"A person like me.."

A person like me can never pay allegiance to a person like Yazid. - Said the Grandson of (all) Muslim's Last Prophet once. What followed marked a turn of political events in the Islamic history. 

Recently, there has been a strong debate about this line, for the line seems liberated from any cultural, timely or political context. Across centuries, it still holds true. For it depicts two sides. 

We often are asked, or often ask ourselves. If we were to witness and had to choose a side, which side would we have been on. It takes less than a moment to respond, of course the right side. It takes decades to realize the bitter reality otherwise. 

For the stance to stand with the Right, the Truth is beyond selective definition of Oppression and Oppressed or comparative misery. 

Sounding like an utterly whiny typical human with a typical complain, scrolling down my newsfeed on twitter & facebook, I receive countless requests daily requesting support in every way for Palestine. Which I try supporting..in every single way I can. 

Having said that, I pause and feel guilty. No matter how hard I try not to, I end up judging. I judge us. I judge us at our silence for one stance and extra enthusiasm for another. 

I judge our selective marketing of one human misery while ignoring another. 

I judge myself for writing this, because I am unsure if this judgement stems from the fact that my sect is attacked everyday or from the fact that I truly mean it. 

I am happy that we are feeling so much for Palestine, I am sad because we never felt so much for minority killings in Pakistan.

I am sad because no matter what we say, we are selective in our stance of choosing which misery to support. 

I am sad that an average Pakistani feels SO much for Palestine while feeling less (if anything) for minority killings back home. 

I am sad because the last time I saw similar vigor for my sect was at the peaceful sit-ins one year ago. A lot many humans from my community have been killed since then. We may agree and even accept the reality of these killings, but no, our vigor to support minorities in my country remains extremely weak and unsustainable. 

I am sad because our support for Gaza will die (hopefully not), just the way our support for minorities has died. 

Our expression and support for Justice and our Right to Stand against Oppression seems in a little wave. It comes and goes. Fad as they call it. 

     

This sadness in anyway can't underestimate what is happening in Gaza. But my selective silence and carefully choosing to support a misery seems as good as BBC's selective coverage of Gaza. 

We have always been told, there are two kinds of people in this world. Good or Bad. Hussain or Yazid. Gaza or Israel. I think, there are three kinds of people in this world today. Good, Bad and the one waiting to choose a side. Hussain, Yazid and people of Kufa. Gaza, Israel and people today.

We all choose to support causes based on what our friends, family and broader network has to say. We all influence each other's support for a cause. Ironically, we seldom critically assess our motivations for our support.

So don't give me your Gaza support, for I'll recall what your stance has been for minorities (including the sect you happen to share your religion with) in Pakistan. If your stance has been silence, I will judge your  support for Gaza as short-lived while praying for Gaza to earn some strong, sustainable and loyal supports who understand what Injustice, Oppression and Misery means across borders, identities and sects.

And don't give me Hussain's philosophy if your selective silence to killings back home have been reflecting your support for Yazid. And please don't give me numbers, for you will sound just like any other media house justifying their selective coverage.

Don't justify your niceness for it will only make your silence speak louder.