Shaming Maya: Two wrongs don’t make a right

Maya Khan is another talking (air)head, fond of seeing herself on TV - and deserves some privacy.

The Book of Love is full of charts, and facts and figures, and instructions for dancing, at least according to The Magnetic Fields, later confirmed by Peter Gabriel. Both the indie band and the legendary former Genesis lead singer also agree that they love it when someone reads to them from it. Unfortunately, it seems that nobody ever read to Maya Khan from it. That can be the only reason she takes so much offence to young love.

Now, I’m probably wrong on both counts, given the amount of pictures and video of her indulging in extra-mehram-al relations with men, including (gasp!) videos of her dancing to (double gasp!) Indian music, but whatever her story may be, the reaction to her assault on the average Karachiite in love was no less an invasion of privacy than the actions of Khan and the cackle of aunties she had in tow.

Khan’s pictures, which have (thankfully) had the faces of her unfortunate male and female friends censored, mostly seem to have been snapped at private events held at privately-owned venues, whereas her antics took place in a public park. That doesn’t make what she did any less bad, but it does give strength to the argument that her harshest critics are no less hypocritical than her.

She poked her nose in other people’s business without any justification or moral authority, and now other people are doing the same to her. Both sides seem motivated less by morality or rationality, and more by personal causes, namely higher ratings on one hand, and revenge/opposition to right-wing causes/‘liberal-fascism’ on the other.  Skipping to one of the more exaggerated comparisons drawn on her, she is not the new rendition of the Lal Masjid/Jamia Hafsa brigade.

1. She isn’t kidnapping people.

2. She isn’t operating a terrorist training camp.

3. She will be in just as much trouble as any other female anchor if the real rightwing takes over.

She is not even the second coming of Meher Bokhari, who helped spark the fire against Salmaan Taseer by regurgitating nonsense spouted by mullahs about him being a good Muslim (while wearing western-style pants and a button-down shirt), and then tastelessly ran adverts for her show calling her the country’s most dangerous journalist.

She is, at worst, another talking (air)head, fond of seeing herself on TV and willing to do whatever it takes to keep herself on air and make some cash.

Just change the channel.

Read more by Vaqas Asghar here and follow him @vasghar.