Everybody loves a bloody conspiracy theory.
But according to the NY Times, this is especially true in Pakistan. The news agency noted yesterday that conspiracy theories are “a national sport in Pakistan, where the main players — the United States, India and Israel — change positions depending on the ebb and flow of history.”
Forget cricket (*cough* hockey), guys! Let’s play conspiracy battleship! Maybe we’ll actually win!
The Times added in its report,
The problem is more than a peculiar domestic phenomenon for Pakistan. It has grown into a narrative of national victimhood that is a nearly impenetrable barrier to any candid discussion of the problems here. In turn, it is one of the principal obstacles for the United States in its effort to build a stronger alliance with a country to which it gives more than a billion dollars a year in aid.
In the foiled Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad episode, the United States, not Pakistan, was the culprit. At least according to some Pakistanis. Hashmat Ali Habib, a lawyer and a member of the bar association, told the NY Times, “They have planted this character Faisal Shahzad to implement their script…My advice for the American nation is, get free of these think tanks.” In an accompanying video report to the Times piece, Adam Ellick interviewed a family friend of Shahzad who further emphasized, “This is absolutely not a true story…[the plot was done] just to justify American and Allied forces’ presence on both sides of the Afghan border.”
So here’s a question for you, dear readers – are conspiracy theories an integral part of Pakistani society? I have blogged about this topic on numerous occasions, oftentimes venting my frustration with leaders and media personalities who peddle Zionist/RAW/Blackwater enemies like a freaking bake sale. Bomb blasts in Lahore? It was obviously the work of Mossad. Bomb threat in Peshawar? Well, I did see some Americans with beards roaming around. Must be Blackwater up to no good again.
Scapegoating is often used by politicians (I’m looking at you, Rana Sanaullah) to absolve themselves from blame. Media personalities and fixtures like ex-ISI chief Hamid Gul (why does this man still get air time, why?!) and the red-bereted Zaid Hamid propagate a hardline but digestible narrative, what Chapati Mystery’s Manan Ahmed has termed, a “national victimhood.”
But does this narrative exist within a spectrum of opinion of Pakistan, or does it represent the national sentiment in Pakistan?
If I was reading the NY Times article and didn’t consider the nuances of such an issue, I might believe that conspiracy is a collective part of Pakistan’s imagination. But I would ironically be doing the same thing as someone who parroted yet another one-sided theory, wouldn’t I?
Glenn Greenwald over at Salon.com called the Times piece an attempt “to mock and pity Those Crazy, Primitive, Irrational, Propagandized Muslims and their Wild Conspiracy Theories, which their reckless media and extremists maliciously disseminate in order to generate unfair and unfounded hostility toward the U.S.” He noted,
There’s little doubt that many Pakistanis believe all sorts of things that are false and that some extremist sectors peddle paranoid conspiracies. Propaganda is a standard tactic used by political and religious leaders of all types to manipulate their followers, as is casting blame on external enemies for those leaders’ failures. Indeed, it’s virtually impossible to find a society free of extremist paranoia, and Pakistan undoubtedly has its share.
Paranoid voices exist in all societies where a spectrum of opinion is allowed to be expressed, including the United States (hello, Glenn Beck and Fox News). As Greenwald emphasized,
And that’s to say nothing about the orgies of “conspiracy theories” churned out on a daily basis from right-wing talk radio, blog outlets, Fox News and even establishment Republicans over the years — from Iranian computer viruses, Vince Foster’s murder, the nefarious Muslim-Leftist alliance, ACORN’s omnipotence, and Obama death panels to The Vicious War on Christmas, the DOJ’s “Al Qaeda 7,” Maoist followers in the administration, Obama’s Kenyan birthplace and Islamic beliefs, and the subversive Congressional interns serving at the behest of CAIR.
According to a poll by Harris Interactive in March, many Republicans believe that President Obama is a “domestic enemy,” with 24 percent (14 percent overall) claiming he was the Anti-Christ (Interestingly, 38 percent of Republicans polled also believe he’s doing “many of the things Hitler did”). Um, yeah.
The issue of paranoia in Pakistan is not without merit, but it’s also unproductive to view this phenomenon as a reflection of the entire nation, (unless we have significant poll numbers). Moreover, it’s important to ask why such beliefs actually exist, and look at the root causes of the problem. In the case of Faisal Shahzad, shuttling blame from one country to another is really not going to get us anywhere.
Hmmm. MillatFacebook Apparently LOVES Zaid Hamid. Do you?
Brilliant! Thanks for pointing out the other side of the argument.
CONGRATULATIONS on crossing 300,000 hits! Time for a Chuparty! Keep up the good work
Thanks!!
good post. i actually didn’t like the NYTimes article one bit. didn’t feel like a news article. it felt like the author has something she wanted to express, and found the facts to back up her opinion. it should be the other way around.
i think the embedded video was far better– it was nuanced and balanced.
i agree with greenwalt too (about the article). it makes all pakistanis seem unreasonable and moronic. i also think it served as a good segue to discussing conspiracy theories here in the US, which is is much more educated country.
The following section of the NYT article was a partial (and interesting) explanation of the views many Pakistanis have…
“One result is that nearly all of American policy toward Pakistan is conducted in secret, a fact that serves only to further feed conspiracies. American military leaders slip quietly in and out of the capital; the Pentagon uses networks of private spies; and the main tool of American policy here, the drone program, is not even publicly acknowledged to exist.”
I found that interesting too but I don’t think it is the sole reason. Or even the main one. Pakistan is in denial…and our denial is fueled by people like Zaid Hamid and Farid Piracha, and then conveyed by the media. Personally, it’s just perplexing me! Some of things that journalists believe back home doesn’t make sense with all the evidence, such as believing that 9/11 was a Jewish conspiracy!
That’s why I said partial explanation. Totally agree with your point.
That’s right-you did! My bad!
Two points:
Maybe a lot of people believing in conspiracy theores is a normal result of a country being in a crisis. Pakistan is currently involved in a civil war (between the “Pakistani Taliban” and the government), a fiscal crisis involving the IMF, and several other huge problems. The US is involved in two wars and has about 10% nominal, 15-20% real unemployment. People who haven’t been trained in social analysis and history are gonna look for villains when their country gets into a mess like this. Being human, they will find some.
Also, the situation in Pakistan looks very different when seen through US, rather than Pakistani, media. For example, US media tends to report the passage of US aid to Pakistan without spending a lot of time on the conditions attached to that aid. For that matter the US media does not report that aid delivery is usually very slow. Nor does the US media consider the possibility that US aid is tilted toward buying the support of Pakistan’s army, and that this might actually strengthen the army against the rest of society. Pakistan’s problems with the IMF are basically ignored by the US media. So to a follower of the US media, the Pakistanis seem to be irrationally ungrateful.
Ray,
totally agree.
Good post!
It’s an interesting question. I don’t know if it represents the national sentiment in Pakistan since measuring something so qualitative is really hard. In Faisal Shehzad’s case, it may seem like Pakistanis want to blame the United States more since I think he struck a nerve in the middle class/elite. Here’s a guy who basically could have been a friend of mine: went to good schools, had good jobs, settled here in the suburbs with a wife and kid. I think Americans, Pakistanis, and Pakistani-Americans alike are suddenly realizing that we have some educated, yet disillusioned, individuals living in the United States and elsewhere who have taken it upon themselves to serve as mascots for a version of Islam they think is the right version. The troubling thing about Shehzad’s case is that he may have just started another layer of racial profiling within the United States, making it even harder for normal/ordinary Pakistani guys, who just want financial stability and a good standard of living, to come here.
The video is actually much better than the article. The guy in the video who says we have 20 Fox News is absolutely right!
[...] positions depending on the ebb and flow of history.” Forget […] Read more at: CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan afghan border, allied forces, american nation, bomb blasts, bomb threat, change positions, [...]
The question is: Do the Majority of people believe in Conspiracy theories? Or, are they in the minority?
On the funny side of things, how many conspiracy theories should one believe in before branding him as a Mental patient?
There are many countries which have Economic and Social problems.. why is Pakistan so different?
First seek to understand then to be understood. With globalization, where they is a great opportunity to build bridges, still most of us wouldn’t like to understand sans wherever we live.
Think of this penchant for conspiracy theories as a symptom. One of the major contributing factors is the method of education with it’s emphasis on transmitting received wisdom and rote learning.
There is no emphasis on balance, dispassionate observation, collection of evidence and rigorous analysis. Challenging received wisdom is at times equated with heresy. Feeling powerless and blaming others is a sort of psychological protection mechanism. We need to emphasize honesty of thought, balance and critical analysis in our education system.
“I think Americans, Pakistanis, and Pakistani-Americans alike are suddenly realizing that we have some educated, yet disillusioned, individuals living in the United States and elsewhere who have taken it upon themselves to serve as mascots for a version of Islam”
I am not sure about a voluntary suddenness of realization. Over the decades, I have attended far too many dinner parties where there was always someone, son/daughter of Pak Army/Air Force/Grafter in-charge, present that would end up concluding a typical desi political argument with an “it’s because of Jewish owned media” rant… These were able bodied, well educated, accomplished, red blooded Pakistani-Americans…
I think we had always known existence of these peeps amongst our extended social circles, but either they were ignored, or perhaps no one ever had the guts (perhaps still don’t) to stand up to such hatred within.
What has happened now is, thanks to stumbling out of Faisal Shazads of the community, that we have been forced to realize something that had been ignored or dismissed far too long. Of course, most often than not, the realization is indeed too late.
Yes, the second wave of racial profiling is going to cause grief to lot of us. However, as law abiding citizens, we must challenge overt abuse of authority every time one’s subjected to race/origin based maltreatment.
At least this MY conspiracy theory.
The mainstream media has indeed played a key role in shaping the public perception on this war, for years we have talked about the “hidden hands” and apologist such as Ahmed Qureshi openly blame India for the chaos in Pakistan but any proof is yet to surface. Or the retired general’s brethren who blame United States for all the upheaval enjoy immense support of the Media. Whereas the saner and rational voices are shunned upon, so it is not a conspiracy talk our media presents it as an “alternative reality” which suits their vested interest they do not want to put forth the bitter realities as the rating will go down after all we all love living in the comforts of denial.
Irrespective of whether it is a national sport, far too many people actually do engage in conspiracy theories in this country. In my view, the fundamental issue is a lack of information and understanding of the issues themselves.
Since historically we have mostly had autocratic rulers, the need for disseminating information was simply not there. Openness and access to information is required for democratic systems, but our governments have always relied on propaganda. We have become so used to this system that we don’t feel the need to question the authenticity of any claim (or conspiracy theory). We just believe what we hear.
Well written and I agree with it some what. Perhaps the conspiracies are fuelled by the dubious actions of the Americans in many instances. Atleast thats my conspiracy theory.
Interesting debate. I am a Pakistani, living in Pakistan.
The question is where are these conspiracy theories emerging from. Go back to 1970s, go through the history of South America during the 1980s, study the history of the world.
Do one better simply read ‘Regionalism & new World Order’ by Andrew Gamble & Anthony Payne or ‘The World Economy Since the War’ by E. A. Brett and then tell who are the conspiracy theorists.
Watch Faranhiet 9/11 or read ‘Confessions of an Economic Hitman’ by John Perkins. Its the West thats feeding these Conspiracy Theories.
Additionally, theory is supposed to be one of the many explanations for the occurance of a phenomenon so why label some and accept others as plausible?
As far as the issue of aid is concerned. Well here is another hard core fact: There is no bigger motivation in the world except for self-interest. The most ‘nobel’ acts of charity have ‘self-interest’ in its core. So, why a country which is based on the similar principals (Do look up DuPont) donate millions of dollars out good will?
A major part of the aid comprises of soft loans with strict conditionality in terms of project or source attached to it. Ever wondered why?