As a Pakistani, I support Faisal Qureshi

I don’t think Faisal Qureshi was addressing peace-loving Indians, but only the jingoists therein.

I came across Faisal Qureshi’s video in which he responds to callous and ill-informed comments by Saif Ali Khan, an Indian actor. Qureshi also addresses certain dialogues from the actor’s recently released movie, Phantom. I saw the video, read several comments on it, and a couple of articles criticising Qureshi for his approach and attitude in the video.



I haven’t seen Phantom and so I chose not to comment. But when I saw the uncalled for reaction to Qureshi’s video by some apologist pseudo intellectuals, especially by a couple of writers/bloggers, I was compelled to respond.

I am a patriot at heart and I love my country and my fellow patriots. For many years, I have read and seen the hate spewing anti-Pakistan propaganda in the Indian media and – thanks to ‘Modi sarkar’ – the Indian government. What essentially made me respond was the fact that our own countrymen expect us to take all that filth and venom with a smile on our face.

As I say in the video, I don’t think Qureshi was addressing peace-loving Indians, but only the jingoists therein. For me, the video wasn’t just about an actor or his movie, but a reply to all the rubbish that has been thrown our way over the years.

I am not that bothered by the jingoists in India, I don’t expect any sanity from them. But for the apologists in our midst, I have run out of patience. These people, in their attempt to ‘sound’ liberal and progressive, hurl abusive accusations at a person who, like millions of us, has had enough of the Indian jingoism and idiocy.

Many of us support Qureshi and his sentiments. The few who chose to bash Qureshi for his sentiments needed to be responded to, and that is what I did, by expressing myself in this video.