Residing With Trauma Since 1947

What an intensely accusatory and disputatious week it has been.

Gunshots were fired at Imran Khan and other PTI march participants. As soon as we heard the sound of gunfire and witnessed blood, along with the people in positions of authority, condemnations poured in quickly and from all directions.

However, the administration appeared to be reconsidering the event itself after the PTI demanded to identify individuals. Did that actually occur? Or did Khan handle it on his own? There are uncertainties raised.
And while Khan criticises the government more and more, the administration continues to refute it. But only if this was the last of the accusations and denials.Azam Swati, a PTI senator who has earlier accused someone of torturing him (a claim that has also been refuted), said that he and his wife received a tape of a personal incident. However, the FIA vehemently disputed it. The agency quickly determined the video was a "deep fake" using forensics of the highest calibre, and that is where the situation stands.

We can only snicker and sob as we observe our inhumane treatment.

Now, if there are any concerns about who produced this film, why they did so, and how they were circulated, they may only be looked into if the senator makes a complaint.

The forensic examination can be completed right away, but the rest must wait until the complainant speaks out. But the narrative offered even more unexpected turns.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan denied Swati's claims, claiming that the senator actually stayed at the judicial academy housing and that the alleged video was made while he was residing at the Supreme Court housing in Balochistan, because only judges are permitted to do so and because rules are rules in Pakistan and are never broken.

However, the judicial academy felt that this assertion was a bit exaggerated and later disputed that it still possessed living facilities. It is unclear who will need to apply to whom or which organization in order to find out who stayed where in Quetta in this situation.

The administration only wants to ask Khan a few questions; Khan wants to question the Supreme Court and the army chief. They all appear to be in the mood for Kaun Banega or Neelam Ghar.

The establishment does nothing except respond, frequently by holding news conferences and press releases. Even if they have the best of intentions, given the atmosphere we are in, people are more likely to take their remarks with a grain of salt the farther they are from Constitution Avenue. There are more and more people that have doubts.

However, the bigger problem is what's behind all of this back and forth, accusations, and denials. There are no longer any organisations capable of conducting an inquiry and persuading everyone that their findings are reliable and free from outside influences. Only the government has been persuaded by the forensic evidence from the FIA, and only the PTI has been persuaded by the medical care at Shaukat Khanum Hospital.

Everyone is aware of the issues the higher judiciary faces, which is why the prime minister requested a full court bench. The government-appointed panel to investigate Arshad Sharif's death has been rejected by his family, and the administration appears unconcerned.

And just a few people express concern if there are claims of torture or worse. These people include those who have endured this abuse for years and some who were unaware of it until Shahbaz Gill was apprehended; the remainder are still split between the "it occurred" and "it didn't happen" camps. If the five phases of grieving could be applied to our politics, the PTI would be dealing with anger and bargaining, the government with denial, and the people with depression.

But in the midst of this disaster, all we can do is laugh and howl at how brutalized we seem to have become. We are people who frequently experience violence, repression, and humiliation. Empathy is in limited supply because people are so enraged by the injustices done to them and the possible disgrace that resulted from them.

Since it was scarce while X was the goal, why should X now give it to Z? And you can be sure that Z, who is the victim right now, won't feel sympathy for Y tomorrow when she is the victim. Just in fairy tales brutality and cruelty make us more empathetic; in real life, it only leads to more of the same.Victim blaming and even victim loathing follow in its wake.
A victim is only truly a victim if they are completely at fault. If there is abuse directed against female journalists, it is due to their prejudicial views. How could we ever forget their poor journalism if journalists were killed or threatened? Violence and the subpar standards of journalism are inextricably linked; we give a new meaning to the idiom "rip him or her for his terrible poem."We question if it actually happened or whether the politicians were nice enough to not deserve to be humiliated or blackmailed. According to the beliefs we hold, Hardy's Tess would not be viewed as a victim in Pakistan and her murder was fully merited.

Since many of our fellow citizens who were not prominent or well-known enough had experienced this, we either were not made aware of it or were persuaded that it was their due. And plenty of people purchased it in bulk.

We have been residing in a state of trauma and being gaslighted since 1947, which is when it was originally manufactured.

The violence of all kinds is tolerated in our culture and should be endured with stoicism. Because we also live in a patriarchal culture, males are not expected to cry or voice their complaints when unpleasant things occur. And those who did weren't truly Pakistanis.

The fact that concerns are being discussed in areas of the country that had not previously heard the clamour is why things appear to be falling apart. Even then, though, we are not quite certain if it will result in change. And perhaps the true tragedy is this.