The Devil's Advocate..

I have never been a huge fan of Pervaiz Musharraf. I think most of his policies were woefully short-sighted but if there was one thing he was right about, atleast in his choice of words, that was Enlightened Moderation.

I think of those words today because the last 2 days have been a sad display of how Pakistanis are prone to be extremists in their point of views. 

On one end of a continuum are the pseudo-religious fanatics, for whom the very foundation of religion rested on one's willingness to ban facebook for a day- or two and now till the 31st.

On the other extreme end are those who have really disappointed me- the online community of bloggers and tweeple on whom the intricacies of the decision by the LHC are lost.

I see the Court's decision as a sound Disaster Prevention Plan. The last time when there was a similar outcry against the Danish cartoons, rioting and vandalism had resulted in a huge loss of property as well as lives. When the DMD story first surfaced, I was alarmed. I was afraid of history repeating itself in Pakistan, in the name of love for the Holy Prophet. But as 20th May has passed without incident, I breath a sigh of relief. No loss of lives or property, to punish acts of blasphemy several thousand miles away. And all because Facebook was banned, because despite googling 'D... M... D...', the aforementioned fanatics found nothing. PTA had banned all such content. There were two solutions to respond to the intolerant majorities: Mass Education or Immediate Ban. I have been trying to educate and holding
discussions with a number of them, only to have my faith called into questioned. In the short run, a ban on any material that stepped on their religious nerve could have been of any use.

For me, such a ban was worthwhile if it prevented needless burning of tyres, breaking windows and most importantly loss of lives. A few days without Facebook or all the banned sites should not be such a huge price to pay if the more passionate majorities of Pakistan can erase the existence of any blasphemous content from their short-lived memories.

But, the online community- the educated classes, the last living hope this country has- has perceived this ban as a curtailing of their right to internet freedom. I believe their harsh criticism, nay ridicule, of this decision was unfair. While I understand that many businesses depend heavily on Facebook and other websites, and also that Facebook is only a media and not a content creator; I also realise that these would only have been valid arguments if the first group of extremists didn't exist. Even without a ban, Facebook would have seen a massive dip in number of visitors on the days of the campaign itself, which is why for atleast these 2 days, any Facebook benefits to businesses, NGOs, eventplanners, advertisers, art gallery/restaurant owners would have evaporated automatically. With or without the ban, those who depended on the medium for their day to day activities, that involved reaching out to mass audiences, would have suffered. 

The websites will be back in a few days and our energies should be spent in ensuring that the bans are not prolonged. The government is not being authoritative or taking away anyone's rights,
not with this ban, atleast, and it is a hasty and emotional error on our parts to consider it so. 

While I do concede that the banning of a thousand plus sites and blocking Blackberry services that followed was sloppy work on the part of the regulatory authority, and has caused much inconvenience; it is the benefits of their actions that I greatly appreciate. There has been enough unrest in Karachi on account of political killings in the last few days and I'm glad that the faith brigade hasn't added to this trouble.

For a change, I've decided to look at the silver lining. Those who know me, should know what an aberration that is. But tonight, I just want to be grateful that this day is behind me. 

At the end of this day, I only pray for Moderation and Enlightenment for everyone and myself

From Sidret's Blog