Self-serving Pakistani armchair critics excessively engage in Pakistan bashing instead of working within the community as internal critics. Such is their case, that even progressive, vegan, and LGBTQ Muslim groups, who are at the edge of progressive issues, have distanced themselves from their toxicity. Of course, such folks are welcomed on Indian TV channels where they are projected as the “noble savage” and as the only “enlightened” individuals from Pakistan. It is self-aggrandising on foreign platforms that comes at the expense of selling out one’s own nation, whose interest one is supposed to serve.
This self-centredness is somewhat reminiscent of Dafydd from the comedy show Little Britain, who presents himself as the “only gay in the village”. Similarly, for those who grew up with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe in 1980s, would know of Stinkor. His back story was explored in the 2002 remake of the show in the episode ‘Out of the Past’. His true name was revealed as Odiphus, who as a young boy betrayed his own village by siding with the invading warlord. His character would later go on to become Stinkor, whose power is that of a foul stench from which even he is not immune as he wears a mask. This character is representative of those who engage in selling out their own nation.
Indians that usually rail against internal critics like Arundhati Roy, hail such people. In contrast, they engage in inanities and charges of “anti-nationalism” against their own countrymen.
Such is also the case for some non-resident Pakistanis in the West who take every opportunity to bash the nation from the comfort of their privileged lives. They adopt these uber woke narratives against the founder Quaid-e-Azam and the separation from India. But it is all about their pet peeves and rants instead of something constructive to uplift those who are truly oppressed.
For their part, Indians that usually rail against internal critics like Arundhati Roy, hail such people. In contrast, they engage in inanities and charges of “anti-nationalism” against their own countrymen. For instance, they have been on a rampage that Aamir Khan failed to salute the flag in the show KBC even as he stood up, or that Shahrukh Khan was wearing shoes while hoisting the Indian flag even as he was celebrating 15th August with pride.
One wonders whether such self-serving Pakistanis would be happier in India where even the most secular of Muslim classes now face scrutiny on every minutia. For it is only in Pakistan that one is free to question the state, the founder, and the genesis of the country with impunity. Indeed, such individuals would have been smeared with charges of “anti-nationalism” in India without question.
The same holds true for LGBTQ Muslims who refuse to yield Islam to the homophobes and transphobes. Likewise, Hindu Pakistanis hold similar sentiments as proud Pakistanis for they argue that they are residents of the land in Sindh and have no desire to migrate elsewhere.
In stark contrast, are those who are truly oppressed. Self-serving Pakistani armchair critics, who milk their concerns for self-aggrandizement, speak for no one except themselves. After all, for all the persecution and discrimination, Ahmadis remain loyal citizens of Pakistan. Their argument is that they were instrumental in the creation of Pakistan, and therefore they cannot be budged away from their patriotism to the country even if the state has stoked majoritarian prejudice against them over the years. The same holds true for LGBTQ Muslims who refuse to yield Islam to the homophobes and transphobes. Likewise, Hindu Pakistanis hold similar sentiments as proud Pakistanis for they argue that they are residents of the land in Sindh and have no desire to migrate elsewhere.
Pakistan needs to go a long way to stop the persecution of its minorities. There is absolutely no doubt about that. But this will happen not through self-serving Pakistanis, who engage in armchair negativity from the comfort of their privileged lives in the West, but through brave writers, activists, and critics, who push against the Islamist narrative that has made life a living nightmare for vulnerable minorities. They do so while staying in Pakistan, as they try to reclaim Jinnah’s Pakistan, a safe haven for the minorities of the Indian subcontinent.
