Marvi Sirmed takes apart Zaid Hamid and his hypocrisy in Shahid Nama
Zaid Hamid is a right wing version of urban pseudo-liberal proxies such as Ejaz Haider, Cyril Almeida and Mosharaf Zaidi
Marvi boldly confronts Zaid Hamid and his double standards and lies on the genocide of the Baloch, Hazara, Turis and the mistreatment of Hindus in Pakistan on Shahid Nama (talk show by Dr. Shahid Masood, 25 August 2011, Express News TV).
Zaid Hamid brought with him print-outs of Marvi’s writings. His “evidence” that she is a RAW agent was her letter to editor in which she had written that the spy agency that attacked her house had given the reason that “I look and sound like enemy”.
Apparently, Zaid Hamid was too much pained to hear “Laal Topi waala maskhara” for him, a term coined by Nusrat Javeed.
Also, Zaid Hamid called Baloch activists as traitors and Indian agents. Those who call Marvi fake civil society may wish to watch what was her reply.
Perhaps more than Marvi who is already much respected for her political liberal stance, critical readers are watching opportunist urban “liberals” such as
Ejaz Haider’s and Cyril Almeida’s lies on Balochistan and Tammy Haq and Mosharraf Zaidi’s convenient silence on the Baloch, Tooris and Hazara genocide by the ISI-TTP-SSP mafia).
Recently Cyril Almeida
shamelessly justified notable Baloch scholar Professor Dashtiyari’s murder in his column on Balochistan by blaming him for his support to violent Baloch nationalist groups. This is what Mr. Almeida wrote:
When asked about the allegations that Dashtiyari had been killed by the intelligence agencies, a senior security official responded defiantly, “Who owned his death? BLA did. They put out statements eulogising him. Who was he close to? What were his politics?”
Multiple sources confirmed to Dawn that Dashtiyari, while never having taken up arms himself, was close to insurgent groups and at various times had exhorted violence against the state and other ethnicities living in Balochistan.
Similarly,
Ejaz Haider recently wrote a post in Express Tribune By in which he tried to prove Iran and Hazaras as the main culprits who have provoked Lashkar-e-Jhangvi for violence against Shia Hazaras. According to
Farrukhzad Ali:
Ejaz Haider absolved the Pakistani state, especially the ISI, of any culpability. By doing so, he insidiously aroused the sentiments of the common Pakistanis against the Shias of Quetta, and sedating their consciences with the allegations of treason and violence against the latter.
In Shahid Nama today, Marvi asked Zaid Hamid tough questions about his unconditional support to military and the ISI despite their failure several times.
Zaid was up to his usual tactics to defend army generals. He claimed that Pak Army committed no atrocities on Bengalis in 1971 and that everything currently happening in Balochistan and FATA was a handiwork of CIA and RAW.
Frustrated by Zaid Hamid’s failure to confront Marvi’s arguments, his followers have started a vicious campaign against her on googlegroups and various Pakistani websites.
Marvi Sirmed asked five questions on Twitter:
Q#1: If Zaid Hamid draws my attention to Kashmir, but I want justice for my Baloch brothers & sisters, is it crime?
Q#2: If my people are being killed under stupid security paradigm and I seek peace with India for South Asia’s prosperity, is it crime?
Q#3: If I question the rhetoric of “Roohaani asaas” and “nazariyaati asaas” to get more real and work for Pakistan’s progress, is it crime?
Q#4: If I say that an absurd two-nations theory is no more relevant to the ground realities of Pakistan, is it a crime?
Q#5: If I say Iqbal wrote a letter to Times denying that he did any idea of Pakistan (reference available). Is it my hatred for Iqbal?
The names that were erased by Dr. Shahid Masood: Mehr Bokhari, Nusrat Javeed, Imtiaz Alam and Hazara Shias (in the order of appearance)
While opportunist urban “liberals” who are known for their opportunism and selective morality are left with little choice but to appreciate what Marvi did to Zaid Hamid today which they could not imagine in their wildest dreams, it is high time that Ejaz Haiders and Cyril Almeidas must apologize to the Baloch nation and Hazara nation for the lies they have written to misrepresent their sufferings.
Similarly, the Ayesha Tammy Haqs and Mosharraf Zaidis need to reflect on their silence and/or token gestures at best on these issues. In their specific case, they are too beholden to compromised institutions (Chaudhary and his Supremes) and dishonest narratives (NATO in Afghanistan is responsible for extremism). Their support for such intellectually and morally bankrupt institutions and narratives actually places them on the wrong side of the issue of the genocide of the Baloch, Hazaras and Turis. Opportunists such as these would like to jump on the bandwagon blazed by Marvi but such is the power of honesty that we suspect that they will not be able to continue justifying their warped views on these issues for too long.
Towards the end of the show, Marvi did not spare Zaid Hamid when he referred to Zia’s subjective moralist “insertions” in the Constitution to create an Iranian-style theocracy in Pakistan. These insertions which were also used by the Supreme Court to strike down the NRO are eerily similar to the workings of the Guardian Council that uses its own highly subjective criteria to strike down electoral candidates.
In boldly countering this insidious anti-democracy ploy by propagandists like Zaid Hamid, Marvi has shown the way to the urban elite youths. This section of the population has been brainwashed by three and half decades of a continuing Zia legacy and now finds comfort in similar propaganda by the more refined Zaid Hamid version, Imran Khan.
After her stunningly courageous stand, Marvi is already being attacked on Pro-Zaid Hamid google-groups and forums. We urge all LUBP readers to support her for her remarkable presentation on Shahid Nama.
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