One of the most interesting and complicated phenomena in the world is death. Because humans are peculiar entities, they approach death with both fear and humor which, some would argue are two sides of the same coin and hence both are used while critically analyzing the concept of death.
Something similar happened this morning, dominating the 11 AM news. Qandeel Baloch is no more with us. It’s an interesting phrase isn’t it? ‘No more with us…’. What does it mean? She got kicked out of a team? She got fired from her job? Or did she cease to exist?
Yes, the latter, only, she was murdered. By who? Her brother. Another death in the country. But no, something was different here. A case of being suffocated metaphorically and literally because she brought disgrace to family? Yes, she was strangled by her own brother.
Fauzia Azeem, alias Qandeel Baloch was a popular character in the past few weeks after the Mufti visit and marriage revelation. She had written to the Interior Minister to request for security as she feared threats after her passport and private information had gone viral on the internet.
But let’s speak of her as a single woman from this world. With a difficult past of earning for herself in South Africa, the Middle East and various European countries; of a forceful and troublesome marriage to a man from Kot Addu, with a child whom she was forbidden from seeing; later working at a bus transport company and as a hostess, facing the grim challenges of life, Fauzia Azeem changed her name and entered show business.
After entering the perplexing world of showbiz, some labelled her as a ‘disgrace’ while some appreciated the self-reliance with which she faced the world on her own.
Pakistanis have definitely no shame in voicing their opinions on media such as Facebook, Twitter and generally all over cyberspace. Nothing changed this time either, with very mixed views coming in from different sources. Apparently, she was killed in the name of honour. Something that has had a disturbing history in this country.
My verdict on Qandeel’s death is this:
After deconstructing layers of personality, stripping away ideas of moral judgments and focusing upon the most basic human ethic, nobody deserves death in this world, let alone a death like this.
Life goes on?
Something, sadly, that couldn’t be said for Qandeel Baloch
