Hate and Discriminate - The Words of the Day

Walk over to someone on the street. Anyone. Choose at random. Tell them women deserve to be equal to men. Watch their happy, smiling face slowly transform into a devilish face, full of fury and rage. Watch them tell you through gritted teeth that women can never be equal to men, that their job is to stay home, do household chores and be a baby-making machine. Watch them yell furiously about how your theory is idiotic and stupid. Watch them seethe in rage. And walk away.

Go to another person on the street, specifically a person who has a beard and is wearing shalwar kameez. Tell them everyone who says they are a Muslim, are. Even the Shias and the Ahmadis. Watch them spit on the ground at your theory. Watch them then laugh in your face for how delusional you are. Watch them call you a Kafir for even thinking that way. Watch them say Shias and Ahmadis are Wajib-ul-Qatal. Then walk away.

Go to yet another person on the street. A well-to-do man, this time. You’ll notice by the way he walks, and his suit will speak volumes of his money, anyway. Go up to him and tell him that he and his servant should be treated equally. They are both humans, they are both the descendants of Hazrat Adam, therefore, they are equal. Watch him turn red in rage. Watch him shout at you for telling him such foolish stuff. Watch him tell you how much he earns and how less of it is given to his servant. Watch him tell you that servants are to be treated as lesser human beings. Watch him. Then smile at him and walk away.  

Now, walk up to a female, a very materialistic one, which will be obvious by her attire and her strut. Tell her you know she uses her charms to get ahead in line for payment of a utility bill, or for any kind of work she needs done. Watch her open her mouth in horror. Watch her tell you of your audacity to say that even though she knows it’s true. Watch her flip her hair and tell you you’re not important enough to be talking to her anyway, because she believes she is a celebrity. Smirk, and walk away.

Now, sit down and think. Why did everyone get so riled up when they were compared to people of the other gender, religions and color? Why were they furious at the whole point of equality? What could you possibly have said that made them so angry as to end up insulting you but not accepting the idea of living peacefully and harmoniously?

The answer is hate. The answer is discrimination. The two words that everyone lives by. On the outside, everyone will admit openly that they have never hated anyone and that they have never discriminated against anyone. However, deep inside, they all do. Sorry, scratch that. WE all do. Because that’s how 95% of Pakistan has been brought up. To hate anyone who is different. To detest anyone who talks about living harmoniously. To shout and yell at anyone who talks about being equals with people we consider as lesser human beings.

The concept of living in peace and equality only seems perfect while it’s written on paper; in actual implementation, it seems quite difficult. It’s difficult to make a servant, who you’ve been abusing and scolding and torturing over the tenure of his service, feel as if he is your equal. It’s difficult for most men to believe women should educate themselves and go work. Likewise, it’s difficult for women to believe that not all men are out there to discriminate, insult, abuse, torture, rape, kidnap, or kill them. It’s difficult for a religious extremist to believe that people who he has been calling an infidel for the better part of his life, might just be Muslims. Therefore, we all choose the easier way out: we hate. And we discriminate.

The results of this hatred and discrimination are devastating. Feminist groups now don’t call out for equality; they raise slogans of hatred against men. On the other hand, men raise their hands on their wives and daughters to make sure they don’t even THINK about going out because that way, according to him, they’d be defined as sluts. Religious extremists give sermons on infidels and order people to wage war against them, resulting in the massacre of hundreds of minorities each year. And lastly, the master regards his servant with such abuse that the servant thinks of himself less as a human and more as an animal.

But why? Why doesn’t it stop? Why must this all go on? Why is equality such an easy concept only on paper and not in actual practice? Why must we hate? Can’t all of this just stop? Can’t we all unite? Why must we divide? Why?

It’s high time we decided what’s more important. Our own egos or the bigger picture. Our self-made problems or the actual problems that exist in this world. Celebrities talk of how they want to achieve world peace, but world peace starts at the individual level. By the art of tolerating. Not only another person’s habits and flaws, but also an opinion which might be different from ours. By the art of love. By the art of tolerance. This is the only way that hate and discrimination can be eradicated. Therefore, spread love. Spread harmony. Spread peace. And stop hating. Stop discriminating. And definitely stop the unnecessary bias against people who have nothing against you.

World peace, here we come!