Slave Mindedness of our Pakistani Twitteratti ( Through Pictures)

US President Obama won the elections, which was of no surprise to anyone, although what surprised every body was  how closely the election was fought eventually, and it must be acknowledged that for all the fiascoes that Romney and the Tea Party created over the years and during the campaign trail, they still gave Obama, a run for his money.

That being said our liberal journos were ecstatic at Obama's win, something which is also not surprising with the US government's active interest in managing perceptions. When Obama won the election today our liberal journos and media personalities exploded with joy as if Obama was being elected as the President of Pakistan and not of USA. I will say no more here but present to you screen shots that I took of twitter regrading those people's tweets and leave you to be the judge.

The darling of our fashion industry seems jubilant at Obama's victory? Is he your president Ms. Aaminah?

Dear Asma Shirazi,  how can you maintain your impartiality when you are so over awed by Americans

Aliya Salahuddin, haven't seen her much on TV for a long time, well we now know she spends her time crying for Obama, could  that time been spent crying  for Pakistan, we all would have been happy.

Yes, Mr. Salman, may the junoon of droning the bejesus out of Pakistani always be with Mr. Obama.

Ah, thegenius Ms. Mehreen Malik, writes brilliant Op-Eds on The News but seems she is beholden to Democrats, somebody please check whether she is Pakistani or American.

What is this champion of human rights is doing in Pakistan and is beyond me, apparently drones and constant attacks by Obama and Co. do not constitute human rights violations.

Yes Ms. Tarar, we know you are extremely happy, couldn have cheered and show interest our own elections too.

What to expect from Mr. Solangi who runs Radio Pakistan, even our radio waves are being controlled by yanks now.

Yes, Ms. Nuzhat, a ladoo every time a drone blows up a civilian house in Miraanshah. 

Now you have seen. Now you decide. The power to decide is yours. Avail it.

PTI Trolls

Youth have played a pivotal role in revolutions and movements that have changed the course of history and as Herbert Hoover said, “Older men declare war. But it is youth that must fight and die”.

In modern times, Obama’s 2008 campaign and the Egypt Uprising are examples of how the power of youth was utilized by older leaders to create history. However, it can also be said that the politicians and leaders in both cases struck a chord with the youth who were resentful, dissatisfied and angry at the status quo. In both the cases, the youth passionately advocated the ideals of democracy and social equality and made sure that their voice was heard so that the degeneration of a political system or the whole society could be prevented. These youth really wanted to change the world and they made sure the chance they had was not wasted. And, the wily politicians exploited that masterfully.

The case is almost similar to PTI and specially Imran Khan’s story as well. It’s popularity among the Pakistani youth is mostly due to its effective use of social media, the presence of which has changed the political landscape of Pakistan by exposing the life and lies of well known personalities both political and nonpolitical. In social media, the youths of Pakistan have certainly found a platform where they can express themselves and make their thoughts heard by a large audience. Well, with this growing number of social media users, you also get occasional ‘trolls’ who disrupt normal debates and conversations with their own brand of reasoning which is pretty much detached with reality and rational thought. But is there any method to their actions, especially of the ‘alleged’ PTI trolls? One is led to believe that the PTI trolls are just random masked idiots who’s only aim in life is to disrupt conversations and malign the people who’s allegiance lies with any party except PTI. Normally their behavior is alleged to be such that if you don’t like, revere, love or hold Imran Khan and PTI in high esteem then you are a western agent or unpatriotic. Well some of them are certifiably like that but the classification by our liberals, media personalities and rights activists that all youths supporting PTI are like that is demonstrably wrong. I am in no way an office bearer or on the payroll of PTI but I do support it because of its principles. But does that mean that I am a troll? Would I attack liberals and all personages anti-PTI just because they disagree with me? But we must ask ourselves, what compels those other youths to attack online anybody disagreeing with their political views? For one thing, one is angered by the amount of criticism hurled down by political parties and certain journalists and ‘enlightened’ individuals whose own past is tainted –rather heavily- by corruption, disreputable behavior and links to terror, all which is well documented .  How, a ‘PTI troll’ thinks, is it so that those political parties, which have led Pakistan to this catastrophic situation, have the audacity to criticize a political party, which hasn’t come into power yet. That youth /aka PTI troll is angered by this and when unable to effectively communicate his thoughts and grievances, then adopts trolling as a medium of protest, yes it is true that that ‘troll’ abandons rational judgment of differentiating right from wrong and doesn’t criticize his own party but the blame lies on the vile and loathsome mess that our elders, liberals, conservatives and political parties have created.  But the leadership of PTI must also take steps to prevent this from happening because that tarnishes its own image. Trolling is extremism in its truest form and while it cannot be stamped out, but it certainly can be reduced. The youths supportive of PTI that I know are very good communicators and open minded. The actions of a few must not reflect on the majority.

Trolling also tells us something about our society that has engendered those trolls, trolls are just not on the internet, they are in offices, mosques, institutes and gatherings. Our society has become such that it provides the right ingredients for the creation of a troll.  Strict adherence to any ideal, lack of critical analysis and open mindedness are now becoming the characteristics of our society and that is reflected in the verbal jousts taking place on the social media.  The sad part about these trolls is that they tend to be youth, the same youth that are supposed to lead the country in the future but alas, their actions warrant introspection by the society itself.