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To the 144, we have failed you again!

Writer's picture: Faizan QureshiFaizan Qureshi

What should’ve been a somber remembrance of the most violent and horrific act in Pakistan’s history and memory was brazenly converted into a national spectacle on the 16th amid no sense of shame or respect. Knowing the nature of the course things in Pakistan tend to take on occasions and days of some significance, the sensible thing to do for anyone on 16th December should be to maintain a distance from all the noise and fuss which reigns here. But it's always foolish to expect that the usual would be avoided on a day of such grave and grim character.


From “virtual documentaries” on the APS attack, GEO’s anchors distastefully donning APS uniforms as some sort of costumes, to playing instrumental variations of

Louis Armstrong’s ‘What a Wonderful Life’ as the background to coverage of the bereaved families’ grief; the media coverage, exceptions apart, was crass and infuriating. Similarly, posters and advertisements of ChenOne brazenly “saluting” the APS children while promoting its “Mid-Season 50% Sale” appeared in large numbers all over DHA Lahore. As if advertising a mid-season sale during the month with reference to a ghastly tragedy of the same month at the same place was some an entirely sensible and sensitive move, which could only be read as: “Hey, we honor the memory and now that you have noticed this advertisement, hey, we also have a sale this month!”


It is an absolute shame how 16th December is observed every year; through conversion of commemoration to a spectacle that was made about everything but the lives lost, the inconsolable loss inflicted on Pakistan and the families, and the solemn, sober and honest reflection, mourning and remembrance the day demands.

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Thank you for writing about this, Faizan. I've always known capitalism to be a major vice because of multiple other reasons but this just adds on to exhibit how badly we, not as a nation, but as a human specie have fallen prey to this vice. It is tragic, how in today's world, everything is about monetary gain. Businesses today will use anything, be it a national tragedy, to cash in on. We have become so desensitised to grave issues like a mass shooting of a school that we will use it to promote our personal interests, instead of mourning it.


There have also been multiple other instances that show how big of a problem consumerism is. Increasing consumerism tends…


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Ahmad Rana
Ahmad Rana
06 jul 2022

An excellent topic! This just goes to show how insensitive and selfish we've become as a nation. All of the care that people show these days feels more like an act rather than a genuine feeling of compassion.

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The world has become so capitalist and consumer-centric that everything nowadays has become commodified and businesses usually now make use of whatever they can to push their products, offers, and agendas, ignorant of whether it is offensive, harmful, problematic. The example of ChenOne points this out well, showing the case of business that is taking something as serious as a mass shooting and the deaths of so many children to gain the public attention just so they can push their sale. Thankyou for point it out, i wanted to ask whether you knew if anything was done about this advertisement? Did they face any backlash?

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Faizan Qureshi
Faizan Qureshi
06 jul 2022
Contestando a

Shukriya for expanding on the argument Iqra, I don't think they received any kind of backlash on it, Chen One is just perhaps just one example of it. However what was also important to note how a set of narratives were also build around the event, particularly one being of an overly nationalistic and militaristic pomp. And once again, this 16th, many proudly proclaimed just how resilient Pakistan has been after the Peshawar attacks, without any thoughts for parents who are still grieving and will forever grieve.

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This is an example of the hypocrisy and selfishness that has been ingrained in the corrupt human soul. It seems that if enough time goes by, no tragedy is big enough. It is also a shame that the world makes it a point to pick and choose the horrors worth remembering as per political and personal agendas. This proves that the world is truly a scary place; both in life and in death.

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Faizan Qureshi
Faizan Qureshi
06 jul 2022
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Absolutely Fatima, hypocrisy it is; without any thought for families who have been knocking every door, for their demand of a judicial inquiry into the massacre of this children. And to this date no door has opened yet, no judicial inquiry have been made to have an honest reflection for what the day demands.

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