Passing The Buck

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Passing The Buck

Urooj Janjua August 25, 2010


Right after watching the two teenage brothers being lynched in Sialkot, with all the inhuman egging on and ogling by the bystanders, which peppered the blows meted out to the poor kids at the hands of the brutal, savage countrymen of mine (and I use the word “men” very loosely here), and the policestanding at the edge, making sure the circle around the "tamaashaa*" did not get too small for the blows to be ineffective, my first reaction was horror, soon thereafter anger swept in with a host of expletives coming out of my mouth for the next 2 hours. Then I calmed down and I thought, who would we blame this time around? Where exactly would the buck be forwarded in this scenario?

You see, in Pakistan, we always love to pass the buck. When some non-Muslim is murdered, it is because he was guilty of blasphemy against our "peaceful" religion (as is evident by the actions of its followers); pass the buck on to the "emotional, Prophet loving" Muslims of Pakistan, who could not control their emotions. Of course, the fact that all of us know the premise was a lie is beside the point. When our society produces mass murderers in the shape of the suicide bombers, we calmly pass the buck on to the US and its war on terror; it is causing frustration in these people, see, and this is how they seek to end it: by blowing people up to smithereens. When Qadiyaanis are killed in cold-blood we look the other way; it’s not us, we say, it’s those damn Taliban inspired fringe elements of our society that want to destabilise us, and, thus, the buck is passed once again.

As long as we are not made to confront the reality, we are pretty happy people. The ostrich has nothing on us, nor the pigeon. But who do we blame now? This incident in Sialkot – is it a Zionist attempt to malign us Muslims? Or was it carried out by the Indian RAW? Or did the Taliban come all the way from Afghanistan to kill the brothers because they did not follow the former’s specific brand of Islam? Or was it a minority religious group getting back at Muslims for all we’ve done to them over the years, by lynching a Hafiz-e-Qur’an and his brother with him?

Intrigued, I went on to various blogs and websites, to see the commentary by our “public” and know what they thought about it. It was quite evident to me from the start that at least this time around we would not find a scapegoat that easily, but I was quite bitter – though not surprised – to learn that the citizenry of Pakistan was trying to pass the buck yet again. Everyone was going on about how this kind of stuff happens everywhere, one going on a tirade about rape facts and figures of the US. Seriously? Yes, I told myself, seriously!

We will not take responsibility for this action, rather we will smile a caustic smile and say “this happens everywhere” and then calmly go about our daily lives and, thus, distance ourselves from it all. I am sure the mother of the two lynched brothers does not find solace in the fact that other parts of the world hold mothers just as unfortunate and bereaved as her. But of course, who cares? As long as we don’t get to take responsibility, we’re pretty much “down with it.”

However, try as they might – and they are trying very hard as is evident by one of the arrested murderer’s (I am sorry, I will not say “accused” because the video clearly shows him beating the kids to a bloody pulp) statement that the police told them to do it, apparently it is okay to behave worse than an animal if someone in dark grey uniform tells you it is so – this time around there is NO passing of the buck; you, I, we, all of us, are responsible for what happened in Sialkot. Had this happened any place else in Pakistan, I am sure we would have seen the exact same thing, with minor or major dialect differences in the blood-thirsty cheers of the mob, of course.

So now, ladies and gentlemen, we are caught in a quandary; we are stuck with the buck, and we simply cannot pass it on. What do we do, now? Do we prove, once again, that we are part of the mob in Sialkot, in spirit though not in body, and, with evident self satisfaction, say “It happens everywhere.”? Or do we, now, finally, act like a nation and step up and take responsibility for this? Who amongst us would come forward and say “these were my countrymen who did this, and I, being part of the same country/society, am responsible”? Who here is ashamed of being a Pakistani today? The answers to these questions, sadly, as is evident from the commentary of the people all over the internet are: nothing, yes, no, nobody, no one.

It saddens me beyond words, but such is the state of affairs of our country, and such are the “men” of our society. It is a sad day, indeed, for me at least, because as far as I am concerned, I can never hold my head up high when I say “I’m Pakistani” and never defend my own countrymen, or myself for that matter. Until the day comes when most, if not all, of us claim responsibility for the moral degradation of our society, we can never regain our lost dignity (it has been lost for quite a long time now, and I am about to lose the vestige of hope that I’ve been stubbornly clinging on to re it’s regaining).

So, until then, let us be true Pakistani and truer Muslims still, and keep passing the buck; after all, it is right next to ogling women and acting holier-than-thou in the list of our national pastimes.

Chowk: Comment: Passing The Buck