(Only) I Think, Therefore (Only) I Am.

Yes, the Unhinged is remixing our religion. Indeed, his devotees are undeterred, and nothing written on these pages will weaken their resolve. The truth is that this is not the first time the remixing has happened. In many ways, this is old news. The reaction of his followers is old news as well. So, I'll focus on something new.

Let's talk about a brief discussion coming out of a channel, conveniently named, Naya Daur (New age?). This episode of the programme, Khabar se agay (Beyond the news), was uploaded on YouTube on the 28th of July and has the two hosts, Raza Rumi and Murtaza Solangi, engage with their two guests, Tanzila Mazher and Tauseef Ahmed Khan. Largely, they engage on the Unhinged's recent declaration of what qualifies as shirk. All of the panelists seem to be quite irate on the said declaration. And, as they discuss their frustrations, they incarnate an exciting drama that perfectly showcases the biggest problem with the 'liberals' of Pakistan.

All of the discussants see a dichotomous world. This first becomes obvious when one of the guests claims that the Unhinged tries to appeal to both sides: 'the modern, liberal, T-shirt wearing lot', as well as the 'religious, shalwar kameez wearing lot'. A little further in the discussion, one of the hosts offers a protracted monologue where they claim the following: they insist that politics and religion need to be separated and this meshing has been the biggest problem of the country since 1949. They offer examples such as the objectives resolution, the second amendment, as well as the misuse of blasphemy laws. The host insists that it is this entanglement that has made our minorities unsafe and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. After their statement, another guest explains that the Unhinged has lived in/through a 'progressive setting' which they describe as entertainment, traveling across the world, and being exposed to (some[?]) knowledge. The guest insists that the Unhinged wants to deprive the youth of such an opportunity and instead nudges them to hold 'danday' (sticks) and insist that they can challenge America. The guest also claims that the Unhinged lives within a 'modern culture' however, the example they offer as corroboration is a lazy accusation on dog-feed.

Eventually, the host with the monologue returns and reiterates what they've said already. They, rather angrily, insist that the society at large needs to separate State from religion. That, it should be ensured...