Lazy Liberals: Look Busy, Do Nothing!

For a while now the liberals keep saying that they are standing up and waging a great struggle against those who are constantly attacking them and their beliefs. Around social media and even main stream media, the liberals are talking, making a lot of noise with regards to presenting how they are being attacked and consistently marginalized. But here is the problem, apart from shouting and crying foul play, the liberals in Pakistan have yet to do anything else. 

In any society there are always liberals, conservatives, libertarians and what not. It is not like we are special in some way that only we have the liberals who are the self claimed battered minority in an increasingly hostile environment. The point of this whole discussion is not to bash liberals; it is in fact to call out the liberals to actually do something instead of just making noise. The whole purpose of this piece is to actually get liberals to do something, become politically involved,organize themselves in groups and become a viable opposition to the many rightist groups in Pakistan.

Starting out the most common phrase liberals keep using is, they are against us and they attack us. Define who THEY are. I mean if it is the conservatives or the religious right or aliens or people who just do not like you. Who are THEY exactly? I ask this question because in order for any of us to have a proper dialogue, we need to at least know what the two sides are. So an answer to this question would be a great start. 

Massive JUI-F Rally in Karachi. Over 200,000 people showed up.

Secondly, assuming that the logical opposite of liberals is conservatives and in terms of Pakistan that being the religious right, what are the liberals actually doing. Because see the religious parties are organized, and by that I mean, if they call out their supporters they can assemble thousands in a matter of hours. In case you want an example, Jamaat-e-Islami’s annual show of power at Punjab University is a sight worth watching. More importantly the discipline they have is exemplary. So in contrast to that, what have the liberals done so far? I mean I realize that they keep repeating that they are more of an ideological group and the PPP is the only party that even remotely close to their ideas. But thing is, Conservatives are also an ideology, and yet they actually did something and formed various groups and parties who now exert influence regionally if not nationally. So while the liberals might have sympathies towards a political party, they do not have their own party or even an organized group on the scale of their apparent ideological rivals. 

Thirdly, I know it is awesome and pretty cool to write a million articles and make 100s of movies about how Pakistan is super conservative but that kind of does absolutely nothing to actually address the problem. I know the argument to that might be it at least raises awareness among people, to that I ask you what people? Because the people you would like to raise awareness among do not read or see most of your stuff because it is totally beyond their reach or at times understanding. So while you are doing whatever you are doing, and congratulating each other over super brilliant stuff you might have written and your buddies have read, the overall impact is next to nothing. Also while we are at it, the term liberals have somehow become synonymous with being elitist or rich or even pro-western. Which to be honest is not right, as liberalism means a lot more. But our liberals have managed to stay in their comfy cocoon and cement this reputation instead of taking it head on. 

Falah-e-Insaniyat Trust, a group that is rebranding of Jamaat-ud Dawa
doing relief work in Rural Sindh

Moreover, the point is our liberals tend to make statements and say touchy feely stuff instead of doing jack shit. Instead of being constantly bashed by everyone else, why haven’t our liberals actually engaged the other side in a debate? I am sorry but saying that they have guns and they are not willing to listen to logic is bullshit. Thing is the sort of logic and language our liberals are going on about is not even on the same page as most of the country let alone the other side. If you want to genuinely have a discussion and debate over something logical you will have to start playing at the same level as your opponents and critics. But this is apparently something that is beyond the understanding of our liberals, because this would require genuine effort and work, instead they are too lazy for that. They just enjoy sitting in upscale neighborhoods and cities while addressing the issues of the common man. It just can’t work like that. The basic minimum that needs to be done is at least speak the same language as your opponents. Also it would kind of help, if our liberals stopped being cry babies and perpetual victims.

Our liberals cannot continue doing what they have been so far i.e. making noise and writing about making that noise, taking small victories and exaggerating them in to epic wins. That cannot continue, because they just cement the public’s perception of them being a group of over educated pro western elitists. Point is, if the liberals want the respect the religious parties and conservative groups get, well start performing at the same level. Stop exaggerating small tiny simplistic every day things in to epic achievements. Because fact is, if you want to go head to head with any social conservative group in the field of social work, you do not stand a chance. So play to your strengths or better yet start playing rather than complaining about your unfulfilled dream of playing. The scale of liberal groups needs to improve while also the sphere in which they function. They cannot keep competing as an ideology against something that is an ideology as well as well oiled machine.