Misogyny 101: Faisal Qureshi’s response to Indian actor

In his most recent masala movie, a well-known Indian actor portrays an Indian official who hopes to redeem himself by launching a covert operation in Pakistan against ‘terrorists’ who were responsible for bombings in India. Even though most Bollywood movies witness successful screenings in Pakistan, this film was banned. This news surprised no one except the actor in question and consequently, he gave a controversial interview in response to the banning; an interview I will not relay as the 450 words I get for this piece are too precious to be wasted on that.

The focus of this article will be on something more troubling i.e., the response given by Pakistani news analyst Faisal Qureshi to the actor’s interview. Qureshi released an approximately 12-minute long video in which he rehashed the statements of the actor and replied to them. In his response, Qureshi did not miss one opportunity to insult the actor; and disturbingly, the main tool which he employed to demean him was to constantly refer to him as a female.

In the recording, Qureshi refers to the Indian as ‘sahiba’, ‘beti’, ‘meri bacchi’ and other words which signify female. My question is this: why did Qureshi — who belongs to the supposedly educated strata of Pakistan — believe that comparison to a female would be the worst possible manner in which he could disgrace the actor? And more importantly, why do so many Pakistanis — who are lauding his effort and sharing his video — agree with him? I am surprised at the small number of people who seem to be bothered by his misogynistic statements; others completely ignore — or accept — that aspect of his reply and instead applaud the rest of his arguments.

Is it because Pakistanis in general believe women possess a lower level of intelligence than men and that — and that alone — could explain the idiotic views of the actor? Sadly, even though such a mentality is not an anomaly in Pakistan, in my opinion, Qureshi should be ashamed of the manner in which he belittled women and helped perpetuate a system which believes females somehow occupy a lower pedestal in society than men. Such thinking is the reason that our nation has unequal levels of male and female education. Moreover, such attitudes towards women are the foundation on which more sinister practices, such as throwing acid on women, raping them and killing them in the name of honour, stand.

The Indian actor’s silly tantrum against Pakistan deserved a critique, however, Qureshi’s approach in this regard was distasteful, to say the least; and the appreciation that his response received, alarming.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 31st, 2015.