For last decade, there has been much talk about religious extremism, a term coined by West to accomplish her political objectives in Muslim world. A breed of Westernised intellectual bankrupts who have mastered the art of playing with words, both written and verbal, showed their allegiance to Western ideas as they declare an all-out assault on anybody who differs with them. This breed has got all the backing from government and can be seen on every news channel. Their columns are published in all high-ranked newspapers. They might have different opinions about different subjects but they have one thing in common i.e. sarcastic and mocking attitude towards those who don’t agree with their secular views.
Interestingly, they are the ones who chant slogans for religious tolerance but if you read their columns, you can find everything but tolerance and respect for the religious ones. It’s hard to find any rationale and/or reason in those articles as the writers keep showing their wrath without discussing their opinion. They quote facts and figures that are released from biased sources as ISPR and use these as the basis of their argument. They are so much intolerant that they can’t accept even a slight disagreement. They keep chanting slogans of “mullah” and start putting “mullah” as the biggest threat planet earth has ever witnessed. For example, they were all over the place when Shahid Afridi announced his latest campaign of female garments. For this promotion, a female model has her face covered on billboards. This was too much for secular extremists and I read a column yesterday in a top-notch newspaper highlighting the threats of “mullah” in Pakistan. How strange is that! You always shout for tolerance, and you can’t tolerate a slight difference in opinion. Moreover, these guys were running like headless chickens when they saw billboards of Junaid Jamshed’s latest campaign, where faces of men on advertisement boards are concealed.
Due to government agenda and backing, no newspaper or TV channel has ever highlighted the unfair and unjust attitude of secular extremists. These guys are always supported by media and their words are published with high regard. Luckily, they and their ideas have zero penetration in masses as they are alien to society. This fact might have resulted in the frustration that can be seen in their columns and analyses.
Therefore, I demand media to present facts and figures in neutral manner. Government-backed writers are helping to rally the society towards Western values and culture. Moreover, their mocking attitude speaks of their calibre and competence regarding rational and well-educated discussion.
Abdullah Ansari,
Lahore.
