We are no Turkey

It was indeed interesting to watch the excitement in Pakistan’s media regarding the army mutiny in Turkey touted by many as an attempted coup. It almost felt as if the popular uprising by the people and rejection of the military had happened in Pakistan. So, many eyebrows were raised on Imran Khan’s comments pointing that there was no comparison between Pakistan and Turkey, and that people would distribute sweets if a coup overtook Islamabad. Surely, the PTI Khan seems to have taken the coup-making military’s political publicity to heart. Coup makers never hold popular elections or fair referendums to make such claims. In fact, almost any opinion poll the people in Pakistan has expressed their desire for a democratic system.

Notwithstanding that Khan is not the best master of his own mouth and a poor student of politics and history, his outcry may not exactly be wrong. But unlike Khan, who cannot think beyond his political opponents, the real issue is how can a society that killed Qandeel Baloch behave as bravely as people in Turkey? Standing up to force is about national character and strength of a civil society. We killed a poor young girl who was recently described by a friend as nothing more but good fun. Many an educated men think she was responsible for her own death. Wasn’t her biggest sin that she tried to compete with the world, despite of her poor socioeconomic background? Why is she more sinful or any different from those that are educated yet cheat the people around? Honestly, I can’t tell the difference between what she was doing and all those educated consultant racketeers in Islamabad that grab foreign funding and yet deliver nothing or write unprofessional reports. At least, she was not being a hypocrite. She offered herself on social media to entertain many a men, who would even otherwise go for similar entertainment elsewhere. Has anyone thought of moralising with them? In a society where even some men would offer their services for money, we called Qandeel a sinner.

Her other big sin was that she called out the hypocrisy of our elite including that of the religious elite. Yet, many people are already impressed with the fact that the brother killed her for honour without thinking much of the fact that the same brother took money from her knowing fully well the kind of activities she engaged in. Personally, the Qandeel murder does not even qualify as honour killing. Wonder what was the nature of provocation and expectation of benefits from killing her? In any case, South Punjab, especially the background she came from, is not known for honour killings.

Qandeel Baloch’s murder is not about an individual’s killing but the story of misplaced societal honour laced in hypocrisy. Many women are killed every day in the name of misplaced honour. While men of the same families are allowed to rape, lie, cheat and engage in other vices, a girl is deprived even of her right to make her choice. How could a society that does not allow ownership of self, rise to defend what is for public good?

Let’s not be mistaken that Turkey and its society are not entirely above board. Its politicians have made the same mistakes as those in Pakistan or elsewhere such as Egypt or anywhere that the military struck. After all, it was divisive politics of the political leadership in Turkey that caused the recent mutiny. Unlike the deposed Egyptian President Mohamad Morsi, the Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan certainly had a lot of experience under his belt and economic development to take credit for before he provoked a once powerful military. From empowering the small time mullah and religious right in general to turning Turkey into a transit route for the Islamic State, Erdogan seems to be doing everything which is objectionable and damaging for the country. Moreover, since failure of the coup, one does not even expect any fairness and accountability in how the mutineers are dealt with. What is apparent is that even before an investigation was carried out, thousands of judges were sacked and opposition leaders and activists sent to jail. As far as accountability is concerned reliable sources point fingers towards family members of senior political leadership in Ankara for their involvement in arms trafficking to the IS.

The fact of the matter is that Turkey is not essentially very different from any other modern democratic but oppressive state. In fact, if we look at the two recent examples of Turkey and India, especially the latter’s brutal treatment of people in Kashmir, it is obvious that democracies of today aren’t necessarily responsive to its citizens. Let’s not keep the US out of it where police brutality against the black population is a never-ending story. The states have turned into self-serving and scared bureaucracies that see every protest like a ghost they must kill with major weapon systems. Yet, be it India, Turkey, Bangladesh or the US, people have made a choice for a political system because they can participate in it. It is noteworthy that as far as Turkey is concerned, it is the inclusion in the European Union that had garnered a greater sense of democracy amongst its people. It was this that had even benefitted Erdogan and the AKP get into power.

But then at the end of the day it is not even about good or bad lessons that societies learn. It is essentially about their togetherness and sense of ownership of the state. Honestly, this is what Pakistan lacks — a sense of ownership of self and the state due to which heinous crimes take place and boots march on. Much that I would like to disagree but I don’t think Pakistan is anywhere close to where its citizens would react the same way as the Turks. They may not distribute sweets but they will not stop the tanks, just as they have never stopped any killer.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 21^st, 2016.

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