Break the Silence
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By E Jayakrishnan, 14/04/2010
“We will plant Pakistan’s flag on Delhi’s Red Fort”Zaid Hamid has rock star status in Pakistan. He is fawned upon, venerated and even worshipped as the messiah who will lead Pakistan from the depths of hell. But music is not his forte. Wild and absurd conspiracy theories, real and imagined wrongs done to Pakistan and the Muslim world, and a rabid dislike nay hatred of all things Indian, American and Jewish are his calling cards.
His ultimate and stated goal: "To plant the flag of Pakistan on the Red Fort in Delhi" and to 'ensure that Pakistan inherits its rightful place at the helm of the Islamic world". Gems like these are strewn across the cyber world.
In TV studios, in public meetings, public blogs on the Web, and more recently in a series of lectures across Pakistan's universities titled "Wake Up Pakistan", quoting poet philosopher Allama Iqbal, Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah and Quranic texts, Hamid is one of a growing band of conspiracy theorists and demagogues in Pakistan. The list includes Farhat Hashmi, Aamir Liaqat, Ahmed Quraishi, Munawar Hussain, among others.
A leit motif of these band of 'broadcast jihadists' is a propensity to outsource the source of Pakistan's deep-set troubles and travails to a combination of Indian perfidy, American ambitions on Muslim lands (and oil), and Jewish designs in neutralising the 'only Muslim nuclear power in the world'. A deep-set feeling of victimhood and a strong desire to rollback and remedy the perceived 'historical wrongs' animate their discourse.
For them, 9/11 attack was a "Jewish conspiracy", 26/11 an "Indian drama" out to defame and defang Pakistan and its security establishment; a psycho war that the enemies have forged to paint Pakistan as 'Terrorism Central" with the ultimate aim of seizing its nuclear weapons and bring the "Islamic Republic" to its knees.
Sample this from Hamid: "(We are facing) persecution and threats at the hands of Zionist system, CIA, RAW, corrupt govt and political parties, terrorists of TTP, BLA and anti Pakistan separatists, sectarian religious extremists and secular liberal fascists!! We are honoured to have such galaxy of Kufr united against us. Alhamdulillah, we are hurting them and we shall live with dignity and die with honour and never betray Ummat-e-Rasul and Pakistan."
Or this from Ahmed Quraishi: "(Indians) forget that they people have by and large been the slaves of Pakistanis' ancestors who ruled the region for almost ten centuries, plus the almost two centuries that they spent under the British. Pakistan is a historical continuation and is no one's gift. But for the sake of argument, there would not be India today if not for the British, who made it possible by ending the reign of Muslim India, or Greater Pakistan. In contrast, Pakistan would still have existed, in some shape or form, as a continuation of a long history."
This is not to argue that conspiracy theorists and the rabid elements do not exist in other countries or societies. They undoubtedly do. The 'lunatic fringe' is no nation's or society's monopoly. But if they do exist, they do in the margins. But in Pakistan, it seems to have gone mainstream. Night in and night out, these evangelists are on TV spewing venom and their peculiar theories, to be lapped up by an increasingly receptive audience.
In fact, some of Pakistan's leading celebrities - Maria B (socialite and fashion designer) and Ali Azmat (lead vocalist of the iconic pop/rock band Junoon) have not only joined Hamid's "movement" but also are known to have underwritten his campaigns with funds. Even Imran Khan, the iconic cricketer but struggling politician, has not been immune to their charms of these conspiracy jihadists - appearing with them on TV shows and letting it be known that he was against the Pakistan army's actions in South Waziristan and instead advocating supping with the devil.
However, more disturbing is that other than the foreign elements, they have chosen to target 'democracy' as an ideal and as a system as one of the reasons for Pakistan's dithering on the verge of chaos. They are loath to make a demarcation between democracy as a tool and its practitioners.
Sample this from a prominent commentator: "Two Pakistani political parties, Mr Zardari's PPP and Mr Sharif's PML-N, both ironically created during the reigns of two different military rulers, are taking the nation for a ride in the name of democracy. Thanks to their non-performance in the past 19 months, Pakistan is staring at a huge national failure, from foreign policy to Gwadar. It is national decline... The worst part about our politicians is not their glaring ineptitude. It is the fact that their parties are so stifled there is no hope the ruling elite will expand its limited pool of talent to include a nation brimming with initiative and yearning for change".
A case of shooting the message as well as the messenger!
A 'pure' Islamic form of government, based on the Shariat, bolstered by the might of the 'magnificent' Pakistan army is touted as the panacea for all evils.
This is not to say that these conspiracy theorists have gone unchallenged. There is still enough courage and spirit in the Pakistan civil society and the media to take on these purveyors of hate and fear.
Human rights activist Asma Jehangir, columnists Ayaz Amir and Nadeem Paracha, among others, are increasingly and strenuously taking them on and pointing out the futility and absurdity of their so-called mission.
Writes Paracha, "TV personalities like Zaid Hamid and Aamir Liaquat, and politicians like Imran Khan and Munawar Hussan, are pegs of this new trend, mixing neo-traditionalist trappings of exhibitionistic piety, dress and claims with political discourses that may sound populist and radical, but in fact they are nothing more than the kind of reactionary and myopic mindset that sections of Pakistan's military establishment started being plagued with during the Afghan jihad under Zia and after. Today (Pakistani) society stands clearly polarised."
Pakistan and its society is once again at the crossroads!
“We will plant Pakistan’s flag on Delhi’s Red Fort”Zaid Hamid has rock star status in Pakistan. He is fawned upon, venerated and even worshipped as the messiah who will lead Pakistan from the depths of hell. But music is not his forte. Wild and absurd conspiracy theories, real and imagined wrongs done to Pakistan and the Muslim world, and a rabid dislike nay hatred of all things Indian, American and Jewish are his calling cards.
His ultimate and stated goal: "To plant the flag of Pakistan on the Red Fort in Delhi" and to 'ensure that Pakistan inherits its rightful place at the helm of the Islamic world". Gems like these are strewn across the cyber world.
In TV studios, in public meetings, public blogs on the Web, and more recently in a series of lectures across Pakistan's universities titled "Wake Up Pakistan", quoting poet philosopher Allama Iqbal, Quaid-e-Azam Jinnah and Quranic texts, Hamid is one of a growing band of conspiracy theorists and demagogues in Pakistan. The list includes Farhat Hashmi, Aamir Liaqat, Ahmed Quraishi, Munawar Hussain, among others.
A leit motif of these band of 'broadcast jihadists' is a propensity to outsource the source of Pakistan's deep-set troubles and travails to a combination of Indian perfidy, American ambitions on Muslim lands (and oil), and Jewish designs in neutralising the 'only Muslim nuclear power in the world'. A deep-set feeling of victimhood and a strong desire to rollback and remedy the perceived 'historical wrongs' animate their discourse.
For them, 9/11 attack was a "Jewish conspiracy", 26/11 an "Indian drama" out to defame and defang Pakistan and its security establishment; a psycho war that the enemies have forged to paint Pakistan as 'Terrorism Central" with the ultimate aim of seizing its nuclear weapons and bring the "Islamic Republic" to its knees.
Sample this from Hamid: "(We are facing) persecution and threats at the hands of Zionist system, CIA, RAW, corrupt govt and political parties, terrorists of TTP, BLA and anti Pakistan separatists, sectarian religious extremists and secular liberal fascists!! We are honoured to have such galaxy of Kufr united against us. Alhamdulillah, we are hurting them and we shall live with dignity and die with honour and never betray Ummat-e-Rasul and Pakistan."
Or this from Ahmed Quraishi: "(Indians) forget that they people have by and large been the slaves of Pakistanis' ancestors who ruled the region for almost ten centuries, plus the almost two centuries that they spent under the British. Pakistan is a historical continuation and is no one's gift. But for the sake of argument, there would not be India today if not for the British, who made it possible by ending the reign of Muslim India, or Greater Pakistan. In contrast, Pakistan would still have existed, in some shape or form, as a continuation of a long history."
This is not to argue that conspiracy theorists and the rabid elements do not exist in other countries or societies. They undoubtedly do. The 'lunatic fringe' is no nation's or society's monopoly. But if they do exist, they do in the margins. But in Pakistan, it seems to have gone mainstream. Night in and night out, these evangelists are on TV spewing venom and their peculiar theories, to be lapped up by an increasingly receptive audience.
In fact, some of Pakistan's leading celebrities - Maria B (socialite and fashion designer) and Ali Azmat (lead vocalist of the iconic pop/rock band Junoon) have not only joined Hamid's "movement" but also are known to have underwritten his campaigns with funds. Even Imran Khan, the iconic cricketer but struggling politician, has not been immune to their charms of these conspiracy jihadists - appearing with them on TV shows and letting it be known that he was against the Pakistan army's actions in South Waziristan and instead advocating supping with the devil.
However, more disturbing is that other than the foreign elements, they have chosen to target 'democracy' as an ideal and as a system as one of the reasons for Pakistan's dithering on the verge of chaos. They are loath to make a demarcation between democracy as a tool and its practitioners.
Sample this from a prominent commentator: "Two Pakistani political parties, Mr Zardari's PPP and Mr Sharif's PML-N, both ironically created during the reigns of two different military rulers, are taking the nation for a ride in the name of democracy. Thanks to their non-performance in the past 19 months, Pakistan is staring at a huge national failure, from foreign policy to Gwadar. It is national decline... The worst part about our politicians is not their glaring ineptitude. It is the fact that their parties are so stifled there is no hope the ruling elite will expand its limited pool of talent to include a nation brimming with initiative and yearning for change".
A case of shooting the message as well as the messenger!
A 'pure' Islamic form of government, based on the Shariat, bolstered by the might of the 'magnificent' Pakistan army is touted as the panacea for all evils.
This is not to say that these conspiracy theorists have gone unchallenged. There is still enough courage and spirit in the Pakistan civil society and the media to take on these purveyors of hate and fear.
Human rights activist Asma Jehangir, columnists Ayaz Amir and Nadeem Paracha, among others, are increasingly and strenuously taking them on and pointing out the futility and absurdity of their so-called mission.
Writes Paracha, "TV personalities like Zaid Hamid and Aamir Liaquat, and politicians like Imran Khan and Munawar Hussan, are pegs of this new trend, mixing neo-traditionalist trappings of exhibitionistic piety, dress and claims with political discourses that may sound populist and radical, but in fact they are nothing more than the kind of reactionary and myopic mindset that sections of Pakistan's military establishment started being plagued with during the Afghan jihad under Zia and after. Today (Pakistani) society stands clearly polarised."
Pakistan and its society is once again at the crossroads!
...just ignore him !!
He is a big Zaid Hamid groupie.
