Uproar over a Cartoon?

The other cartoon mentioned in the article:



Stephane Peray

re: the article
This author makes some contradictory statements. Consider these:

``To be honest, the impact of this cartoon is virtually none on Pakistan ....``

``Still, most Pakistanis consider it a direct blow under the belt. Cultural differences are not enough to soothe their inflamed pride or to take the edge off that message that was bluntly conveyed to them via this cartoon.``
So, which is true? Were most Pakis offended or were they not?
Then, the author says the cartoon was not intended for Pakistan at all.
That is laughable.
To a layman like me (and i am sure the cartoon was intended for the public and not for Bush and party alone), the message was clear: Pak was being castigated for not doing enough to catch the prized catch viz OBL.
Of course, it is understandable why Pakis have their undies in a knot.
A ``dog`s like`` in the subcontinental context means: a miserable life. The same in US could mean: a comfortable life. A dog in US is well cared for, not so in South Asia.
Anyway, i think Indians in India too got upset one time when they learnt that George Bush has a dog by name India!
Sridhar

Re: # 16

Thanks for your constructive critique. I really appreciate that.

[To be honest, the impact of this cartoon is virtually none on Pakistan and most likely, Pakistan was not even the intended target. In fact, the target audiences for this cartoon probably were the Americans. One can interpret this cartoon as strong anti-Bush.]

I used the words “probably” and “most likely” to provide another viewpoint. However, some readers may not agree with that inference. I used the newspaper’s ranking and strength of its subscriber base as the basis to reach that conclusion.

I have to admit that I, myself, have never read Washington Times before. This newspaper is a small regional newspaper and on its own, could not have reached the Pakistani masses. Most of the Pakistanis were offended after seeing the issue dragged in the Pakistan National Assembly by inept politicians.

A formal protest was neither required not necessary in this case as it was by far the most accurate depiction of the US-Pakistan relationship with regard to war on terrorism.

PS. Bush family owns a cat named “India”, (not a dog).

The name in fact, has nothing to do with India. The cat was actually named after a former Texas Ranger baseball player, Ruben Sierra, who was called ``El Indio”. Please see: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1454897.stm. However, that is not what Indians believed when the burned the effigy of George W. Bush. They were taken for a free ride by the Indian politicians, just like their Pakistani counterparts.

Nauman Nisar.

Pakistani reaction to the cartoon is a reaction to the relity of pak situation. for a long time the educated of pakistan have tried to state that pakistan has changed its postion on taliban because of a change in the values of pak society, a realisation about the consequences, But the truth is that the change was forced on pakistan, the call from Colin Powell. The cartoon is a true reflection of what the world thinks of pakistan, and the pakistnis are jolted by the truth, they hve seen their face in the mirror, the dogs face, listening to the one who feeds it.
That is why such strong reaction, no different from the reaction of pakistanis to my posts. The truth is a frightening to most pakistanis.

Pakistan’s reaction to the Washington Times’ cartoon is nothing but a reflection of Pakistan’s deep-seated insecurities. Pakistan is not a mature country, the maturity that comes with a country’s economic development followed by intellectual development of its large middle-class – the middle-class that forms the backbone of a stable country.

Pakistan is not strong and secure enough to laugh at itself. It is an economically very weak and emotionally very vulnerable country. Given where Pakistan stands today vis-à-vis the fast moving world around it in general and the Unites States in particular, that reaction is not surprising at all.

Very nice and a thoughtful article, Nauman...except that people like you are not part of the Pakistani group that is deeply hurting because of the weakness and vulnerability of its country. Your thoughts represent the intellectually mature and emotionally secure middle-class of a developed country, not of people of Pakistan.

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

=== Interact Filtered ===
view this users filtered interacts

Good points made in this article. In fact, at a press conference a few months back in Washington with both Blair and Bush in attendance, Blair was asked what he had to say about the common talk about his being Bush`s poodle. Blair laughed it off. And that was the end of that. No calls in the British House of Commons for an apology from the reporter who asked this question to Blair`s face. No fuss in the public.

What explains the differing reactions between UK and Pakistan? I think it reflects different levels of confidence in the general public.


btw, dogs may be derided in pakistani culture, but it has nothing to do with islam and is in fact a reflection of the primitive nature of pakistani society: as gandhi pointed out - the level of civilization of a society can be gauged by how it treats dogs. In fact, in the Quran there is a story about some holy men and their dog who retreat into a cave and go to sleep (with the dog next to them). Another example of the vast gap between the pagan and primitive beliefs prevalent in pakistan led by the pagan priests aka the ulema; and the shining example of tolerance and civilized behavior reflected in the Quran that is venerated and ignored at the same time.

In South Asia, it is OK to behave like a dog or worse, and in most circles even an admired quality. And, someone points it out, and all hell breaks loose. Moral of Story, don`t call them dogs even though they behave like one or worse.

re: ntsyed # 3

``Even in the US and Europe, depiction of a person or nation as an animal is often meant as an insult``.

I would disagree. During the Second World War, the bulldog was the symbol of British defiance against Germany. The FOX NEWS is often refered to the ``junkyard dog of the Republican Party`` because it zealously guards the interests of the Republican Party.

The up roar of the Washington Times cartoon in Pakistan is nothing more than a rude awakening to the reality of our relationship with United States. There is no denying the fact that Pakistan is the hound dog of the United States and rudeness of the awareness comes from the fact that for too long we were in a self-denial about the true nature of our relationship with Washington.

Ciao

Re: # 10

ferozk,

Please note my arguments as well to see that there are exceptions to the rule you describe. However, thank you for reinforcing my point with ``The FOX NEWS is often refered to the ``junkyard dog of the Republican Party`` because it zealously guards the interests of the Republican Party.``

While I too think that the depiction of Pakistan (as an active partner in war on terrorism) is right on the dot, the point expressed/implied (whichever way one wishes to look at it) in the cartoon may be that FOX or Pakistan do not have a mind and/or an agenda of their own viz always following the orders of his master not thinking where it may lead.

What American public and administration think of Pakistan; what Pakistani inept politicians think of their relationship with the US or about their position the bigger scheme of things; how the general Pak populace percieves this relationship; etc, etc, at the end of the day, it`s all politics....dirty game to exploit people. People simply do not have anything else they can do but to protest, agitate, vent...whatever else you want to call it.

I forget who, but someone here made a very pertinent point that may be they`re testing the temperature.

Same thing with desecration of Quran story in the Newsweek. Such incidents have reported by many high-profile newspaper many times in the recent past as you can see here. May be wanted to see how the entire Muslim nation would react globally, or if there would be call for jihad :-)~~

As for the uproar, in every situation different people respond differently becuase they receive the message differently, and seldom one is able to prove the other. I think most of the offended are upset at their own leadership, more so than the Americans, for their support for the latter.

All this is...is evidence of how far Pakistan has to go towards becoming a rationale mature and democratic society. The hypocrisy factor has someone has earlier mentioned too is stunning...for god sakes it seems that daily US and other Western flags are burned..effigies of leaders too for that matter...are these not even more ``symbolic`` than some stupic WT cartoon... a paper that 80% of average Pakistanis wouldnt have under normal circumstances known to exist. The extreme hyperbole from the Pakistani leadership especially seems to be more than adequete evidence of how close the cartoon hits home...but they shouldnt fret there are about another 10 or so states that are ``frontline`` states in the ``war on terrorism`` ...and fundamentally if they are being forced to do a lot of Dubya`s dirty work....well that indeed is the price for 20 years of plying a religious fundamentalism based geo-political strategy in the region. What goes around..always comes around...

All this is...is evidence of how far Pakistan has to go towards becoming a rationale mature and democratic society. The hypocrisy factor has someone has earlier mentioned too is stunning...for god sakes it seems that daily US and other Western flags are burned..effigies of leaders too for that matter...are these not even more ``symbolic`` than some stupic WT cartoon... a paper that 80% of average Pakistanis wouldnt have under normal circumstances known to exist. The extreme hyperbole from the Pakistani leadership especially seems to be more than adequete evidence of how close the cartoon hits home...but they shouldnt fret there are about another 10 or so states that are ``frontline`` states in the ``war on terrorism`` ...and fundamentally if they are being forced to do a lot of Dubya`s dirty work....well that indeed is the price for 20 years of plying a religious fundamentalism based geo-political strategy in the region. What goes around..always comes around...

Why so much uproar over an editorial cartoon?


Most pakis think the decision to abandon the taliban was voluntary....They`re just shocked to see reality of their position...


One can interpret this cartoon as strong anti-Bush.


anti-Bush....from the washington times? That`s even more unlikely than the cartoonist showing pakistan as a dog because ``dogs are considered man`s best friend``.....


Pakistan solidly supports US where the interest of Pakistan and US overlaps, i.e., capturing Osama and its cohorts, withdrawing its support for Taliban and stabilizing Afghanistan.


Umm...okay...Pakistan voluntarily withdrew support for the taliban...and the taliban, which till 9/10 was providing strategic depth, suddenly became something that was against pakistan`s interests....and coincidentally, after a phone call from the state department with allusions to the stone age....mmkay...


Pakistan needs to have a consensus as to how far the nation could go.


How radical....citizens of a country having a say in how their country is run!!

Well said Nauman. I think our government, under duress from the opposition and pressure groups, had to make a mountain out of a mole hill. Obviously, demanding that the Whitehouse apologize for something like this was mal-targeted as the Whitehouse had nothing to do with this cartoon. A proper response would have been a cold and snide remark to the Washington Times accusing them of being politically inept and childish. An insult goes much farther than raising a hue and cry.

On a side note, US conservatives are crying foul over a billboard advertisement of a spanish radio station on a California highway leading to LA which reads Welcome to Los Angeles, after which the CA is crossed out and in place of it is written Mexico. So, we are not the only ones prones to prima donna histrionics.

Musharraf does deserve credit for showing some backbone and resisting American requests to send troops to Iraq. Plus the Pakistani government has never approved of the Iraq war. We are allies, but fortunately we have defined our limits.