daily Times [July 5, 2019]
https://dailytimes.com.pk/424606/sindh-needs-bilawal/

Post-Pulwama Conflict: Pakistan has knocked India down and out

You can’t fool all the people all the time and certainly not in 2019.

With each passing day, the Pulwama attack is being exposed as an indigenous act of barbarism purely carried out by the powers who wanted to gain political mileage for Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in general and Narendra Modi in particular.

The tremors of a suicide bomb that jolted Pulwama, Indian Occupied Kashmir, had pulled out all the rottenness that was lurking in every corner of India.

It took just a few days for the veil of secular India to fall and what emerged from beneath was quite grotesque. Apart from few sane minds, the entire population of India including artists, sportsmen, academicians, poets, politicians, analysts and journalists stood naked and the bigot, warmonger, jingoist and hawk in them crawled out of their embellished cloaks.

The indoctrination of Indians by Narendra Modi appeared complete.

Narendra Modi has raised the crop of human beings on hatred, religious fanaticism, bigotry, warmongering and jingoism. Now, as the time has arrived to reap the crop, it’s burning down India into ashes with the flames reaching its neighbours.

The ramifications of electing an ‘extremist’ and a ‘murderer’ as country’s ruler is that he converts his people into extremists and murderers and this was witnessed when Pulwama attack activated the passive extremist in Indians that rampaged through the streets assaulting Kashmiris and violently forcing them to prove their loyalty to India by chanting ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ meanwhile the xenophobic anchors were seen provoking Indian eminences to toe the line of jingoism.

A sudden wave of war hysteria had engulfed entire India propelling Indians to behave like an army of warmongers whose perception of war appeared to be caged in Bollywood movies and the visual graphics of Arnab Goswami’s news show. Intoxicated by its flawed sense of superiority, India decided to act as a judge, jury and executioner and implicated Pakistan – within few minutes of Pulwama attack – as the perpetrator and dared to teach it a lesson by ‘ghus ke marein ge’ until that sense of superiority was crushed by a crow and few trees and the bubble of ignorance and arrogance that Indians were living in, for long, was burst to leave India bruised with mortification.

The only logical conclusion of this warmongering by the large population in India is that Indians have not seen the flesh of their children, mothers, fathers scattered on the road and blood of their loved ones flowing on the streets. Pakistanis have seen it, mourned it and grieved it. Pakistanis know what war entails. Indians don’t. Pakistanis know the value of human life. Indians don’t.

When IAF’s pilot, Wing-Commander Abhinandan Varthaman – who was captured and released by Pakistan Army after his plane was shot down – was walking back into his country, he was taking with him the defeat of India on the diplomatic, moral and military fronts along with the humiliation which was too palpable to ignore. The surgical strikes done by Pakistan were more than just through jets. Pakistan has wounded India richly enough that the bleeding will take ages to cease.

Last three weeks have been a defining moment for Imran Khan, his government and Pakistan Army. A unified display of patience, prudence and diplomatic and military prowess have won Pakistan global plaudits and reshaped the image of Pakistan that has been mauled for long. The perception game that, otherwise, would have taken a little longer was won by Pakistan comprehensively in the first round.

The unconditional release of Wing-Commander Abhinandan Varthaman by the State of Pakistan is a gesture that history will remember as an act of greatness and nobility where a statesman had chosen peace over war, humanity over inhumanity, his country over his power and his people over his ego and saved the bloodshed of billions of innocent people.

While Imran Khan has globally emerged as a pacifist and a humanist, Narendra Modi has emerged as a warmonger and a bigoted maniac. While Imran Khan has reaffirmed himself to be a leader, Narendra Modi has reestablished himself to be just another petty politician. While Imran Khan has proved to be a big man in a big office, Narendra Modi has proved to be a small man in a big office.

Furthermore, it was pride-inducing to see Pakistanis, with their demeanour, emerging victorious as a nation out of this uncalled-for conflict. The post-Pulwama conflict has drawn a clear dichotomy between the two nations where India has proved to be a big country with small people having smaller hearts and Pakistan has proved to be a small country with big people having bigger hearts. Pakistanis defeated warmongering with peace-mongering, hatred with compassion, pettiness with generosity, bitterness with humour and abuse with memes.

It was, indeed, a stunning portrayal of a resilient nation smiling in the face of a possible war.

The Pulwama attack is proving to be a multi-dimensional eye-opener for the people of India. Where it has brought danger to the lives of 1.5 billion people, it has also brought with itself a much-needed opportunity for the Indians to drop the blinders of delusion and reestablish its lost contact with the reality.

About time, India sheds its senseless delusion and embrace the reality that’s staring it right in the face because much to the disappointment of Indians, the nuclear holocaust they have been craving ain’t happening or ain’t happening as they have seen on their silver screens. So, more than the destruction of Pakistan, Indians should worry about the implosion that is fast beckoning.

About time, Indians understand that war is not an Ajay Devgan’s flick where he would go and kill Pakistani soldiers and gloat over it. In real life, Ajay Devgan’s plane can be shot down, he can be captured and then land in the enemy’s army mess enjoying tea worth MiG-21.

About time, Indians begin to activate their dormant brain cells and apply them scrutinizing the senseless myths and lies the Indian media brazenly propagates that have been debunked and mocked globally bringing epic humiliation to their country.

About time, India understands that the way Narendra Modi has resorted to brinkmanship and put on line the lives of his own soldiers and jeopardized the lives of billions of people for mere an electoral win has dispelled all the doubts, if there were any, that Narendra Modi is currently the biggest national, regional and global threat.

About time, Indians realize that Narendra Modi is a poison. It is fast permeating India and damaging its foundations. Those slain, raped and burnt alive in Gujarat were Indians first and Muslims later. A fascist will stay a fascist. An extremist will stay an extremist. A bigot will stay a bigot. A warmonger will stay a warmonger. And a butcher will stay a butcher. Indians must vote him out or this poison will eat up the entire region.

About time, India stops behaving like a petulant child crying for something it can’t have. Pakistan is not a toy, it’s a wolf that will chew anything that will come its way.

About time, India should step down from its false sense of superiority and give up its chest-thumping. Pakistan is not an underdog that India can dictate, dominate or bully. It is a lion that will tear its enemy into shreds if tried to be messed with.

About time, India realizes that Kashmir is a time ticking bomb and the only way to diffuse it is to act upon the United Nations Security Council Resolution 47.

About time, Indians understand that the best time to disown Narendra Modi was 2014, the second best time is now.

About time, India wakes up and stops the monster that Narendra Modi so mutinously created from coming home.

About time, India comprehends that peace is the way to progression and war is the way to the stone-age.

Sheema Mehkar
March 7, 2019.

P.S. Published in Daily Times [March 13, 2019]
https://dailytimes.com.pk/364556/post-pulwama-conflict-pakistan-has-knocked-india-down-and-out/