If you haven’t seen it, you have probably been in a coma. Ian Chappel said that he felt safer in Pakistan than in England. It was a statement that has been broadcast and re-broadcast and printed and shared over and over again. Why? Because it fits the narrative that the state wants to project and the narrative that we want to hear. But is it true?
Obviously Ian Chappel is not a state mouthpiece, but his actual statement has been taken out of context. Here is what he actually said:
“We have only been here for a few days… we are probably safer in Islamabad than we are in England at the moment”
Why ‘at the moment’? Because at the moment, England was experiencing tension following another terrorist attack. It was not a statement about the security of Pakistan, but the momentary insecurity felt in England.
Making the point even further, let us look at what else is happening at the same time as we are celebrating being ‘safer than England’.
- Daesh claims killing two Chinese teachers kidnapped from Balochistan.
- Senior journalist Bakhshish Ahmad killed by unknown gunmen in KP.
- Three policemen killed in checkpost shooting.
- Iranian mortar shelling kills man in Balochistan.
- Man sentenced to death for Facebook post.
In a breaking development, the state is now saying that the Chinese teachers murdered by ISIS were ‘preaching‘. Authorities have not said what they were allegedly ‘preaching’, but the message is clear that after terming the reports as fake news designed to humiliate the armed forces, now the state is blaming the victims for their own killings.
Is Pakistan safer than England? Who am I to answer this question? Instead let us ask Ian Chappel.
Or maybe we can ask the 38,500 Pakistanis who applied for asylum in UK last year what they think.
