Cricket scandal holds mirror to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755’s corrupt society? Maybe not
One particular commentator wrote an article about Pakistan cricket being reflective of the corrupt society that has been allowed to nurture in the land of the pure, hence resulting in a failed state with the cricket team simply providing a reflection of that failure.
An interesting observation was made by the particular Islamabad based journalist who was quick to note, that “Though we are talking allegations at this stage, it is interesting that most commentary has been tainted with ready belief.” This is unfortunately the sad truth that the media has yet to confront. There seems a readiness in the media to believe that whatever allegations made by News of the World are in fact the truth.
Years of living in a society, that has evolved from barbarism to civility has made us realize that certain laws need to be adhered to for they are found to be in the best interests of humankind. Therefore, when the Europeans came up with the first constitution known to mankind in the form of Magna Carta, it was formed for a purpose. The purpose was to ensure justice and fair play amongst fellow citizens of a territory.
One of the laws that hold significant importance is the logical axiom “innocent until proven guilty”. Journalism and for that matter responsible reporting demands veracity, as in the words of Thomas Huxley “veracity is the heart of morality”. But, unfortunately it’s a bitter truth that veracity or morality is a dying art in the trade of what we previously knew as journalism. Allegations and wild accusations are now treated as universal truths.
The crimes of individuals are then used to judge an entire society, a population of 170 million people? Despite all this, we still talk about being the torch bearers of a civilized, unbiased, free, fair and tolerant society that holds no prejudice against others for purported crimes of a certain few. Have we forgotten the amount of rapists, murderers, serial killers, child molesters and war criminals our history has produced over the years? Or does our conscience lock all those terrible memories in a cell and not allow it to surface, heaving a sigh of relief only after it has ascertained that the itch does not come back to haunt us with our condemnable past.
All this tirade of disjointed thoughts doesn’t come at a price of arguing to absolve the criminals off their offence or for that matter defend one wrong with another. It is merely a food for thought for us mortals who most certainly pretend to be walking on some high moral ground, and even despite the high moral standing fail to identify the difference between an allegation and an established fact, treating the two as more or less the same. If we start judging nations on the basis of the crimes of a few individuals than we most certainly are doing a gross disfavor to those who have upheld their ethics, their honesty and their values.
Those who have fought for civil rights and liberties or those who led the single most successful protest to restore a judiciary they had faith in, those who have served humanity for years at ends who have taught the world that “the ambulance is more Muslim than you first thought,” people like Abdul Sattar Edhi. Other mentionable names like Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam and cricketers like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zaheer-Abbas-c98435, Imran Khan.
People with grit character and determination, like Mohammad Ali Jinnah the founder of this relatively young country, about whom H V Hodson writes in his book, "One thing is certain, it was not for any venal motive that he changed. Not even his political enemies ever accused Jinnah of corruption or self seeking. He could be bought by no one and for no price. Nor was he in the least degree a weathercock, swinging in the wind of popularity or changing his politics to suit the chances of the time. He was a steadfast idealist, as well as a man of scrupulous honor."
So for, all those who have heavily criticized Pakistan following allegations based on the stories of a British Tabloid and the confessions of an actress from Lahore, must look back at the fundamental pillars on which their own society has been built to ask themselves this confounding question. Are we ready to discredit an entire nation, based on a few individuals and would we have allowed the same to happen if all the heroes our history has produced were discredited for the crimes of a certain few?
I rest my case.
(The above opinion is the writer’s own and independent in nature)
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