Mumtaz Qadri’s execution on 29th February was a
net positive. For once the judicial system delivered and he was held accountable
for his crime. It shows that despite support for a murderer, he is, and should
be treated as, a murderer.
What has happened since isn’t all that though. That a large
number of people treated Qadri as a hero and launched protests was expected. As
was the turnout for his funeral. So the shock over that was a little bemusing; his
execution was a big deal precisely because he had this support.
Yet more than the shock over the numbers that turned out,
the surprise over the idea of it was, more bemusing? There was indignant
outrage over the fact that people - mullahs, uneducated idiots, religious nutters,
seminary students, etc. - openly support a murderer. Yeah. That people
can support murderers caused considerable doom and gloom, not to mention anger.
Pakistanis have a special talent for overlooking irony, especially journalists.
Mustafa
Kamal’s tell some press conference a couple of days ago explained why that
was nauseatingly hypocritical. Sub nauseatingly hypocritical for more bemusing.
Since when is support of murderers an alien concept, especially for
journalists?
Whenever the truth is spoken about the MQM, many pillars of
clarity in the media react like they were Mufti Naeem and somebody had said we
have a rape problem. Straight to the foreign agenda, in this case the “script”,
coupled with ad hominem quips and a vague, deliberately false reference to lack
of proof when knowing that most cases go unreported, with an even more abysmal
conviction rate.
Yet Mufti Naeem isn’t as suave and I am pretty sure that his
explanations wouldn’t tally as closely with a rapists’, as these journalists’
do with the mass murderers. It’s like the editorials and MQM press
releases are written on the same desk.
A more important distinction is that while a Mufti Naeem
does his best to convince you that rapes aren’t an issue – DAWN’s editorial
on the subject makes no mention of the fact the MQM commits mass murder, does
not mention killings at all actually, not even in passing – he wouldn't go on TV to
bat for a particular rapist.
Again. A very important distinction. Not just apologia, not just
obfuscation, not just misdirection; support for the perpetrator.
Have you seen a Mullah come on TV and tell you that rapists
actually have a nice personality? Or write in an Op-Ed that rapists have some progressive
values? Vote for the rapists to strengthen democracy? Rapists are the bulwarks
against terrorism?
Yet that is the prescription from the, I think “rational” is
the self-anointed badge now, section of the media. The mass murdering terrorist
organization in Karachi is openly supported, championed by people in the media (Dishonourable
mention: Nadeem F Paracha). We are told it is the bulwark against terrorism, of
all things, liberal hope and shits rainbows.
Even by 2012, target killings in Karachi had killed roughly
the same number of people as all of the suicide bombings & drone attacks
combined, combined, in Pakistan’s history. Target killers, convicted target
killers, have been arrested literally from MQM’s headquarters. Many of the same
people that support the mass murdering MQM often take to writing dramatic,
emotional details of the atrocities they want to highlight in order to spur a
reaction. Although that largely works, they are among the target audience here
and since they don’t actually give a shit about human life, going into the
details would largely be redundant.
Which brings us to the propaganda job journalists do for
this mass murdering entity. No matter what happens, they keep telling people
that actually nothing has happened. If an MQM member confesses to security
agencies, they will tell you it was under duress. If he confesses to the media,
it’s the script. If he confesses to the Scotland Yard.. screenplay perhaps? Supreme
Court ruling; well there’s a lot of extremism in the country. Convicted and
convicts captured from the bloody headquarters of the party; Musharraf was a
supporter of RAW then?
There’s denial because it’s deliberate. There’s side
tracking because it is intentional. There’s no intellectual honesty here
because people who wilfully support mass murder aren’t looking for an honest
dialogue.
This is an invaluable service these journalists provide to
MQM. Misdirection, diversion, intellectual dishonesty and plain lying help
maintain legitimacy for MQM. A terrorist organization that shoots elderly women in the face,
cuts people up from limb to limb or burns them alive for extortion is continually
presented as a viable political entity. It has a mandate, and so many admirable
qualities that it should be accommodated in the political system.
You could say but it already has support of the people, well
as did Mumtaz Qadri. As did Malik Ishaque, who wasn’t even convicted despite killing
a lesser number of witnesses. Should they be viable stakeholders? Do votes give
a right to murder? Do elections results bring back the dead? Would it be okay
for DAWN to say the Nazis had a “well-earned
reputation for strong-arm tactics” but they did improve the economy and
were “popular” so… you know..
Guess who would encourage a soft corner for the Nazis as the
bulwark against…. say communism?
Hint: Rhymes with foebbels.
People vote for MQM because of ethnic identity, ideological
leanings, death threats, illegal patronage or self-interest and make their
peace with its mass murder. They are supporting mass murderers because there’s
a contract where they get something in return. That does not however mean that
it is not a mass murdering terrorist organization. It is. The same way the
Nazis were. Malik Ishaque. Mumtaz Qadri.
The good thing again
is that Mumtaz Qadri paid for his crime, and people who support him were called
out for it. Supporters of a murderer; how disgusting. Revolting. Sickening.
Repugnant. You get the idea.
It would be nice if these MQM supporting journalists &
media people, who ironically take pride in facing “fascist” trolls on social
media, were confronted for being supporters of a mass murderer who is the
closest thing to Adolf Hitler in this part of the world.
