Nadeem F Paracha, or ‘NFP’ as he’s also known, has one of the sharpest wits in the country. For a long time I have looked forward to his writings and TV appearances because he has always had a way of cutting through the BS to show the absurdity of so much that was taken too seriously. He was never mean spirited, but always pointed out the ridiculousness of ‘serious’ topics, giving a necessary injection of humour and helping break up the tension. However, something in his satire has changed since the past few years, and the old NFP seems to be missing right when we need him most.
Let me give you an example. This video produced by some Indians is exactly the sort of satire that I would have expected from NFP a few years ago. It’s not point scoring, it’s showing the absurdity of the situation we find ourselves in.
Lately, though, we are getting posts like this:
Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Bhutan follow India’s lead in boycotting SAARC. pic.twitter.com/AtOFj6Ns44
— NadeemFarooqParacha (@NadeemfParacha) September 28, 2016
And Tweets about pigeons.
A Pakistani spy eavesdropping on peaceful Indians. pic.twitter.com/dr2lqIZ2i7
— NadeemFarooqParacha (@NadeemfParacha) September 23, 2016
And articles about pigeons.
My god, man…so many posts about pigeons!
Pak go one up. Another convincing T20 win for skipper Sarfraz. Imad & Baber were brilliant. Set the cat among the pigeons. Oops. #PAKvsWI pic.twitter.com/AwNGd8D5Dw
— NadeemFarooqParacha (@NadeemfParacha) September 23, 2016
Don’t get me wrong. India’s bizarre paranoia about spying pigeons is funny, but you’ve done that joke to death, man! This is the problem, I think. The satire, it has become…well…lazy.
NFP, I understand that you love Gen Raheel. We ALL do. He is the best thing we’ve had in my lifetime. And Modi is an easy target. TOO easy, almost. But we need the old NFP back. The guy who wasn’t going after easy targets, and wasn’t worshiping holy cows. If blind patriotism was going to save this country, WE’D be the world’s biggest superpower. What our country needs is someone with wits sharp enough to cut through the fog of war and show us the way out of this mess.
I know you love this country. We all do. And I know these are tense times. But look: the civilians are finally making their move. NFP, we need you to come back now.
