Why Salman Ahmad’s tasteless tweets cannot be taken as satire

Two days ago, famous artist and founder of the rock and roll group Junoon, Salman Ahmad, tweeted a a doctored photo of Bilawal Bhutto in which he was dressed up like a woman. The tweet understandably caused severe backlash from liberal quarters but at the same time was hailed by many PTI supporters who liked and retweeted it thousands of times. In general, tweets from Ahmad hardly get a few dozen likes and retweets, but this one got more than 2000 interactions.

Despite calls from some very prominent women journalists and anchors, like Asma Sherazi and Nasim Zehra, and activists like Nida Kirmani and Marvi Sirmid, Ahmad initially refused to not only delete the tweet but also refused to apologise. He doubled down by tweeting the same picture again while trying to justify it as ‘satire’. Eventually, under pressure, he deleted both the tweets but so far has not apologised and continues to mock his critics in later tweets, saying they have failed to understand satire.

Since the tweet has been deleted due to backlash, I initially thought I should ignore it, especially since whatever he did is rampant in our society anyway. But then I realised that Ahmad does not have any remorse for tweeting such a picture and he continues to defend his actions. Moreover, unfortunately he is a celebrity who calls himself a “Sufi” and likes to present himself as a “moderate”, “enlightened” Muslim. Owing to his celebrity status, his words become more effective and pervasive.

What Ahmad needs to realise is that mocking Bilawal for being feminine is not satire, and equating his tweet with a Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit where Melissa McCarthy, a leading female comedian, plays Sean Spicer is a completely wrong analogy as there is a huge contextual difference. Bilawal in general is constantly mocked by many, and particularly PTI supporters for his supposed lack of masculinity. In fact, in Bilawal’s case Prime Minister Imran Khan himself has called him “sahiba” (miss), an obvious below the belt jibe regarding his masculinity. On the other hand, no one had mocked Spicer for a “lack of masculinity” and in fact he often came across as a macho and aggressive guy. McCarthy’s portrayal of him was actually a satirical take on his overtly “manly” behaviour and cannot therefore be equated to what Ahmad did.

What Ahmad must understand is that it is terribly wrong to tweet doctored pictures of this sort as such actions reek of misogyny and an underlying contempt for women. In our society, women are treated as second class citizens and often considered devoid of what are considered “better” qualities like valour, bravery and intelligence, as these are considered by many to be solely masculine in nature. In fact, this mindset is so prevalent that even when we want to appreciate a woman’s bravery we often say she has “more balls” than many men. Such statements, although apparently appreciative of the particular woman, nevertheless are a reinforcement of the dominant mindset which equates bravery to masculine physical attributes.

Since we as a society collectively think that women are inferior, we often equate the men we don’t like or consider to be cowards to them. The phrase “chorian pehn lo” (wear bangles) encapsulates this mentality really well. This behaviour becomes even more vicious if a man we dislike has any feminine features such as a softer voice. Feminising a man is seen as a way to insult him and, during the process, it reinforces contempt against women by using femininity as an insult in this context. This is disgusting behaviour which dehumanises women and cannot therefore be called “satire”.

As already mentioned, in the case of Bilawal, many, particularly PTI supporters, have been calling him effeminate and gay for years. The internet is full of memes which mock his masculinity and allege that his sexual orientation is “dubious”. These memes are often a horrible blend of homophobia and hatred for the transgender community while being steeped in misogyny. While I have seen such vile behaviour from supporters of other parties as well, the extent to which it is common among PTI supporters is truly mindboggling. Even their female supporters regularly indulge in such behaviour oblivious to the fact that by doing so they are undermining their own gender. But then again, I should not be surprised as their leader Imran Khan personifies such a mindset.

Frankly, I have never understood the hatred for Bilawal. If anything, Bilawal’s views, on minorities, women and extremism are refreshingly liberal. and given the fact that very few politicians have such views, are also highly appreciable. Yes, I understand he is a dynastic politician but then frankly a large number of PTI politicians are as well. Dynasty politics is quite prevalent in a majority of third world countries and in general is one of the templates which can keep a party cohesive. Even developed countries like America and Canada have witnessed dynastic politicians. Calling Bilawal a woman – which, as already discussed, reeks of misogyny – is frankly uncalled for.