Time Square Bomb Attempt & the ill Fated
Posted by عمار - aMmAr | Posted in Pakistan, Politics, Social and Politics | Posted on 04-05-2010-05-2008
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A friend from the US visited Pakistan last summer, like all Pakistanis working in America he shared quite a few interesting stories related to the cumbersome visa processes every Pakistani endures in order to experience the Pakistani dream of living and working in America. One of his story sparked an interesting debate and lead me to a moment of self reflection.
The story goes like this, Candidate ‘A’ applied for the US visa. During his interview (investigation sounds more appropriate) the interviewer (let’s call him ‘Dirty Harry’ to add a little spice) while scanning through candidate A’s visa application Dirty Harry asked some questions that came as a surprise to Candidate A. It goes like this:
Dirty Harry: Do you still live in the same apartment you mentioned in this document?
Candidate A: (Gulp) Yes sir.
Dirty Harry: Isn’t it the same location, where journalist Daniel Pearl was kept hostage?
Candidate A: Really? I have no idea.
Dirty Harry: I remember it from the movie.
Candidate A: Excuse me? :S
Dirty Harry: The Daniel Pearl movie, starring Angelina Jolie. Have you seen it?
Candidate A: No!
Turns out, that Dirty Harry was a Jolie fan and had seen the movie: Mighty Heart. He didn’t like the idea that candidate ‘A’ lives in the same apartment which was once used by Al-Qaeda for a popular crime. So what? if that was a very long time ago. So what? if Candidate A had nothing to do with the crime or Al-Qaeda. So what? if there are 500 or more flats in those apartments. Who would take such a risk, eh?
Who would take such a risk? My friend directed the question to us, as he completed the narration. My immediate reaction was; candidate A should have changed the name of his apartments if he knew about such a crime. It could have save him from the embarrassment. My friend snapped:
“Would you change the name of your country for a US Visa or your name because it’s a Muslim name?”
I was too embarrassed to answer that question. As I am writing this post today; some very upsetting information is making news all over the place. Some douche from Karachi allegedly tried to blow up Time Square, New York. Now thank God he failed in his attempt or else… Ok I don’t want to imagine what it could have caused us. Who would have pictured the present situation of the world and Pakistan in particular before 9/11. Even the mentioned incident will make the life of many Pakistanis living in the US quite difficult. Forget about the students and professionals who were aiming for the US visa.
The Pakistani tragedy is that we all are scrutinized for the crimes we never committed. Statically speaking more Pakistanis are the victim of terrorism than any American for that matter. Our army has been more effective against the Taliban than US and NATO forces combine in Afghanistan. US Govt. has more power to enforce their will on the Pakistani than the voters who elected the Govt. American drones fly in Pakistani air space, bomb down Pakistani houses and land safely on Pakistani bases. Still, our seriousness is questioned, our loyalty to the cause is inquired and our fate is decided on the basis of some Hollywood movie.
Popularity: 41% [?]
I always question one thing. Why would a man who has a family, job, sound future and stability would choose such a path? But then I think we have no idea if he was as stable and prosper as he seemed.
In any case he and his family is screwed.
People’s memories are associative. We tend to associate one idea to another. I see a bad incident, I grab some information and associate to what I already know. That’s the way masses work.
What you want to do is to give people ‘enough’ information about Pakistan so that Pakistan can be associated with both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ things, like all other places in the world. There’s a lot of crap that happens in Israel, but Israel’s perception abroad, especially in United States is mixed, it is not negative. You would ask the questions why? Because ‘every’ member of Israeli community ’strives’ to bring the good side out and they certainly have a good side to them! We, Pakistanis, don’t do it enough.
My 2 cents.
[...] This cup of tea was served by: R O N I N [...]
@Ayesha These questions are point less, nobody is going to listen to our part of the story. For the rest of the world we are just miscreants
@Rakesh > I 100% agree with you here, Pakistan is desperately in need of re branding and image building for that matter . We all have to pay our part in it but if you look at the ground reality, I personally find myself very helpless. An average Pakistani locally or abroad don’t have the same reach as western media got. And the Western makes money out terrorism. Because lets face it; terrorism sells more than sex.
As for Israel; it utilizes its power, money and reach to make things appear a certain way. They own every renown news agency across the western world. None the less we should try to achieve the same in our little capacity .
[...] the possibilities of more terrorist attempts, many in Pakistan feel targeted. Blogger Ammar Yasir relates the incident to US visa policies and the effect of terrorist attacks on US-Pakistan relations: The [...]
[...] the possibilities of more terrorist attempts, many in Pakistan feel targeted. Blogger Ammar Yasir relates the incident to US visa policies and the effect of terrorist attacks on US-Pakistan relations: The [...]
the point about rebranding is well made but how do you think our ban on fb will be reported in the US?
I liked your article and reminder that Pk has suffered more than most because of taliban yet we don’t get credit and are treated as suspect.
[...] the possibilities of more terrorist attempts, many in Pakistan feel targeted. Blogger Ammar Yasir relates the incident to US visa policies and the effect of terrorist attacks on US-Pakistan relations: The [...]