As a national hobby, Pakistan's poulace has never disappointed us by taking social media by storm over most trivial and most sensitive issues. Just see how our nation behaved amidst pandemic prone days while issues popped up one by one.
A couple of weeks ago a video of a lady misbehaving with security personnel was all over social media which brought to the fore a glaring issue. The #کرنل_کی_بیوی and related stuff went viral as went the video of a lady where she was seen misbehaving with police personnel somewhere on Hazara Motorway. Once the video was on air, our most dedicated Muslim population threw all piety to the winds and made one think twice if the devil really was enchained in Ramadan! Factually, the lady's stunt is a glimpse of our society at large. Is it not our national problem to have a proclivity for undeterred authority? Is it not that we all have a way of thinking most relevant to the days of British Raj? Are we not goaded into fight over fragile issues for sectarian and communal interests? If the answer to all these questions comes out to be YES, then we should never be amazed to see what happened at the scene on May 20th. But the saddest part was an outright blame levelled against the institution of Army. The rhetoric was so well publicised that #کرنل_کی_بیوی became a top trend on social media.
In a few day's time it was a fatal PIA plane crash where 99 people lost their lives in Karachi. Since the inquiry is still in progress, therefore it won't be prudent even now to comment on how the fiasco unveiled, but thanks to our hotheaded folks who at once started giving their "expert analyses” on how the crash happened, who is to blame, who would be penalised and above all the prime target of censure became Air Marshal Arahad Malik who is heading the PIA. Some blamed Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and others blatantly assigned the blame to the Captain of the aircraft. Again these learned people ignored pain of the bereaved families who lost their loved ones just a day before Eid-ul-Fitr. Playing into the hands of unverified information and making mountain of a molehill was never required, but unfortunately it was as such.
Then came the case of an actress named Uzma Khan whose residence was forayed into by female family members of a business tycoon, Malik Riaz, for having alleged extramarital relations with Usman Malik - husband of Amna Malik. The novices again proved their naiveness by creating a spree on the internet. Thus people from all hue and colour started a debate on how, why, what etc. Some blamed the actress and others the wife of Usman Malik and yet some blamed Usman for transgressing his limits as a husband. Simply put, it was pure nonsense since a couple of days later both parties squared up and all emotional folks had to eat the dust.
In yet another event, our energised masses took "social media warfare" too seriously when a black American named George Floyd was murdered in a homicide by policemen in USA. The "keyboard warriors" left no stone unturned in condemning ad nauseam the brutal murder with a popular hashtag #Black_Lives_Matter. But then what? It all vanished like a pricked bubble. Folks needed some other hot topic.
And another hot topic was none other than Ms Cynthia D. Ritchie who is an American national based in Pakistan and works on portraying a positive image of Pakistan. But this time she got into a spat with Pakistan People's Party (PPP) by exposing the ill-doings of its leaders. Everyday she posts something on her twitter account which serves as a new topic for our emotionally biased folks. The battle is still on but what is perturbing is the response mechanism of our people who know nothing about using social media. The spree it has caused is all the more contentious but Ms Ritchie has her own reasons.
Whatever the case, our talented population is doomed as this kind of a behaviour is dangerous. Squandering precious time and talent away into social media frenzy is not a wise decision but that's how the weird folks of my land are. With all that they do, we still love them.
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