Mohammad Shehzad
Arundhati
Roy's lecture in Islamabad has proved one thing-i.e. just like a section
of our print media, a segment of our civil society is also driven
blindly by the state-manufactured anti-India biases and prejudices,
and the two are completely alien to 
"common
sense". And to expect, they would ever behave responsibly is
like (as Sheikh Sa'adi puts) washing a black person 24-hours with
a soap to make his skin white.
Arun,
a peace/environment activist and the author of The God of Small
Things (which won the Booker Prize in 1997 and sold six million
copies, and has been translated into 40 languages) was in Pakistan
on Aug 14, along with two leading Indian journalists, Shekhar Gupta
(Editor-in-Chief, Indian Express) and N. Ram (Editor, Frontline, one
of the publications of The Hindu Group of newspapers). They were invited
to speak at a series of seminars on Peace and Freedom, in Islamabad,
Lahore and Karachi, arranged by the Daily Times. Arun was the keynote
speaker. Her oratory made many of us run into tears, when she said:
"Making nuclear bombs is like challenging the God's authority!"
Arun
excoriated the Indian government in Pakistan. Her powerful speech
received a standing ovation. She did not have a cup of tea after the
seminar. She was surrounded by her aficionados. Almost everyone had
bought her novel, which was on display at the occasion. They wanted
to have her John Hancock, and have a photograph with her, including
the star India hater, General Hamid Gul, the former head honcho of
the ISI, who never clapped, never budged during her soul-stirring
harangue. What would he use the picture for? May be to tell his followers
to hate this lady.
"Don't
you think she has been beating around the bush? Why can't she speak
about the UN resolutions on Kashmir! She is a hypocrite like all the
Hindus!" a senior journalist of a leading Urdu newspaper said
to me at the tea. I later found him chasing Arun for a photograph/
autograph!
In half
Urdu and half English, a female development "expert" remarked:
"Yeh sub to drama tha. (This was an eyewash!) You know! She was
full of herself. Yeh apni hee tareef kar raheen thee. (She has been
praising herself.) The entire Islamabad knows, this lady is extremely
self-centered. She attends all the functions and bribes the photographers
for her pictures in the newspapers. A friend told me that she had
paid him 1000 rupees for a close-up with Arundhati Roy.
"Her
lecture was profusely sugar coated. Indians are really expert at playing
up with the words," remarked a state-certified "intellectual"
who is the darling of the Pakistan Television. Yet he and his entire
family was after Arun for autographs!
"She
does not know the ABC of politics and pretends to be a political pundit.
She tried to impress us with her philosophical style and emotions,"
opined a retired bureaucrat whose visiting card carried an additional
title-"Political Analyst"-besides a plethora of other titles.
This self-proclaimed analyst was praising Arun to the skies to have
an exclusive photo session with her!
"She
has totally ignored Medha Patkar's contribution. (Pathkar is the leading
activist of the Narmada Bachao Andolan). She has taken the entire
credit. This is intellectual corruption!" said a social scientist.
His point was valid but he did not raise it during the question/answer
session. Like others, he too was hovering around Arun!
Arun
was lampooned and lambasted by a section of the print media who claims
to be the "proprietor" of Islam, ideology of Pakistan and
the two-nation theory. One of the leading English dailies wrote, Arun
was a representative of the poor Indians in Hindustan. But in Pakistan
she was addressing the elite who were not sincere in serving the humanity
and were the root-causes of its conundrums! Quite interestingly, the
statement was self-contradictory. Arun was here to motivate the elite
to work for the poor-not to urge the poor to work for the betterment
of the elite! She has donated a significant portion of her income
for the cause of environment, peace and the poor. Her life proves
that a serious and committed elite can effectively fight for the rights
of the poor. We have a living example of it. When Zafran Bibi was
awarded death sentence by stoning under the notorious Hudood laws,
the elite of our society staged demos and rallies. The elite was baton-charged
and arrested. No jihadi organization, no religious leader condemned
it. It was the elite whose voice was heard and Zafran Bibi was acquitted.
It was
Abid Hassan Minto, a representative of the elite who fought Ayub Masih's
case and convinced the apex court to repeal his death sentence that
was awarded to him under the draconian blasphemy law.
Flaying
Arun's presence in Pakistan an Urdu newspaper wrote: "Arundhati
Roy can raise her voice for a few Muslims who were killed in the Gujrat
riots. It is shameful she has no position on Kashmir. She presumes
to be a very sensitive writer but in fact she is very cunning and
callous. She knew she won't be able to defend India's Kashmir policy,
therefore, she refused to take any stance on it. We will respect her
as a genuine writer, when she will launch a campaign for the Kashmir
cause!"
It is
ironic a section of our press can't think of any other issue except
Kashmir which is linked to every Indian whether he/she is concerned
with it or not. How many of our elite writers/analysts/speakers/commentators
taken positions on issues like Can't it appreciate a few ground realities
e.g. Arun, Gupta and Ram strongly criticized their government in a
country that is considered an enemy! And the Indian establishment
tolerates such criticism. In 1998, Najam Sethi criticized the Pakistani
establishment in India. He had to pay a very heavy price upon return.
We all know what happened to him, despite the fact what he had said
in India, he had already editorialized it in his weekly publication.
The dilemma
is that a large section of our print media is void of objectivity
and regard for the truth. It has branded great personalities like
Pervez Hoodbhoy, Asma Jehangir, etc., as "anti-Pakistan"
and "traitor". It provides enormous space to jihadis and
ill-educated maulvis to spit venom against anyone who speaks the truth.
It does not propagate competition with India on fronts such as free
education, good quality higher education, democracy, press freedom,
strong judiciary, good governance, etc. It is unable to think of anything
except Kashmir and India.
There
is, however, something to commend. When this scribe asked Aziz Ahmed
Khan, the Foreign Office spokesman to comment on the speeches of the
Indian guests, he said: "The Government of Pakistan welcomes
the eminent Indian journalists and intellectuals. Their message is
peace. We also want peace. Therefore, we welcome them!" It is
true. Mr Khan really welcomed them.
The
writer is a freelance journalist based in Islamabad. Email: rageshri2@yahoo.com
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