Noor Muqaddam’s death was a tragedy. But, it wasn’t just a tragedy of a brutal murder. It was a stark revelation and a gruesome reminder of a newly-developing characteristic of this nation. And, that characteristic is “hidden biases about religion & women in Pakistan”. As an empowerment platform, we were appalled at the media narrative and the social media coverage of the issue. Using these tragedies to question the ideology of a state, or the religious philosophy it abides by, is throwing a blanket on the real perpetrators of these crimes.
We would like to highlight the very obvious approach the general public and news agencies have adopted towards these murders; which are being branded as, Tragedies of July 2021.
Focus on HOW The Victim Got Murdered:
Is this a human attitude, a sadistic attitude, or a dishonorable attitude, where our curiosity as a nation is never above knowing every single detail of a terrible crime, or speculating on every single detail of a horrendous incident? Should we denounce this as human nature, by justifying our curiosity as a by-product of human nature? Or should we categorize it as extreme subversion of our human values, where despite knowing the palpitating nature of the crime against Miss Noor Muqaddam, we are more keenly invested in “what would have happened in her last moments, or how she escaped, and how she got beaten, or whether she had any scratches or bruises on her body, or simply whether she died before or after the beheading?”
Why are we more concerned about the specifics of the crime, or accessory to the murder? Why do we feel desperate about knowing what the victim did, when it isn’t our job to speculate on it in the first place? Something horrible happened; a woman died, and the bigger portion of the public discourse or the media coverage, is about what happened, then what happened, and then what happened, rather than being simply about WHAT happened. “She died” and that’s what happened. “HOW she died” is not the headline of this situation.
This attitude of our mainstream media is reflective of a society; which uses any and every event to feed its own amusement and curiosity, when sometimes, you just need to self-reflect and let it go; for the sanctity of the victim at the least.
“She died” and that’s what happened. “HOW she died” is not the headline of this situation.
Waniya Batool
Focusing on Characterization of The Murdered, and THEN Deciding The Weight Of Blame:
One of the worst outcomes of July, was the sheer lack of humanity which was showed towards the murdered victims, by a hypocritical national mindset; where the victims had to pass the “CHARACTER TEST” to be able to receive sympathy and prayers of the living.
This depth of ignorance and lack of compassion is paramount; where the height of economic class is being used as an excuse, to justify what had happened to that young woman. As a writer personally, being only two years younger than her, I feel enraged at the audacity of these individuals. Hypocrisy is corruption of mind. Not having access to any data on how this young woman lived, and the fact that you will never know about her state of righteousness, for it’s a personal and deep struggle of an individual, how dare you perceive and interpret the very vague photos, a few snapshots, and her mere social status as a trigger to fuel this sick agenda?
Stop posting tantalizing details of “WHAT she wore that day, WHAT she ate that day, WHAT he said that day, and especially, evaluating more than twenty years of their past lives, to configure, whether she deserved to be killed, or whether he was going to be the killer”
This is high time we look at ourselves in the mirror. Part 2 of this blog will be posted on Friday. Noor Muqaddam was a woman who lost her life to a horrendous crime. We pray for her salvation in the afterlife, and we pray that her family is able to find some peace in this life. It is absolutely unimaginable to grasp what they are going through right now. And, it is requested of the readers, to stop sharing content that is proving to be a red herring, and is deflecting the discussion from self-reflection, towards how Imran Khan is responsible, or Islam is responsible, or whether the perpetrator should be convicted or not. Try to escape this mentality of playing “who is to blame…?”, or abusing your lack of knowledge on facts, by posting and reposting tantalizing details of “what she wore that day, what she ate that day, what he said that day, and especially, evaluating more than twenty years of their past lives, to configure, whether she deserved to be killed, or whether he was going to be the killer”.