You blame, I blame …

Recent terror attacks the world over have left everyone in a state of frenzy. The funny thing about human nature is that when you are in a chaotic state of mind, you start looking for people to project it on. I decided to make my own list of people I want to blame for everything that has been going on. I blame every girl who gets raped for dressing provocatively. How dare these girls think that they have the right to dress according to their own wishes? Do they not realise that by dressing the way they want, they are, as our rational elders wisely say, ‘asking for it’?

I blame the young boys who get murdered every day in passing for stepping out on the streets when they know that the world is a dangerous place. How dare they leave their houses? Do they not realise that they are automatically endangering their lives when they parade around, laughing loudly and attracting attention? They, too, are ‘asking for it’. I blame the children going back to school for any future mishap that might take place. What are they thinking, pursuing education when the angel of death hovers over every corner of every educational institution, waiting to claim its next victim? While I am at it, I blame their parents, too. Clearly, no one ever learns.

Working my way upwards, I blame the media and social activists for fighting a lost war against corruption. Are they out of their minds? When television anchors speak out and expose our leaders, do they not realise that they only make us more vulnerable? We are, after all, meant to cower in fear against our great leaders. How dare they raise their voices and try to awaken a comatose nation?

I also blame Imran Khan for getting married. How dare he try to find happiness when the world is stooped in sorrow and blood? How dare he try to make amends or offer his condolences to parents mourning their children? What was he thinking? I know who I’m not voting for.

The list goes on and it works its way up the social hierarchy. It is, in fact, never-ending. You see, when we start the blame game, it never ends. That is just the way it works. The Peshawar attack has been accepted as a part of Pakistan’s bleak history. The ongoing political turmoil has been accepted as routine. It makes me wonder. I have pinned down everyone I can possibly think of as an accomplice in the slow poisoning of the world as we know it. Have I forgotten anyone? Have I forgotten myself? Am I responsible for Peshawar? Am I the reason for the fear we instill in our girls and the sick chauvinism that exists in our boys? I sit at home flipping channels, scanning newspapers and ignoring both a few days on end. I shake my head in disapproval at the rising death toll, complain about corruption and all the while, I do nothing.

Maybe I am responsible. Maybe, you are too. Maybe, just maybe, the fact that we want our boys to man up and our girls to shield themselves is creating a divide deeper than ever before. Maybe, I need to start by blaming myself and accepting my fault. Maybe, I’m the one who needs to change. Then again, I could be wrong. Maybe I should just blame my parents for this mindset.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 16^th, 2015.

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