LM often thinks our elite Muslim and Non Muslim tend to live in Parallel Worlds made famous by the Upstairs Downstairs programme but in country's like Pakistan they really take the biscuit.
Pakistan can now really make a claim to fame with the launch of Hello Pakistan a glossy magazine for rich little boys and girls who can now aspire to the lifestyles of those iconic wonders of western civilisation Like Kim Kardashian and Katie Price.
LM has always during the debate concerning the banning of the Niqab told men to get out of a woman's wardrobe however, there is something altogether more odious looking at affluent people flaunt wealth that is often stolen, the result of inheritance or simply obtained by one criminal means after another.
The Editor Ms Zaraah Safiluah Khan (Pictured) who has an interesting dress sense while showing the requisite level of flesh manages some interesting quotes. LM was intrigued by her claim that the magazine would help show "we're not all a bunch of terrorists with beards" as she regally and revealingly reclines in her sitting room with ironically shotguns hanging from the walls and presumably a bottle of Jack Daniels discreetly hidden from view for guests.
Somehow, these individuals who in their laudable desire to portray fellow Pakistanis positively appear inadvertently to revert into Goodness Gracious Me mode through their desperate desire to ape an increasingly overt western sexualised culture. Taking off your clothes or western fashion catwalks are not a sign of enlightened culture but actually a backward and retrograde step for humanity. Remember the quote from Yemen's Tawakkul Kamran that man in early times was often naked but as his intellect developed he started wearing clothes and covered his private parts.
Hello Pakistan is sadly a reflection of a pampered tiny minority who live in their gated communities and hold the rest of society with increasing contempt. The reality is it is these individuals like Model Veena Malik who have lost their faith and respect as they determine on pursuing a path which bears no reflection to actual reality just like their gurus in Bollywood who portray a fantasy world of Palaces and Love when the truth is sadly more grim.
Not all Pakistanis are religious, heck not even all Pakistanis are muslim (even the ones born to muslim families, with 'muslim' names etc).I personally don't think what she is wearing is anywhere close to nakedness- if we want to be finicky about it, she has all her limbs covered except for one arm, no cleavage showing etc. Frankly if she really is secular/nonreligious, she can wear whatever she wants whether it is Islamic or not. I mean Islamic dress codes only apply to those who bother practicing it right? It is completely voluntary, I mean no one should be compelled to practice Islam and abide by its dress code, or else it becomes a barbaric doctrine imposed on people and NOT a faith freely chosen and followed (sort of like what Islam has become in Iran).
ReplyDeleteI think what LM is reacting too (and could have phrased better without all this nonsense about how clothed Ms Khan should be), is the obvious inequality in Pakistani society, the gap between the haves and have-not. It that respect I agree with him, there is an obvious stratification in society where the majority are very poor. This tendency for media in Pakistan to shine a spotlight on the lives of the rich and ignore the overwhelming majority of the population is indeed problematic (I also have serious issues with Bollywood always showcasing the aspirational KKKG lifestyle and never the Slumdog reality for many Indians). But when LM does what he usually does, taking the judgemental approach, focusing on the dress sense of an individual (who surprise! is a young woman! like Konnie Huq, Mezhgan and numerous other LM's previous targets) who does not seem particularly religious in any sense but yet is paid out for wearing 'skanky' clothing, it just seems to be the same-old same-old by LM and it's hard to take LM seriously.
Why post a picture of an attractive woman in what you deem unacceptable clothing and invite your readers to comment on her dress sense? How is that necessary at all? Why could you not just have a critical discussion of the social inequity in Pakistan? Maybe then people would take you seriously LM.
Moral decline ,fractured society - these are the some of the consequences of western culture.Why people on earth want to follow this culture? The answer is pure ignorance.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest - I don't get this fascination with labelling others muslims, or of lost faith/morals - a main pillar of Islam, only Allah judges.
ReplyDeleteI also don't agree she is taking off her clothes. She is wearing an outfit with one shoulder/arm revealed. Big deal. Go to Turkey and see how they dress. Look up Arab singers like Haifa Wehbe or other young starlets and you will be shocked.
It is not western culture. But if we assume that is the ill, then also includes typing away on the internet. Internet as I see it is by far an evil worth commenting on. People sit behind their screens assuming anonymity all the while trashing others and bashing on about others dress or not.
Hey she ain't asking you to? So live and let live. Unless you decide to live a secluded life away from all modern media, you can't stop culture from evolving.
We can discuss how productive the current state of things are - but that should be done in a sober manner.
But to be taken seriously as a Muslim, you need to leave judging to Allah. There are more pressing issues which actually deserve to be discussed. Human trafficking, prositution, poverty, corruption, current affairs, drone attacks by the US, Raymond the murderer etc.
Bashing somebodys dress sense and making assumptions (whiskey bottle??) about somebody one does not know, is neither here nor there. Don't buy Pakistani Hello. Boycot it. No biggie.
And it is worth remembering - Pakistanis are not homogenous. There are all types - and that is how the world is. Not all brits are the same either. So why not tolerate the differences just like we keep asking others to do when dealing with Muslims and Islam?
Live and let live. I don't care what others do. Just don't force it on to me. To hold others responsible for your own moral decline is just absurd. You and you alone have the responsibility for yourself - regardless of temptations lurking about.