After War

War has made both sides bonkers. It’s not as clean for your side as you think. And it’s not as ugly for the other side as you mock. But yes, it ended with Pakistan on top. And that’s how you rhyme in war.

I was reading Mehdi Hasan’s “Win Every Argument” when the war broke out. Honestly, we are nothing short of loud comedians ourselves.

Let’s start with Piers Morgan Show. Yes, the host has always been biased. He’s someone who thinks Ronaldo is better than Messi. His credibility goes down the gutter therein. What happened after his famous interview with Ronaldo before the FIFA World Cup 2022? And what happened afterwards? Messi.

So, what were you expecting? A host supporting you? All the settings in your favor? Then how could it have been a debate?

A real debater is the one who wins the arguments in a hostile environment. That environment was not even completely hostile. Yes, the other side had two idiots to represent India but what did we do?

First, let’s make an answer for one of the hardest questions for every future Pakistani debater on international platforms.

As Piers Morgan and Barkha Dutt asked Hina Rabbani Khar (and Mehdi Hasan asked her exactly the same question in 2015 and she deflected):

“Do you recognize certain outfits as terror organization?”

Hina Rabbani didn’t answer. She knew she had been asked this question before. She knew she would be asked again. And she is a politician, associated with foreign affairs. And she had 9 years to prepare an answer. Yet, she deflected.

Here’s an answer:

“Yes, we do recognize and ban organizations involved in terrorism. Pakistan has consistently acted against such groups – JeM and LeT were banned in 2002, Al-Qaeda in 2003, and TTP in 2008. We have conducted extensive counterterrorism operations, fulfilling our obligations under UN, and our efforts have been acknowledged by the FATF. Pakistan’s commitment to combating terrorism is firm and ongoing. We have paid the price with over 70,000 casualties. Do you think we are not serious? We believe that all countries must hold extremist actors accountable, and we urge others to demonstrate the same commitment – without exception.”

Now, if an Indian happens to be there in the debate – like in the Piers Morgan show – the answer would continue as:

“Having said that, what has India done? There was the Gujarat massacre in 2002, the Ajmer Dargah bombing in 2007, the Malegaon and Modasa blasts in 2008, the Odisha Assembly attack in 2001, and the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in 2021. Over 2,000 people have lost their lives in Babri Masjid demolition. Countless incidents of mob lynching and cow vigilantism have plagued India. Even sexual violence has been weaponized, as seen in the horrific Bilkis Bano case. These incidents are linked to individuals and groups affiliated with the RSS and BJP. And what has been India’s response? They elevated the Butcher of Gujarat to the office of Prime Minister – and then choose to question Pakistan.”  

But no. We had zero preparation.

Imagine knowing the exact question that will appear on the exam and still leaving it blank. That was Miss Hina Rabbani. Don’t praise the debaters just because you happen to be their countrymate.

Imagine Shashi Tharoor there instead of Barkha Dutt. Things would have been catastrophic.

Shehzad Ghias started low. The OBL response took him off guard. That’s fine. His comeback in the last five minutes was exceptionally good with cherry on top, with the last two words. Those last 5 minutes were the victorious part of the show for Pakistan. Only.

Still, we were lucky to escape that debate with their poorest presenters sent to fight the war. Just like they did in the dogfight, perhaps.

We mock their mainstream media accurately. But our own mainstream media is as pathetic, except we don’t shout like Arnab Goswami. We maintain a decorum of hypocrisy. We keep our one eye closed.

For example, exactly during the war days, people were killed in FATA. Who killed them? Why were they killed? Something? Anything? Nothing on mainstream media. In fact, social media filtered them out too because nobody wanted to see their backyard in jubilations. Why stink your media or timeline?

For us, the eastern border is everything and the western border is nothing. On one side, we cry about civilian casualties and on the other side we pile up dead bodies.

In the ugly Indian mainstream media, there were panelists who sat and analyzed their weaknesses. They talked about their losses. They criticized their government and military harshly. Did we see anything like that? No.

This jingoism has cost us a lot internally. A stupid enemy – yes, India – has hurt itself by poking the animal who got wounded by attacking its own tribe for decades. These war dramatics have covered up all our mess and the real perpetrators have gotten another blank cheque to perform at will.

YouTube can be your source of current affairs and documentaries, but it cannot be a source of learning. For that, you need to leave these podcasters, these shows, and these jokers. They all sell content even when they say “I am not asking you to subscribe” just make themselves a niche content creator. They are there for view and likes and subscribers.

Right now, they are all onto targeting each other with all the logical fallacies at display. But since the audience of herd likes it, everyone is in love with every YouTuber. In the comments section, praises are kept, and it looks like they are all loved even in insulting each other.

In her 1,000-page book “My Seditious Heart”, Arundhati Roy had written some in-depth and long articles. Those articles cover 2001 Parliament attack, the 2002 burning of the Sabarmati Express, and the 2007 bombing of the Samjhauta Express, the government of India announced that it has ‘clear and incontrovertible proof’ that the LeT did that. She proved with timelines, objective information, police record, and court hearings that none of them were proved as the Indian Government claimed.

She wrote: “In its judgment, the court acknowledged that there was no proof that Mohammad Afzal belonged to any terrorist group but went on to say, ‘The collective conscience of the society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded to the offender.’ Even today we don’t really know who the terrorists that attacked the Indian Parliament were and who they worked for.”

But since no one reads anymore and everyone is up to YouTubers who pretend to read twenty books a week – which is humanly impossible. Hence, no one in any debate or podcast quoted Roy. Or the wording of Indian Courts. Or something else. Everything has become all about instant rebuttals, personal attacks, one-liner-insults, and reactions.

Don’t get consumed. If you want to, then watch the opposing narratives too. And then analyze your own with open mind. [I too get consumed by tapping X or YouTube and then when you realize, half an hour is wasted already.]

Lastly, to the viral of mother of an Indian soldier tells everything. Her eyes had grief of an entire generation in a single stare. She did her job. Walked to the coffin. Touched the flowers. Pictured. But her son was tightly boxed and flag wrapped over it. Her son was never going to come and greet her ever again.

A mother here or a mother there; is a mother anywhere.

A widow here or a widow there is a widow.

A child who lost his father – in Pakistan or in India – is going to be fatherless for the rest of his/her life.

If these pains are not going to humanize us, nothing else will.

As Arundhati Roy said, “flags are bits of colored cloth that governments use first to shrink-wrap people’s brains and then as ceremonial shrouds to bury the dead.”

This whole war and its aftereffects are getting tiring day by day. Save your mind and your eyes and avoid this as it is becoming overconsumed junk now. Don’t trash yourself and make yourself busy doing what you were supposed to be actually doing.

And ‘speak the truth, even if your voice shakes’.