Pot calling the kettle black: Imran Khan reserves the right to privacy, but Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto don’t?


Some days later, I got another message, in which he was desecrating Maryam Nawaz’s character by alleging that she had eloped 25 years ago with Safdar Awan

This allegation perturbed me a lot and I requested him not to make such baseless assertions and reminded him that Maryam’s marriage was her private matter

Ironically, the same friend texted me in the middle of the media frenzy regarding his leader Imran’s third marriage and started lecturing me about the need for respecting Imran’s private life

Funnily enough, he also sent me the video clip of Bilawal’s short response terming it as the most mature response

I politely reminded him of his earlier texts about Bilawal and Maryam and pointed out his obviously different standards

He chose to remain silent in response

https://www

youtube

com/watch?v=nBAYI-PuueU But my friend is not alone

The entire social media, where Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has a massive presence, is reeking of similar hypocrisy and double standards

Right now, they want to thrust “it is his personal life” mantra down the throats of everyone, while they themselves have, for years, been indulging in shameless character assassination of their political opponents

On Twitter, I have seen shameless tweets suggesting that Maryam’s daughter was born after merely four months of marriage and also about how she had supposedly eloped in 1992

https://twitter

com/Muhamma64350523/status/950076360336314368 https://twitter

com/iam_rajpoot17/status/948922404256075778 https://twitter

com/hashtag_sami/status/950269490306211840 https://twitter

com/ptilohan/status/950121394599284736 One has to merely follow her, or Reham Khan’s account to understand the level of filth some of the PTI supporters are capable of

https://twitter

com/rehamkhan100/status/948506909983825921 https://twitter

com/YANITRICK/status/949598836158337024 https://twitter

com/rehamkhan100/status/950472123285467136 To be fair here, I have seen similar level of posts made by other parties also

I once wrote about the way Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) supporters often tried to drag Tyrian White in their online battle against PTI

I argued that constantly harping on the Sita White issue was frankly wrong and bringing Tyrian into the discussion was completely disgusting and third-rated

In Imran’s supposed third marriage case also, PML-N’s online behaviour is sickening

Mahwash Ajaz summed up the online battle very aptly in the following tweet: https://twitter

com/mahwashajaz_/status/950047882354315264 However, while it is correct to argue that other parties have also done the same, the problem here is that it is PTI which always claims to be some sort of anti-status quo party

Yet, in reality, their online behaviour is actually filthier, augmented by their comparatively larger presence in the social media

Today, these self-righteous supporters and abusers are requesting for privacy while completely forgetting their own disgusting behaviour when it comes to opposition leaders

But their hypocrisy aside, from a normative perspective, is their claim that marriage is a totally private affair correct? The problem is that globally, marriages of famous politicians and celebrities are discussed in the media

One cannot keep it under the wraps, even if one wishes to make it a totally private affair

How you marry and where you marry will always be a topic of discussion

https://twitter

com/mosharrafzaidi/status/949609530962391040 Problem is not with the coverage of the news but rather the nature of the coverage

In Imran’s case, I do agree that media coverage has been irresponsible and bent on creating excessive hype

Moreover, it has also shown glimpses of completely unethical journalism

For example, an article (now taken off) from a leading daily attributed statements from Bushra Manika’s former husband blaming Imran for the break-up of his marriage

However, subsequently her ex-husband had to record a video message  in which he made it clear that he had not said any such things

This kind of reporting is irresponsible and morally wrong

Imran’s marriage, whether it has taken place or not, will continue to be discussed

PTI supporters are wrong to expect that it will be treated as a completely private affair

However, they are correct in their criticism of the way it is being covered

At the same time, they should also realise that their own behaviour also reeks of the same filth which they are accusing others of



Date:10-Jan-2018 Reference:View Original Link