Mr. Zuberi has alleged that I have levelled a personal attack on him. It is a charge which I deny categorically. I have merely challenged some of his utterances and views which he chose to debate on a public forum.

What originally sparked the debate on the failure of Pakistan as a state was the treatment of Christians and other minorities under the country’s draconian shariah and blasphemy laws. People protesting these in unequivocal terms are absolutely right in doing so. Instead of joining hands with them, which would have left no doubt in my mind that indeed Mr. Zuberi has embraced humanity, he chose to object to it by stating the following:

Why grieve only on the killings of Christians in Pakistan. Who will mourn the wanton massacre of Muslims and Christians in India, slaughter of Palestinians and Lebanese, carnage of Iraqis and Afghanis (who do not even deserve to be counted) by the invading Christian armies?

In answer to his first question, no one is only grieving for the Christians in Pakistan. But it is equally true that at this point in time, the killing of innocent Christians is a growing concern. In answer to his second question, we all mourn the deaths of innocent Palestinians, Lebanese and Iraqis. No one in their right mind would condone these deaths. Even one innocent life lost at the hands of Israeli or American soldiers is an enormous tragedy, as the murder of innocent Christians in Pakistan is.

They are both tragedies and need to be condemned unequivocally. And while we are still on the topic, when have I ever seen Mr. Zuberi express even an iota of sympathy for the Darfuris? Is it because the oppressors this time are the Muslims themselves? And here’s where the tribalism is most palpable. If its Muslims wreaking horrors on other Muslims, he will not speak up. I have seen a number of his posts, including a letter or two in the Toronto Star where he only speaks up for the rights of certain categories of victims.

I am sorry if I have offended Mr Zuberi but I do believe in hard talk on these issues.  That said, let me also assure him that I do no doubt his poetic sensibilities.

 Unfortunately however,  he has failed to convince me that he is being true to his own cherished ideals of  embracing humanity when he only speaks up for the rights of Muslims, and that too only if they have been  attacked by non-Muslims.

Farzana Hassan