SHYEMA SAJJAD - To hate thy neighbour
Just as I sat down to write this, a new notification popped up on my Facebook feed – a friend had liked a page called ‘I bet Pakistan can get one million fans before India’. Now this friend belongs to a lot that is affluent, foreign-educated and most likely may have had some Indian buddies while in college because who gets us better than a fellow South Asian when living abroad in the West. All that changes when you’re back home though – who better to hate than thy neighbour? Yes, the same neighbour we fought wars with, the same neighbour international wire agencies like to label as our “arch rival”, the same neighbour who has these days again taken prime seat as our enemy number one, while the US and Israel shuffle along on second and third place.
And for this achievement, along with giving credit to some of the politicians on both sides and their flawed policies, we must also praise the media on both sides. For nothing impacts people’s emotions faster than a clip on television showing the evil Indian media and how it is out to get us vulnerable Pakistanis – and vice versa of course.
In the past week, there has been much criticism on India’s ‘jingoistic media’ and how it lacked editorial ethics and responsibility during its coverage on the cross-border firing incidents – some of it deserving and some of it far-fetched. But while we point fingers across the television screens at our neighbour, we must remain alert about our own response as well. Where a large chunk of our media outlets have been praised for their mature reaction compared to their counterpart, some of our local channels couldn’t help flare up the issue further either. Evil India plus acts of aggression will obviously equate to wide interest, viewership and ratings. A recipe that could turn more disastrous than profitable in the long run. Both nations are nuclear powers - one hopes any media, person, institution or group that calls for war or even casually mentions it’s possibility, also realises the consequences of one in this day and age.
There are two ways to easily gather a crowd and a following in Pakistan - one way is to promote uniting for someone/something, the other way is to unite against someone/something – unfortunately, the latter strategy seems to work better than the former when it comes to our masses. Unite against a sect, unite against a minority, unite against an ideology, unite against the state, unite against a dictator, against a politician – against America, against Israel and most importantly, against India.
Well folks, we need to figure out which direction we want to walk towards then. We cannot be promoting dialogue between the two nations during the 6:00pm news and then preach hate sermons later at night during talk shows. If our media has collectively decided to be the more responsible one in this clash, then it should remain persistent instead of joining the war-mongering bandwagon. In a country plagued by disasters, poverty and corruption, people are either completely dejected or they are clouded enough to believe any conspiracy passed their way – anything to blame for their ill fortune. As responsible media outlets, let us not allow ourselves to use their vulnerability for our personal gains.
Stated in an editorial of Dawn yesterday were the following lines:
Some Indian commentators have been quick to repeat their condemnation of what they call Pakistan’s aggressive intent, depending by and large on Indian military feeds. On this side of the border, a number of theories are doing the rounds seeking to explain the Indian need to challenge Pakistan militarily at this moment, again without the facts.
Fortunately, the voices which are able to see war and war-mongering as more than a game to indulge in are stronger today than ever before. These voices mark the real progress that people in both Pakistan and India have made on the path to a peaceful resolution of the problems. They bring out the futility of war, of war-mongering, and have the capacity to be heard loud and clear over the thoughtless cries for violent ‘solutions’.
If Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is stating that instead of flare-ups and suspension of talks, what the two neighbours need is more dialogue and confidence building, our media should pick up on this – yes, it should ask questions, it should ask how but it should not pick up an argument in instances it has none. A tit for tat with the counterpart is no reason to brainwash millions into believing that all their troubles begin and end with India. Troubles exist with India and troubles exist internally too – as opposed to previous incidents of such sensitivity, let us emerge stronger this time and not toe the same line as before, or as those we oppose. The common man won’t gain from petty politics or war – why fill his mind with those notions when instead we could be uniting for some semblance of peace.
