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Tere Bin Pornistan
Pakistan was in international news twice this week. Not because of the war on terror or because of another horrific...
The writer is an environmental lawyer and member of faculty at LUMS and Punjab University
Pakistan was in international news twice this week. Not because of the war on terror or because of another horrific terror attack. No, Pakistan was in the news this week because the film censor board decided not to grant permission to the Indian-produced Tere Bin Laden to be screened in the country and because it has been reported that, pound for pound, Pakistanis view more pornography on the internet than anyone else in the world.
Or, in columnist speak, you wait and you wait and then two show up.
The refusal to allow Tere Bin Laden to be screened in Pakistan is not because the film is Indian. That restriction was put in place in the 1960s in an attempt to save the Pakistani film industry from the gigantic Bollywood machine. But mollycoddling an infant rarely produces a champion and the state of Lollywood today is, in some ways, proof of the stupidity of the policy. Thankfully, this is no longer the case today as cinema owners successfully lobbied the government to lift the prohibition. The decision not to allow the film to be screened is apparently due to the contents of the film and the ‘security situation’ in the country. The film satirises Osama Bin Laden and the board believes, perhaps correctly, that some lunatic militant fringe might not get the joke.
The film censor board exists to ensure that films pass whatever arbitrary standard of morality that’s peddled about nowadays. That’s why is perfectly fine to watch Shaan annihilate hordes of villagers right after ducking bullets while prostrating himself but it is impermissible to show man and woman sleeping in the same bed together. But whatever one may think of the purpose and existence of the film censor board, it one would have to agree that it’s simply not its job to make decisions on whether or not a film can be screened on the basis of what might happen if there’s a breach in security at the box office.
Two things have happened because of this decision. First, Pakistan is in the news under a headline that runs “Tere Bin Laden banned in Pakistan”. The related article uses words like censorship, ban, film, Indian, artist and fleshes out a stereotype of Pakistan and Pakistanis that’s being developed nowadays. Second, the ‘security situation’ is once again the reason for not doing something. The great American writer and personality Samuel Clemens once said that if people sacrifice a bit of their liberty for security, they mostly wind up getting neither. The film censor board should think about that.
Meanwhile, an intern at Fox News with too much time on her hands decided to see what would happen if she typed in ‘horse sex’ and a whole bunch of other, random, sex-related search parameters into Google’s Insight programme. Lo and behold, some Pakistanis are into zoophilia and, it appears, have an insatiable appetite for online pornography. Whatever floats your boat. Never mind that the infamous Kinsey Report of 1948 acknowledged that as many as 17 percent of rural Americans experienced zoophilia at least once, Pakistan is in the news because, while it bans websites such as Wikipedia and YouTube, it appears to do nothing about pornography.
The Fox News report is a particularly nasty piece of reporting. It merely points out the obvious fact that Pakistanis are interested in sex. And that they must, since our population is now 170 million and rising. There’s nothing wrong with that. What is wrong, however, is hiding the hypocrisy that it’s the US consumer who has driven online pornography into the multi-billion dollar industry that it is. In any event, pornography is the least of Pakistan’s problems. In fact, the Google statistics merely point out to the normalcy of repressed sexual curiosity.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2010.
Reader Comments (57)
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//while it bans websites such as Wikipedia and YouTube,it appears to do nothing about pornography//….a nation created in the name of Islam!And for the pseudo fundoliberals,please lead a march on Mall Road demanding restrictions to pornography in the country(the ‘liberal west’ has them;please follow.)..Qazi Hussain please launch a Jihad against this ENEMY too:it will be easier to,if,you see this as an AMRIKEE conspiracy too.Recommend
Excellent.Recommend
I think paki’s are just finding out that there are other options are available too. and i think most of these searches must be done by Taliban trainers to brainwash young kids, just imagine a terrorist trainer using pornography and bestiality to make would be suicide bomber hate us all.Recommend
Actually DAWN just reported that Google has disputed these figures. The report seems to be another malicious FOX news propaganda. That’s why call it FAUX news here in the US.Recommend
http://www.sananews.net/english/2010/07/17/ispak-calls-foxnews-story-as-maligning-attempt-against-pakistan/
although i thought your editorial was wonderfully written and i hope to find a way to subscribe to your blog via email.Recommend
Fantastic.Recommend
The Dawn report is either wrong OR Google Pakistan is releasing PR statements via media to not get banned – just read the stats (for reference purpose cited real source):
http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22horse+sex%22
Fox News has no reason to apologise, and are you really going to say Google Trends is completely absolutely wrong? That is denial my friend…Recommend
So according to Google trends New Zealand is #1 in bomb making queries? That is ridiculous. The world better watch out of marauding New Zealanders trying to bomb their way to the top.Recommend
Obviously everyone watches pornography, perhaps internet is new in pakistan so people use google a lot to search for specific stuff. And we are hypocrites, we want to show that we are politically and morally correct.Recommend
The report is fake. The google trend shows the RELATIVE scale .. go figureRecommend
Samuel Clemens did not live in Pakistan post 9/11 and, specifically, in the most recent 5 years. I agree with the censor board that letting a small segment of the society watch a stupid satire on Bin Laden is not worth rattling the cages of extremists, who would probably have an IQ lower than the number of bullets in their revolver! These are people who believe they can commit a crime (suicide) and go to heaven for it. How do you expect them to get a joke made by Indians?Recommend
I do agree (not completely) with the writers point of view but i am hurt by this word “Pornistan”. I might have same views as that of the writer but still respect for the name of my country is still alive in my heart and making fun of it is not acceptable at all. I do say at times that there are two type of people who have hurt Pakistan badly, the “Illiterate Moulvis” and the other “Literate” Moulvis and I consider this writer in the latter.Recommend
its biased, totally false and fake onslaught on Muslim country especially Pakistan …….. how come ……. what about those nations who are famous of child abuse and even their priest are involved in all such evil acts …….. where facebook has introduced a panic button for any user in case he found such material ………Recommend
Fox news!!!? Do you guys really believe in fox news? :D hehehe!Recommend
Google has officially denied the accuracy of the report and data analysis.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/sci-tech/pakistan-top-on-porn-search-google-denies-jd-03
I would urge upon the media men of the country that while reporting and writing about any issue Please give a little consideration to the image of the country and the effects of your words on that. Freedom of expression does not mean to declare your beloved “PAKISTAN” as Pornistan.Recommend
The great American writer and personality Samuel Clemens once said that if people sacrifice a bit of their liberty for security, they mostly wind up getting neither. The film censor board should think about that.
The great American writer and personality Samuel Clemens rpobably didn’t have suicide bombers and fanatic jihadis in mind when he said that.
I totally back the censor boards decision to ban the film from public screening. We can’t afford to take the risk of losing Pakistani lives just because some Indian guy thought it would be funny to satirize bin Laden and hire a Muslim Pakistani man to do it so all Pakistanis would (considering how dumb we all have turned out to be) somehow feel obligated to watch it.Recommend
Mr Alam you are wise man and influencing personality in Pakistan so please make sure that your words in the column are show your wiseness or something else and be careful man this is also yours country so don’t call it PornistanRecommend
Heh.
Or, in columnist speak, you wait and you wait and then two show up.
Lucky b******. I had to submit my column on Tuesday and was scrambling for topics.Recommend
That report from Fox was fake, Google itself denied what was reported by Fox. Fox News is a neo con website with its own agenda of vilifying other nations.Recommend
ET should deface this article from the site as its based on unauthenticated source.
Pakistan top on porn search: Google denies
ISLAMABAD: Google officially denied the accuracy of its search trends that declared Pakistan as the top nation searching for illicit material on the internet, according to Dawn sources.
Internet Service Provider Association of Pakistan has also declared statistics regarding pornography in Pakistan as flawed.
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/sci-tech/pakistan-top-on-porn-search-google-denies-jd-03Recommend
If we had had enough porn around us for real.. we probably would not have been searching for it online, being more fulfilled n less frustrated.
Oh please.. we need more education and exposure to keep our minds off the jungle fun!Recommend
Google Pakistan (whatever that is) I’m sure is not run by PMLN or PPP…!
Not every organization thrives on blundering and then trying to survive by counter-statements like we are used to in our land.
Meanwhile Fox News sensationalism and mudslinging antics are no news…Recommend
“…watch Shaan annihilate hordes of villagers right after ducking bulletswhile prostrating himself…”
Haha! So you’ve had the misfortune of watching this too!
Life in this land of the pure was never the same again…and the gentleman has the audacity to act intellectual on talk-shows and shed gems on revival of Pakistani cinema…talk about desi ingrained hypocrisy…
OTOH, I do agree with Aleem Khan here, banning ‘Tere Bin Laden’ is simply for the reason that we can’t afford to risk any unwelcome incident…not even in the 15 seat cinema of Chichu ki Malia…God forbid if someone were to set out preserving Osama’s honour by teaching the viewers and cinema owners a lesson, the loss would be ours…in this light prompt job by the Censor Board. God bless all!Recommend
I am seriously hurt by the Title “Pornistan” and what worse we should expect from our inferior complexed writers naming their homelandRecommend
And yes, I can definitely “recommend” the state of your mind by choosing this title for your article to grab maximum click “hats-off”Recommend
http://www.koolmuzone.com/2010/07/pakistan-or-pornistan/
decide yourself…..Recommend
The writer must watch his words before he can use the word pornistan.Either mend your tone or stop calling yourself a Pakistani.Recommend
@Pakistan – he is just parodying the fox article. do u think pak is so insecure that a columnist doing a sarcastic parody will hurt the country? grow up.
@tanzeel – the COLUMN is about fox news’s article. not about the authenticity of googles resultsRecommend
Even if Pakistan is top on google search for ‘sex’ that doesn’t prove that we are number one in pornography.
In the west, there are special pornographic channels, people know what they are looking for so they go straight to that website & pay by CREDIT card.
Search in google ‘sex’ etc doesn’t bring good results and it shows that person doesn’t know what they are looking for. Also, we live in a family structure so it is difficult to have privacy and watch a lot of porn. Main reason is that some people with a lot of time sitting in Internet cafes and desperately searching for porn!
Anyone who goes online can tell you that Pakistanis are hardly there! you’ll see a lot of Europeans, Thai, Philipinos etc. Pakistanis are yet to have a nationwide good internet service to afford the luxury of such things!Recommend
Yes there are many people in Pakistan, go through search engines rather than direct dialing..The matter is more or less a revenge from those websites which are banned in recent past.Recommend
It is not the first time that Pakistan is on top in porno-search. I remember that we had won that distinction earlier also. ‘badnam jo hongay to kia naam na hoga’Recommend
@ Rehma
I seriously appreciate you suggestion even while parodying we should never ever give bad names to our mother land i.e. we cant name our fore-fathers and parensts even if we’re making fun of others?
Can you give name to your father/mother even if you’re defending them in front of anyone? I am sure not and if that’s the case, our country is our mother, we’ve grown in her lap and will bury in her feetRecommend
By reading the article, and the comments and listening to the press conferences, it is safe to say We the people of Pakistan have NO sense of humor whatsoever.Recommend
cool..excellent.we need to see the mirror.Recommend
Times of India also used the word ‘Por…tan’ with the same story. Here the writer has shown no respect for his country, which is deplorable.
The writer should apologise for using such an offensive word for his country.Recommend
So what if people watch porn, atleast they arent blowing up schools or keeping peasants in bonded labour or evading taxes. Pakistan’s high ranking among corrupt countries is a bigger matter for shame for me.Recommend
the problem with pakistanis is the state of denial…everyone and everything is believed to be against them.
anyways, those blaming foxnews or the authenticity of search results can type some favorite URDU words for the terms in GOOGLE TRENDS and behold..pakistan would still appear on top. write some religious terms and still pakistan would appear on top. does tht satisfy your doubts?
meanwhile, if the same foxnews had reported tht pakistanis were no.1 in religious searches, it would have become our favorite channel.
the state of pakistanis’ minds can be judged from the jirga verdicts let alone googleRecommend
I second @Sadaf Fayyaz’s point. May be the particular keyword is on top from Pakistan but it doesn’t mean we should start saying “Pornistan”. Though we are still on the list thats a bad thing. Author of http://www.koolmuzone.com/2010/07/pakistan-or-pornistan/ has beautifully scrutinize the google trends results.Recommend
Regardless of the authenticity of these reports, I have a question to ask my fellow Pakistanis…when Pakistan can block Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia and what not, why can’t it do the same to pornographic content? Now, ain’t THAT hypocrisy?Recommend
Rehan Bhai, why you attach expectations with Qazi Hussain Ahmad? When MMA was in government in then NWFP, they were faithfully towing American Policy.Recommend
Another display of immature content by writer .Recommend
Lol, people still believe in Google Trend.Recommend
Earlier I regarded ET a bit higher than the rest of English News papers in my beloved country P A K I S T N but after reading such a hilarious article by some one who seems finding unauthorized references from Google and quoting a notorious News Channel as a credential to making this Article Subject Legit.Recommend
Google denied the report because it doesn’t want to be banned in Pakistan like a host of other websites. I suggest that you guys go to Google Insight and see the results for yourself.Recommend
cant say i agree with everything but great stuff keep it comingRecommend
Judging by the comments, nothing better than a bit of porn to get the blood flowing, eh? Quite frankly, all this report does is confirm either one or all of the following:
The presence of about 3 million American Black Water operatives who are, quite obviously, missing home.
Its the Afghans, using our identities to indulge in all forms of evil.
Its the illiteracy! Coke Studio has shown that we’re a supremely talented musical nation, and its just an erroneous spelling of saxophone that is getting us all those unwanted hits.
Notwithstanding the above, and going by the maxim that numbers don’t lie (except when you punch in ’317′ on your calculator and turn it upside down), we should view the report as an opportunity for this respectable website to add a ‘Beyhoodgi’ sublink to the ‘Life & Style’ drop-down menu.
Respect,
Gasherbrummistani.Recommend
SOLUTION: distribute your search to various search egnines so that one can’t have the foot steps of you!
Don’t shut your eyes, everyone knows what our youngster even older do on the internet, google is not totally woring..make yourself clean instead of giving justifications.
When truth came out.. everybody feel shy and shameful…even though you guys will not stop searching the porn.
We are on the way to self destruction..socially, morally, polticially, financially..Recommend
@ Gasherbrummistani:
Hear, hear! You’ve summed it all up so brilliantly.
The fact of the matter is that even today the subject under discussion is totally taboo in Pakistan and we dare n0t discuss it openly. It is also no fact that Fox News is a totally biased organization and what not. Please remember that it was the same organization which supported Bush in his war on Iraq.
As far as all the hypocrisy is concerned, please don’t forget that the total number of internet users in Pakistan is 8 million which is less than 5% of the total population. Please also visit http://www.thetrueperspective.com to read up more news, views, thoughts and ideas about Pakistan.Recommend
Lolz! Pakistan has only 8 million internet users and yet they achieve first position in surfing for porn websites! Are they kidding us??Recommend
The Cunning Fox! huh!Recommend
In a repressive and segregated society like ours with double standards (contradiction of word and action) and onus on religious-piety, it is no surprise to see that we on ‘a per capita basis’ are the worst offenders for searching for porn on the net. Pakistanis have a habit of wearing religion on their sleeves however behind closed doors, we tend to accept corruption, honour killings, violence, ethnic, religious and racial discrimination, favour caste system, sodomy, frequently involved in nepotism, accept double standards and ready to judge others based solely on how pious the others person appears from the outside. Sex is taboo, sex education is ‘western plot to inject profanity in our Islamic syllabi’, honour is something to die for and ready to kill and judged solely on the basis of the principles of protecting ones body from the opposite sex. True honour lies in the integrity of a person and the inner character which we are devoid of as a nation. No surprise that we are labelled as “Pornistan”. We cant pretend to champion the religious supermacy and speak on behalf of all the muslims and condemn western propoganda and values but at the same time watch profanity and porn and not accept others labeling us as worst hypocrites.Recommend
Once my friend in American told me that if you want to learn about American mentality, then watch WWF for few weeks and you will learn a great deal.
Porn is not our baby, though it is harming our no doubt. The center place of porn is USA and Europe. There are heaps of subject on which their mind is creating porn material every second and whereby ruining their own moral values in the first place.Recommend
Farce, farcical and farced. Google must have been hand in glove with another anti Pakistan spy / bribe master. This in unbelievable, ridiculous and tendentious and is another hallmark of the West’s anti Pak BROADCASTING ON LONG WAVE.Recommend
@rehan: If they will launch a moment against pornography in pakistan & pornography got banned then what will they do :P I think highest Ratio of watching pornography movies in Internet Cafe is the 1 who have Beards & call them True Muslims.If Ever you have visited Internet Cafes in karachi then you will well aware of this.Recommend
Searching sexual stuff cannot be generalised on the whole population of Pakistan. It does not mean that every person who is surfing internet search for pornographic material. In fact, reports are based on research and research remains always research not the facts. As far as the content of this article is concerned, it has no specific direction and somewhere to justify an ill writer took support of another ill. Really ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Recommend
Well written but i was just wondering how come Google trend shows the same ranking for every month and every year and why is it that Pakistan is at top and none of its cities are in top 10. I am not saying that google statistics are completely wrong but there is something wrong with it. And why does anyone even give a damn to who is at the top of porn searches.. dont you people have anything else to do?
I do not believe in completely banning everything that you feel offensive to you, instead educate the people so that they themselves can distinguish between good and bad and decide for themselves what should be viewed and what not.Recommend
Truly, the interest in rape and child-sex is disturbing but this news item changes Pakistan’s name to ‘Pornistan’. Becoming a bastion of porno-graphic material and sex would actually be a positive change for Pakistan. Sexual-morality, typical of old religions has been invoked into shaming a country and its people. This sexual-morality brigade has stalled sex-education in schools in Ontario, Canada, and they have carried a violent anti-abortion campaign that killed many doctors. This conservative morality humiliates us on our human propensity for sex and oppresses us in the name of ‘holy laws’. These are the oppressors who champion military superiority by diverting all resource of the world towards weapons and army.Recommend