Ever since Sharmeen
Obaid-Chinoy has won the Oscar, there have (as usual) been various
reactions from Pakistan.
I would be fair and say that uptil now most reactions have been positive, but slowly
various others have also surfaced, and many are hesitant to openly give her the
credit that she deserves. Whether or not the Academy Awards jury comprises a
bunch of people who belong to the consolidated status quo, the point is that in
order to reach that benchmark, it is a long, strenuous and difficult journey which
may or may not even lead to a nomination and SOC has won the award.
In her reception, she was well spoken, confident, and paid
tribute to the women of Pakistan
who are continually fighting to win over their daily oppression. Of course the two
women who are the voice in her film Saving
Face, have not only been oppressed and trampled. They have also been
victims of a heinous crime: acid
throwing after which their faces have been disfigured badly.
I have seen many such women during my reporting years spent
in Karachi
and it is indeed not an easy sight to behold. When a victim you talk to is
blind, because her eyes have dissolved away, she has no nose, her skin has
liquefied and frozen as if it was wax, and she is emotionally, psychologically,
and mentally so vulnerable, and so injured, that you feel as if your own
physical features are a luxury that you own.
It is a worse feeling when the acid victim dies.
One day she is lying on that hospital bed describing the
horrendous incident, and all events prior to the attack, resolving that she will
fight against it all. You go home somewhat relieved and even inspired that such
women still exist.
The next day, you find out that she has died.
If SOC chose to take up the story of two acid victims who had
lost their faces and were now being treated by a doctor who is restructuring
their faces to give them a ‘new life’, as the cliché goes, what is wrong with
that? It is a brilliant topic, journalistically speaking. If this film got the
Oscar, I am sure it was well deserved.
But alas for Pakistanis. They are never happy with anything.
On Facebook there have been a number of comments which are applauding the
Oscar. But since morning, I have been waiting for comments like “Look at the
clothes she is wearing while representing Pakistan”, “She has defamed the
country”, and “Why do we only want to show Pakistanis in a bad light aboard”. I
knew these were coming. And they did come.
First a gentleman said, “Before only Pakistanis knew that
women were being mistreated. Now the whole world knows.” A sad state indeed.
The mistreatment towards women should be hidden within our country. Why would
we want anyone to know of this? The issue might just get a few supporters from
abroad!
Then a member of the female sex opined that Sharmeen had won
at the expense of someone else. “Someone’s pain, another’s gain” she added to
the conversation with a sarcastic smile, or at least it seemed like a sarcastic
smile to me, even though I was on Facebook.
Her pearls of wisdom made me realize that this country in
fact, has nothing to contribute, in the name of social progression. When women
talk like this about people who stand up for women’s rights, its time to run
for it.
The first comment about the world being enlightened about the
mistreatment of women was a laugh, if one can manage to laugh and not puke with
disgust first. But my first reaction
was anger.
But I knew this line of thinking was the typical product of
a patriarchal society. The thinking goes along this line:
“domestic violence is a family matter and should be kept within the
confines of the house. That is why to the people who have the same mind set, it
is conclusive that “a country’s dirt should not be serenaded anywhere else.”
Why do people react like this?
What is wrong with them?
Is it impossible for the general public to understand that facts
are facts and they ought to be brought out in the front? That is the work of a
journalist: to tell the truth. But in a society where the sensationalist media
has taken the reigns in its hands, it would be strange if people don’t think
this way. It’s all about propaganda now thanks to Musharraf, in whose time spin
doctors began to throw about the expression, “soft image”. Today this nonsensical
cliché has stuck itself in everybody’s heads, and people repeat it like it’s
the solution to all our problems.
Which reminds me, Musharraf had the same kind of
“hide-the-dirty-linen” stance when it came to Mukhtaran Mai.
If washing your dirty linen in public is a bad idea then we
must learn to forgive Zardari, and Altaf Husain and Shahbaz Sharif, and
Zia-ul-Haq among others. Everything must be hushed up in case the “image” of
our holy land is marred. The award was a sad action for many because it showed
a negative image of the country.
That’s reasonable considering Pakistan
is a country full of joie de vivre, tolerance, and a place which gives its
citizens a ‘helluva’ good time.
Yet another complaint
is:
“If we show our bad side to the ‘goras’, we will easily get awards”.
But I’ll ignore that more or less. That’s basically just a
snide way of saying that SOC tried out the casting
couch to sell some poverty porn.
If that’s what you guys want to think it’s your opinion, but seriously…gimme a
break.
You think the Oscar jury is sitting there to award Sharmeen
Obaid Chinoy from Pakistan
an award? Oh please. You can do better than that. Next…
Funnily, no one has an objection if news packages play up
these issues everyday. It only becomes an issue when someone gets an Oscar for
it.
Not that those who want to promote a softer image are not encouraging
propaganda in themselves.
Seriously speaking the dishonesty starts from here when
people expect that ‘positive images’ are something that should be blindly
promoted.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not as if Pakistan
has nothing good to show. But when we make the argument of promoting positive
images, do we really CARE about those images ourselves?
We have zero tourism,
but we often show the topographical beauty of our land. We have no idea about
our regional cultures, yet we promote folk culture. The common citizen appears
to be all progressive and tolerant, yet that is exactly what we are not. Our
citizens are unequal. It is the rich,
Muslim man who is the strongest, and the poor, non-Muslim woman who is the most marginalized in our society.
Then WHAT should we promote as a positive image? Think about
it.
Getting back to the situation, what I’m now waiting for is
for someone to comment on her clothes and say that she is a ‘kaafir’, and that
this is not what “our culture” (Islam and Pakistan) teaches us, and that a
woman like that cant be the judge of anything.
I’m just seeing how long it takes before someone makes a Veena Malik out of her.
I am sorry to disappoint you Miss Jalil it was not sarcastic comment it is a fact. As a Pakistani living abroad and had worked for a non governmental organisation working for women's rights and still doing my share which I do not like talking about with people who have clogged minds. In your words "there is nothing positive about Pakistan" this has told me a lot about you as a journalist. I think people like me is not the problem of Pakistan it is negative people like you who are in media and keep feeding rotten food to the ordinary minds of the masses. A society hijacked by yellow journalism where news of Rape or sexual abuse is not highlighted because of the gross act against someone's person and spirit but because such a news sells these newspapers and brings monetary gains.
ReplyDeleteI love Mussarat Misbah, admire the work she is doing for these ladies giving them a life and keeping their spirits alive. But in case of Miss Chinoy I believe it is an honour for her as she got critically acknowledged for the documentary, absolutely well deserved but as a citizen I am ashamed and I am more ashamed of Pakistani media where being critically acclaimed and portraying a negative issue is taken as progression in their field. I am sorry but you do not need to comment on my mindset or my mentality as you do not know me again do your research first. I am also supporter of Mukhtara Mai though she has been negatively portrayed by the media. It is someone's gain someone's pain.
The perception which westerners have about Pakistan is Terrorist country, poverty ridden, no basic amenities given to the population, Child labour, Domestic violence, Human rights violation etc all negatives you can think about. Sadly people like you who are part of the media and supporting a certain class and their endeavours are to be blamed. P.S using the term the "Gora" instead of west is racist.
When people think the job of a journalist is to portray a country a certain way, that's when journalism dies. Journalists need to depict the truth, whether it's good or bad, harsh or not. And the minute a journalist sacrifices the truth for a personal agenda or the agenda of a country, he/she loses all integrity.
DeleteYou said, "The perception which westerners have about Pakistan is Terrorist country, poverty ridden, no basic amenities given to the population, Child labour, Domestic violence, Human rights violation etc all negatives you can think about." It surprises me that there are people in this country who think Pakistan's problems have more to do with the perceptions the West has, than these issues themselves. Why are we perceived like this? Because there's some level of truth to all of the issues you mentioned.
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy brought a problem that deserved way more attention than it gets, into the light. That makes her a hero to me.
your article assumes that SOC's detractors have no valid reason to do so apart from pointless pessimism. the fact is that the entire community of muslims in the world is facing problems, serious problems, based on stereotypes that chinoy's movies do not help at all. if her talent is great, good, congratulations to her, but that is irrelevant to the real-world practical consequences of what happens. the issue is not about recognition but true social benefit. the harms of perpetrating stereotypes and divisions in muslim countries - enhancing the idea that "liberals" like herself are the only one who ever rescue Islam from its "conservative scum" - that does more harm for many lives all over the world than the benefit cause by - perhaps - a few philanthropic souls who will take her film to heart and do something about acid burning in Pakistan. but we didn't need an oscar to do that. so go ahead, congratulate yourselves for something the rest of the world is laughing at and only picking on to make our collective lives worse. innocent men and women and children in the world are being massacred for doing little things like read the Quran, keeping beards, wearing the Hijab and the Niqab, because of the things that the likes of SOC says. Pregnant women are stabbed in public but people do nothing because "well, she was a Muslim"... It's not just about this particular documentary, it's the fact that this oscar brings her and all her other past and future works and ideas into the limelight. and it's funny how we're so impressed by ideas and organizations that are documented criminals anyway.
ReplyDeletebased on her previous works that will now receive recognition with her name, the divide between the "islamic-looking" people and the educated looking liberals will only be deepened, and this is harmful for everyone for two reasons:
1. muslims who try to practice islam are mistreated, imprisoned, tortured and what not and noone could care less, because they've been branded as scum, by stereotypes that are not challenged but enhanced by the works of people like SOC.
2. nonmuslims who're suffering and could have discovered islam and had their problems solved will not do so because they've been brainwashed that all things islamic=burqa=muslim=beard=turban etc are scum, and should be eradicated.
i'm not saying this based on her single oscar. i'm saying this based on her other works articles and interviews. if this was the only thing she'd ever done, i would hardly be that concerned.
we should definitely expose our problems and solve them. my only problem is why in front of everyone who rejoices in our troubles? especially those who need to see our troubles to take advantage of them and further their political agendas? SOC portrays only the liberals as enlightened saviors. if she accepted her oscars sporting a burqa for the event (NO I am not imposing a burqa on her - i'm talking about "sporting" it just for the event), if she did that i believe that would go a long way to women's liberation - raising the status of all of us, including the "Islamic minded" whose rights are trampled wherever we go.
if she got some art award in some place in brazil or something, i wouldn't mind... but if we get global publicity, it better be to our collective benefit and not harm. we should think beyond the fuzzy feelings of pride we get and look into the reality of our situation.
the argument that "she's exposing important problems" shows that you don't understand the point of our argument. of COURSE we should expose our problems, to ourSELVES, or people who will be sincere and will really help us! the acid victims could very well be helped by local awareness among local communities, it did not have to be an art product in the face of the rest of the world, as if they'd care.
@samreena: First of all, its kind of narcissictic to think that i was talking all this while about you, esp because in your answer yo have given your answer in a very subjective manner. Secondly, if you read properly, which I dont think you have since you were boiling with illogical rage, in my last paragraph I said "Don’t get me wrong. It’s not as if Pakistan has nothing good to show. But when we make the argument of promoting positive images, do we really CARE about those images ourselves?"
ReplyDeleteThirdly, I did not use the word goras myself, again if you read properly you would know that the word was in single quotes which means that was being used by someone else.
Fourth, by personally attacking me (something which I have not done to you, however you continously seem to think that I am) you are making an assumption that is unsupported by any fact that i endeavour to serve the interests of a certain class. First do you research then talk please. Thanks!
To Anonymous: It is extremely saddening to think that the only problem you feel is one which Muslims around the world feel. But since you do, it is strange to think that the last para of your complaint on my article is that we should expose our problems to OUrselves. In that case, ever country's problems are theirs, so the Muslims in the middle east, US, UK, or anywhere else are NOT our business either. Why dont we keep it that way, in fact, because we have many problems of our own, as a NATION, not as MUSLIMS, because 100 percent of this country is NOT MUSLIM. It might be heartbreaking to realise this but that is the sad truth. The world DOES comprise of other people of other religions too. Will you stand up for them? no. because if you had, their state would not be so bad in Pakistan.
ReplyDeleteAnother point: Muslims in my opinon have a lot of freedom but their issue is not freedom. This by the way includes many not ALL so please dont reply with statements like i havent done my research etc. The issue they have is to spread the religion and often times, it is by mental or psychological ways. I have no issues with hijabs or beards, but if these people come and tell me to follow their ways then im sorry i will boot them out bcs its not their business. I would also resort to saying that these people eventually ostracise and alienate the person who in THEIR eyes is an UNbeliever causing serious problems for them.
The world would be SO GOOD if everyone kept to themselves. Alas it is not so.
Next.
The "only" problem I feel? And you put that next to "Muslims around the world feel"... "Only" and "Muslims around the world" (being in the millions and from every corner of the planet) - those two things don't go together, my friend, in fact empirically these concerns are already much greater than yours.
DeleteBut your point is exactly why secularism has divided all of humanity, rendered us into cold and heartless icicles, and destroyed us.
Let me, if you will, clarify your misconceptions. Bear with me, and I request you to read through carefully, do NOT jump to conclusions.
The belief in Islam is as follows: God is the Creator, all if His Creation is His family, and so if we love Him, we are instructed to love His family. It is an uncalled-for presumption on your part to assume that caring about my fellow Muslim implies NOT caring about my fellow human non-Muslim. However, our Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon his kind soul) said that the entire Muslim Ummah is ONE FAMILY, so yes, to me as a Muslim, all Muslims are my family, so they all matter, from the Middle East to China to the North Pole. Further, charity starts at home, so unless you've fixed your own problems at home, you cannot assist the rest of the world. Once those are fixed and you're stable at home, of course you MUST make yourself available to assist the rest of the world, whether or NOT they believe in God, which is exactly how Islam has spread in some places in history - simply because those who obeyed the laws of God and not the divisive, narrow-minded secularism of man that that has enslaved us today, those people were a source to be reckoned with - gentle and protective to innocent civilians and strong against oppressive rulers - and so they were beckoned by other peoples to come and liberate them from their tyrannical leaders. To "liberate", not "take over", or "turn everyone Muslim". It is not for the Muslims to "take over", because in Islam there is no egotistic "taking over", because only God is King, humans can only be caliphs, ambassadors, and the best ambassadors of a people are those who're its most dedicated servants. And there's no "force conversion" because that's prohibited by God! Unlike the limited secular system which assigns itself supreme godhood by separating religion from state and consequently depriving all people of their human right to different religious ways of life - unlike this confinement, government in Islam according to Shariah insists that every religious community (eg christian, jewish, hindu, etc) is recognized and respected and each community may have its own court of law and is not subject to the Islamic court.
But I digress. The point is, even before our own problems are fixed at home, those who are non-muslims in our country are still our fellow citizens and their problems are ours too, and their human rights MUST be protected. As a Muslim, in the context of Pakistan, this translates to our social responsibility being towards all Muslims in the world and at home also our fellow non-Muslims. Where and how did anything I say even remotely imply otherwise?
DeleteThe rights of the non-Muslim are so severely protected in Islam that the Prophet (peace and blessings on his blessed soul, from which exuded the most refreshing breezes of liberation that today we are utterly starved of) stated something to the effect of: if a non-Muslim in a muslim land was abused, the Prophet (pbuh) himself would stand as a witness on the Day of Judgment against the Muslim abuser. (I'm not quoting him verbatim since I don't remember the exact source at this moment and my searching skills aren't great).
I quote you:
"Will you stand up for them? no." I'm appalled by your haste in conclusions and preconceived notions. You know nothing about me. No wonder you're so quick to defend SOC - you're quick to react emotionally to things without looking underneath the illusions, without actually searching for the facts, and are not too aware of some very serious problems.
So let me enlighten you on these problems, right after I address your other point - NATIONS.
This is a divisive and self-destructive concept, which is why the Prophet (SAW) instructed us *not* to revert to the backwardness of the pre-Islamic era, i.e. my tribe against your tribe, my race against yours, my nation against yours. Far more beautiful and dynamic is the idea that all humans are a family, and so all Muslims are one Ummah, one body whose veins (are supposed to) throb with the same blood and concern for one another. This most definitely does NOT imply that you don't love people outside the family, any more than the fact that someone is not my blood sister implies I should hate her. And sure! - we can all have our different colors and languages and cultures and names but Muslims aren't confined to nationalistic "boundaries", because Islam makes no such superficial discriminations, the only thing in Islam that sets one human apart from another is having a GOOD HEART, and how do you get a good heart? "You will not enter Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another." (Tirmidhi). That's right, knowing how to LOVE. And this love is not theoretical arm-chair discussion, it's supposed to translate into words and actions, such as standing up for the oppressed and voicing the truth even if some people's egos can't take it, whether those people are liberal or conservative or extreme or traditional any of the other artificial labels that we have come up with in order to divide ourselves (which I have unfortunately seen are highlighted in sharp relief in some of SOC's works).
So as I was saying, all that Islam makes a distinction about is a person's heart, not the kind of superficial things that we choose to discrimate people for in our own societies, like nationalities, or visas, or paychecks, or houses in DHA, or skin-color, or which school we went to, or being able to speak English, or number of twitter followers or countries traveled or having walked on a glamorous red carpet. And what a person's heart holds, only God knows, but some people do things openly, such as spread lies, so without questioning their intentions or hating them, and with full respect, it is our social responsibility, in the wider interests of those who are being destroyed by those lies, to inform people to stop lying.
Those who disagree with humanity being a family (which is the necessary corollary of the belief in One God), those who do not believe in Allah and are not Muslim, they may do whatever they like and splinter themselves into as many factions as they wish, that is their issue, but out of mutual goodwill and concern for their well-being, they too are invited to the family of Islam. Muslims are required to spread the message of peace and Paradise in the Hereafter because there are no prophets left to do so, as we are in the End Times, so the responsibility of communicating the message of God does indeed lie on the Muslims, as Allah says in the Quran, time and again and again and again - that it is our duty to promote what is good and try, if possible, to prevent what is not. Because "All it takes for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing", as a wise person once said. And there is a lot of evil to address, including sucking the blood of the poor via usury, preventing employment via unfair business and bribery, breaking happy marriages via miseducation and open promiscuity, men assuming they own women, and a lot of other problems that very often stem from deeply spirital and psychological problems. But spreading the message is not the same as forcing it to non-Muslims. So YES we tell it, and if you're not a Muslim you have every right to stay that way. But if you find your ego unable to accept that we *will* talk about Islam then please learn the meaning of "tolerance", because it's not as if Islam stops other people from talking about their religions. (let me take a short diversion here to remind you that i am talking about Islam and Shariah, not the utterly unislamic republic of pakistan, which is forever rebelling against its own constitution and abusing EVERYONE'S rights, muslim or non muslim, woman or man, young or old, poor or... oh yeah... the rich - they're the usually not very abused, because they're often the ones perpetrating the abuse, including via miseducation through the media - although a lot of people, knowingly and unknowingly, have become a part of this).
DeleteNow, onto the problems. Your stated opinion was incorrect, about Muslims having freedom and their "spreading Islam" being the real problem. I highlighted above why "spreading" it is not some egoistic concept in the first place but a social responsibilty for the benefit of everyone (if done properly and gently and effectively of course!). But the truth of the matter is that in fact many, many Muslims are being abused, violated, imprisoned, murdered, and detained for doing absolutely NOTHING except exercising their right to wear the clothes they want to wear, or exercising their right to obtain an Islamic education or learn Arabic, or offering classes (not going out and forcing Islam) but simply offering to teach Islam to those who would like to seek its knowledge, or forwarding constructive emails, or nothing. This is happening to entire communities and specific individuals throughout the world. This is being ALLOWED to happen by the people around them because the masses have been convinced that looking, acting, learning, or talking Islamic is necessarily backward or dangerous. There are instances when a person is assaulted in PUBLIC but noone could give a damn... because.. err... they look "Islamic"... you know, like the Taliban? So they deserve it. And now Hollywood has just informed us that Muslim men throw acid on their women, too. These mass misconception is shoved down our throats via the media, the foreign media and YES the local media. Don't believe me? Trace the money. See who's involved in which company, where the money flows, and be rational about it.
People have lost rationality and believe in what the media tells them without questinoing, and this applies to our own people in Pakistan, especially since the clear divide that has come about between the "liberals" and the "conservatives" after the suicide bombings and all this completely manufactured "extremism", which the likes of SOC have done a good job of hammering into our heads via her films and works. How many people are going to question her? Go to a real Madrasa? Travel to Swat and see things for themselves? I know people in Swat, I can tell you some of SOC's claims are just outright blatant lies, making you believe in things that are NOT true. Regardless of her intentions, which are between her and God, we are supposed to care about the consequences of her work, and whatever I've seen of her works are only continuing to propagate the stereotypes that are destroying our nation, dividing us further, and now with this Oscar, will fall in step with the rest of the foreign media that is ensuring that entire communities of innocents around the whole world be gradually reduced in the eyes of others to savage scum, something that ought to be disposed of. And so when they get imprisoned, jailed, bombed, massacred, drone-attacked, nobody cares, because it's good riddance. If you think what I'm saying is far-fetched, please read up on "psychological warfare", Nazi tactics, journalism, and behind-the-scenes of the media. It's happening in our backyard. If you have any concern for human rights, remember Muslims are human too... yeah, even the ones who cover up or wear beards or like to learn about Islam, no matter how much they might annoy you.
DeleteContinue to gloat over an Oscar if you will, but know that there are people who on an individual level are doing a lot of good within Pakistan's villages, addressing women's cases and educating responsibility amongst people, the only reason you don't hear about them is because they don't find it necessary to pick up a cause after being contacted by a foreign producer and getting advertised in Hollywood.
Also know that there are plenty of others who would like to conform to a broader perspective than SOC's, a perspective that's more inclusive of all people in the world, including acid victims, muslims, and non-muslims. This is in accordance with the guidance of Allah, who tells us to use our intellect, be rational, be skeptical, and not run away with sensationalism, like a red carpet or a supposed Islamic extremism knocking at our door to devour us.
"Do not follow that of which you have no knowledge. Surely the hearing, the sight, the heart - each of these shall be called to account." (Quran:17:36)
Delete"Believers, if one who publicly commits sins brings you any news, ascertain its truthfulness carefully, lest you harm people through ignorance and then regret what you have done." (Quran:49:6)
And this is why I love Allah. Unlike the isolation promoted by secularism, He insists on social responsibility, He reminds us that we are active agents of life, and that forwarding an email or promoting anything WILL have its consequences, so we better know everything about what we're doing before we do it, and not assume that how millions of people in the world feel is irrelevant in the face of one glittering Oscar, especially just because those millions of people are Muslims.
Alas, the world is in the state that it is today PRECISELY because we selfishly keep to ourselves.
Any mistakes I made are mine, and anything that was correct was from Allah. I hope you didn't mind anything said. I hope you got my point. But regardless, I rest my case. There are healthier avenues to spend my energies than be disturbed by the hypnotized masses of pakistanis applauding an oscar that we have very likely bought only with the price of more innocent blood.
Peace.
PS. before someone misunderstands my comments - i'm not saying men throwing acid on women in pakistan is a "misconception", it's a fact and it must be stopped. i just have a problem with its being dealt with in a way that is likely to promote greater harm than local benefit, and felt it important to focus on those harms - because we're so oblivious of them.
ReplyDeleteby the way, read about the media and Hollywood that we're so proud to get recognition from:
http://vigilantcitizen.com/latestnews/actor-corey-feldman-says-pedophilia-no-1-problem-for-child-stars-video/
http://vigilantcitizen.com/vigilantreport/mind-control-theories-and-techniques-used-by-mass-media/