The image phobia

Our national image, in the end, will come not from propaganda, but from our core values

Back in the day, when the USSR was still in business, there were reports of the happiest and freest people in the world, living in a near utopia. There was only positive news coming from the state, and anything supposedly negative was a conspiracy against the great people. Whether it was steel production in Stalin’s time or the cotton production in Ukraine in the Brezhnev era, the yield and the results were breaking all records, year after year.

There was only one problem. No one believed it except members of the party, and for some reason, when they left the party, the belief also faltered, almost instantaneously. The truth, when it came out, was shocking to no one because despite the ‘image’, everyone knew the reality all along.

Our obsession with ‘only the positive image’ as aggressively embraced by many in the country is fortunately not as devout as the Soviet version, but is getting there. The debate is once again raging in the light of the recent Oscar and screening of certain movies. I am all for celebrating the good and the positive, recognising our champions and those who inspire us and I hope we tell more uplifting stories about these stars of our society. I also strongly oppose the notion of looking only for dirt, and focusing only on maligning the country and its people, but I am deeply disturbed when important issues are suppressed because of our image phobia. The notion that someone who is standing up for decent education for girls, or for saving lives of vulnerable women, is actually bringing shame to the country is dangerous, deviant and deeply disrespectful to all those who want to stand up for justice and equality. The idea that by highlighting the plight of women and girls, or exposing the monsters who kill in the name of religion, or exposing corruption in the highest office, will lead to a bad reputation for the country is as absurd as North Koreans telling the world that their people are most prosperous in the world.

I also find the notion of national image to be highly hypocritical. Let me explain. Many of my friends and colleagues are quick to point out the national image argument when it comes to equality and justice for women, marginalised groups or minority treatment, but are screaming loudly (in person or on social media) when they find new material against politicians who they despise. At that time, they want the whole world to know how bad our government is, or how corrupt our leaders are, or how a leader of a party has had a colourful past. Hell with the national image ­— truth must be told, they say. Somehow, the line about national image is drawn — some negative news about our people is not worth sharing, and some other negative news should be made headlines around the world. That line is not straight or honest but a zigzag one that goes through not real values but personal likes and political expediencies. There is nothing honourable about it.

The fundamental problem about the image phobia is a simple one. It is the assumption that if we suppress the news, if we only tell the world the ‘good’ side — our relationship with the world will change, and all of a sudden people all over the world will change their attitude towards us. This hypothesis assumes the whole world to be naive and simple, relying on a single source for news, or worse, assuming the citizens of other countries to be a gang of grand conspirators who are only looking for bad news from Pakistan. These ideas reflect our own poor judgment and understanding, and say nothing about the world at large.

The national image, in the end, will not come from propaganda or by aggressively suppressing instances of domestic violence or denying that there is any victimisation of the poor — it will come from our core values. Fighting for justice, equality and dignity means fighting a messy war, and exposing the ugliness that lie within, but out of that surgery will emerge a healthier, safer and a more dignified society.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 3^rd, 2016.

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