ravishingravi Posted October 30, 2012 Posted October 30, 2012 For Pakistanis living on the front lines, there is no denying the horror that extremists create. Last year, I toured the Swat Valley with a barrel-chested police chief who recounted all the cops he lost when the Taliban overran his city. Militants bombed his police barracks and beheaded one of his beloved officers on film. IÃÃl never forget the stony look on his face as he described how the perpetrators handed out videos of the killing. AFP/GETTY IMAGES Malala Yousafzai. The Pakistani military retook the valley in 2009 in one of the largest air operations in the countryÃÔ history. Since then, ordinary citizens with Kalashnikovs have kept watch to prevent a Taliban return. These unpaid neighborhood watch committees are proof that most Pakistanis reject the Taliban way of life. Pakistan is, after all, a country of scientists, female politicians, movie fans, and musicians. So why, then, hasnÃÕ Pakistan made more progress in its fight against extremism? One big reason is its chronic habit of denying that such homegrown extremism exists. After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Major General Hamid Gul, former-intelligence-chief-turned-talking-head, took to PakistanÃÔ airwaves peddling the conspiracy theory that Osama bin Laden was innocent and that the attack was an Israeli coup against the government of the United States. As a result, only 4 percent of Pakistanis believe Al Qaeda was responsible for 9/11, while 19 percent believe the United States attacked itself. Last year, after bin Laden was killed in Abbottabad, a Pakistani military town, excuse-mongers tried to explain away that embarrassment as well. An Urdu-language newspaper reported that Americans killed bin Laden somewhere else, but manufactured the story of the raid to justify its ongoing war. Other pundits insisted bin Laden wasnÃÕ really dead. Recently, the denial industry in Pakistan has been working overtime to explain away the assassination attempt against Malala Yousafzai, a 14-year-old girl who was shot in the head on a school bus in Swat Valley after becoming an outspoken advocate of girls education. Although a Taliban spokesman took credit for the shooting and even vowed to finish off the job after she survived the attack the excuse-mongers donÃÕ take the Taliban at their word. Nor do they admit the Taliban had strayed far from Islam, and far from the Pashtun honor code. Instead, they come up with bizarre explanations that invariably lay blame at someone elseÃÔ feet. ŤIA footprints are all over the script and narrative of this entire incident, wrote Haider Mehdi, a columnist with the Nation newspaper. This bombastic assertion bothered me so much that I wrote to Mehdi to ask for the evidence. He wrote back, űroof: These are the same Taliban who were called freedom fighters to fight against the Soviet Union and invited by Ronald Reagan to the White House. In reality, the main suspect in the shooting of Malala is Atta Ullah Khan, a 23-year-old chemistry student who was a newborn baby the year Reagan left office. But Mehdi continued on, undaunted by facts: ŵhe capitalistic culture and system is a curse for humanity, but it is in the driverÃÔ seat of global affairs, he told me. Å®alala is one of the instruments of this devious doctrine and its functional and operational tentacles. Huh? A 14-year-old girl is an Ã…Ãperational tentacle of American imperialism? But Mehdi was quick to assure me that he knows what he is talking about. Ū have been a professor at a major prestigious foreign university outside of Pakistan, and I earned a doctorate from Columbia University, he wrote. Therein lies the real crux of the problem. The denial industry in Pakistan is being perpetrated by the very people who ought to know better. Too many of PakistanÃÔ elite the same people who studied at Western universities, who invariably send their own daughters to good schools canÃÕ find it in themselves to speak up for girls like Malala. Imran Khan, the cricketeer-turned-politician, studied at Oxford. But instead of speaking up unequivocally about girls education, he has directed most of his outrage against US drone attacks. In a way, I donÃÕ blame the professional deniers; the fight against extremism is an existential one and a dangerous one. It canÃÕ be won by drones. It must be won by Pakistanis like Malala, who have the courage to speak the truth. http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2012/10/30/shooting-malala-yousafzai-shows-pakistan-denial-industry-action/IZ1R2r0hkytK9pT5LqG8lL/story.html Well someone had to say it!!
Iconoclast Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 That's a bit rich coming from the country whose wars of 'liberation' killed tens of thousands of kids like Malala. Every country has it's own 'industry of denial' ... but nowhere are the consequences as grave as America's denial of how violent their society has become (both domestically and internationally).
Ram Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 The Pak establishment is just a collection of pathological liars. The sad part is, it worked all the way until 2001, when the world's attention sharply focused on terrorism (which is even more sadder because it took a major tragedy in the west for people to come around and face the realities of religion-based extremism. We Indians had been living that reality long before that).
punjabi_khota Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 That's a bit rich coming from the country whose wars of 'liberation' killed tens of thousands of kids like Malala. Every country has it's own 'industry of denial' ... but nowhere are the consequences as grave as America's denial of how violent their society has become (both domestically and internationally). LOL. :hysterical::hysterical: Here we go, the proof , pudding and all that. :hatsoff:
EnterTheVoid Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 Very profitable industry, they scrounge billions of dollars in "aid" every year :hahaha:
Precambrian Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 That's a bit rich coming from the country whose wars of 'liberation' killed tens of thousands of kids like Malala. Every country has it's own 'industry of denial' ... but nowhere are the consequences as grave as America's denial of how violent their society has become (both domestically and internationally). Hook line sinker etc
Clarke Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 That's a bit rich coming from the country whose wars of 'liberation' killed tens of thousands of kids like Malala. Every country has it's own 'industry of denial' ... but nowhere are the consequences as grave as America's denial of how violent their society has become (both domestically and internationally). Greatest nation of earth under one god :antijinx: Never ever makes apologies to anyone :ohyeah: except for a narrow 4 yr period and that shall be corrected soon.
Iconoclast Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 LOL. :hysterical::hysterical: Here we go' date=' the proof , pudding and all that. :hatsoff:[/quote'] I don't know about the rest of the trolls here but I would have expected better from you as you are one of the more sensible posters here. Once again I am not denying that Pakistan has an industry of denial .. but so do most other nations ... does the phrase Pak Occupied Kashmir ring a bell ? Well I was born their and boy were we fighting hard to win our freedom from Pakistan occupying forces :icflove::two_thumbs_up:
ravishingravi Posted October 31, 2012 Author Posted October 31, 2012 I don't know about the rest of the trolls here but I would have expected better from you as you are one of the more sensible posters here. Once again I am not denying that Pakistan has an industry of denial .. but so do most other nations ... does the phrase Pak Occupied Kashmir ring a bell ? Well I was born their and boy were we fighting hard to win our freedom from Pakistan occupying forces :icflove::two_thumbs_up: With all due respect, it isn't even in the same ball park.
Anonymous Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 I don't know about the rest of the trolls here but I would have expected better from you as you are one of the more sensible posters here. Once again I am not denying that Pakistan has an industry of denial .. but so do most other nations ... does the phrase Pak Occupied Kashmir ring a bell ? Well I was born their and boy were we fighting hard to win our freedom from Pakistan occupying forces :icflove::two_thumbs_up: You are right, there is deniability everywhere but you lot have taken it to a whole new level. At this rate you should have a Ministry of Deniability that will be handy whenever there is an act of terrorism anywhere in the world (am sure you'll deny this). Pakistan is like this fat kid that keeps farting in the class and blames it on the guy sitting next. Since you are from POK (thats right, I live in denial), lets get this straight, you dont represent the people living there and stop gloating about how azad you are, we all know the ground reality.
Crookbond Posted October 31, 2012 Posted October 31, 2012 You are right' date=' there is deniability everywhere but you lot have taken it to a whole new level. [b']At this rate you should have a Ministry of Deniability that will be handy whenever there is an act of terrorism anywhere in the world (am sure you'll deny this). Pakistan is like this fat kid that keeps farting in the class and blames it on the guy sitting next. Since you are from POK (thats right, I live in denial), lets get this straight, you dont represent the people living there and stop gloating about how azad you are, we all know the ground reality. :hysterical: :hysterical: :hysterical:
ravishingravi Posted October 31, 2012 Author Posted October 31, 2012 With all due respect, Pakistan has a long way to go to merit a mention among nations who have created and sustained an 'industry of denials'. America, for example, doesn't even agree it's similar to any other nation - the policy of American exceptionalism cuts through the party divide and drives every facet of their policy - economic, military, foreign. The depth of intellectual work that's gone in to sublimate the fantasy of American exceptionalism is something that provincial Paki columnists can hardly hope to match. There is little doubting the american bubble. But I genuinely believe lot of it is campaign rhetoric. I think of some these people are smart and know exactly what they are talking about and why. Yes, maybe american people are stupid. But when they say "leader of free world" or "american exceptionalism", it can be disagreeable but there can be a case made for it.
Prakat Posted November 1, 2012 Posted November 1, 2012 ^ We have tolerance for that level of self-aggrandization in the principal mythologies of modern states. Cf: "Saare Jahaan se achcha." However, America is a unique case that can actually back its words with military might and - thanks to corporate greed and the ignorance of middle America - intent.
Swing_n_Speed Posted November 1, 2012 Posted November 1, 2012 That's a bit rich coming from the country whose wars of 'liberation' killed tens of thousands of kids like Malala. Every country has it's own 'industry of denial' ... but nowhere are the consequences as grave as America's denial of how violent their society has become (both domestically and internationally). +1 Now I fully expect the Yankee fanbois on this forum to crawl out the woodwork's and give you a hard time.
Clarke Posted November 1, 2012 Posted November 1, 2012 +1 Now I fully expect the Yankee fanbois on this forum to crawl out the woodwork's and give you a hard time. The neutral/sensible media criticizes the endless wars the same way it criticizes the attitude in Pak or Indian govt's incompetence, are they not allowed to do that ? I thought u were a big supporter of Ron Paul & liberty, does that not include freedom of the press ? That's a bit rich coming from the country whose wars of 'liberation' killed tens of thousands of kids like Malala. :nice: Blame the entire country when some independent newspaper prints an article criticizing your (ex?) nation's attitude. Why are you so keen on criticizing American foreign policy while living there, is that too rich as well ?
munafbhai Posted November 2, 2012 Posted November 2, 2012 Based on conspiracy theories seen in Pakistani minds/media, it is obvious that they feel they are victims of conspiracy. Its almost as "conspiracy theory" is taught in school as a main subject. Take any terrorist activity in world and fingerprint inadvertently points towards the PuJ (Pakistani University of Jihad) which of course they will deny exists.
someone Posted November 4, 2012 Posted November 4, 2012 The problem will Pakistan is what actually is their identity? At first, it was perceived as the land of (Indian) Muslims. But then Bangladesh was created and ultimately caused the confusion in the country. Till today, they don't have any defined identity. They want to see as Arab Muslims but they themselves reject them so here they are fighting among themselves and trying to destroy other cultures (India?)
ravishingravi Posted November 4, 2012 Author Posted November 4, 2012 ^On the subject, what is India's identity ? Always believe when a country starts searching for one, you are in trouble.
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