Very recently I had the dis-pleasure of reading a post by one of the authors of the Islamabad Metroblogs that really ruined my mood. Generally, the Islamabad Metroblogs have had a very smart and mature breed of writers in their band wagon that have stuck to a very balanced citizen journalism. So it was sad to see their author by the name of Fatima humoring about the hightened security protocals at the Serena hotel in the highly volatile capital of Islamabad.
It wasn’t her description or rather explanation of her friend with a niqab and the text-book labelled “International Politics of TERRORISM” that is objectionable. What leaves a bad taste in the mouth is her seemingly evident sarcasm of the efforts and the security measures being taken to protect the lives of thousands and how she found funny the confusion on the faces of the guards.
As she puts it herself:
So there we were, two strange pedestrians walking up to the main gate of Serena, one of us carrying a huge suspicious-looking backpack, and the other dressed in a black nikaab and abaaya, brandishing a book about terrorism.
Why would you NOT be singled out and scrutinized when it is this very description that has been the cause of so many suicide bombings in the country? And she really does it in her closing statements by saying:
On the way out, my friend whipped out her phone and started making a video of the hotel. From their posts at the gate, the security people stared uneasily. But what could the poor dears do, after all? My friend and I laughed all the way home.
Do grow up child and respect the effort that has been put in to keep you and your friends safe from blowing in to a million pieces. Such irresponsible yap and that too at a place such as Islamabad Metroblogs that has made a name of itself due to its blunt yet honest journalism only goes to spoil its image.
Not only that but it is indeed sad to see how some of us are so naive so as to not appreciate the importance of such efforts done to our own advantage. Making fun of the evident panic that is caused by such stupid behavior as wearing a niqab and filming the hotel is not a joke. You really need to learn what is happening in our country.
NOTE: This post has recently been ‘toned down’. 🙂
Aleena
PartyLiciouS
Selina Haider
WeCite Blog 
Absurdity doesn’t even begin to describe this. Hypocrites! They whine about governments not doing enough to stop the terrorism and then making fun of the system in place. Kids!
Pranksters not citizen journalist by any stretch of imagination. Pooh.
LOL I can’t be bothered with this yap. She is like every other brat who wants to ‘break the rules’ or make fun of it.
Hello Angry Blogger,
As delightfully insulting as your post is, I can’t help but feel your comments are just a teensy bit misguided. In my blog entry, I have not intended any disrespect to any security guards, terrorists or fish. The nikaab and terrorism book were not intentional or staged, and neither was the rest of the incident – which I found very humorous. It was a real-life incident where two completely innocent people walked up to a hotel and were regarded very suspiciously -wrongly and yet for all the right reasons! If we are to cease finding humour in things like that, we’re all going to become Angry Bloggers. Perhaps that is a favourable scenario in your opinion, but I am of the other view.
Again, thank you for taking the time to accuse me of monstrous insensitivity. I rarely get the pleasure, and we stupid children are fond of trying new things.
Best,
Fatima, the terrible author from Metblogs
Ah excuse me … Probably you ppl missed out reading the actual post here and making conclusions of ur own accord.
thanks for liking Islamabad Metblogs but dear Fatima, to the best of my understanding & as teh disclaimer in her post visible now suggests, is not making fun of ANY efforts to ensure security in the capital or elsewhere. Despite the so many detectors installed country-wide, when I enter my office building … I can’t really say if I’ll be able to return to my home in one piece. A reality and accept it. We all DO miss the implicit security and peace which was prevalent a few years back, No?
As for her friend wearing niqaab and carrying such a book … that was no prank . A mere coincidence 🙂 Honestly ask anyone around people are become wary of people clad in abayas or bearded. So if security guards were wary of that it was their right and well duty too.
Read and comprehend but plz just don’t read between the lines which was never intended. Try to read twice before labeling !!
BTW, you can probably find the International Politics of Terrorism in here 😉
ps: I felt like stating my opinion too here.
–A for [pine] Apple
As a fellow blogger on IMB, I see nothing wrong with the post. Sometimes it sicken me to see the way people buy this overly bloated terrorism and security threat to Pakistan as if it was a biblical battle between the heavens.
The very sickness our politicians and leaders sell us every 5 years to draw a favorable picture for themselves.
Honestly speaking, even a party animal like me never really frequents to these fortresses in Islamabad. After all, they are not there for the protection of the general citizenry of the city, but for the foreign delegates that come and stay there. I don’t feel a bit safe and secure thanks to these counter measures, and neither should you, Selina.
The prejudice that oozes from your post, Selina, tells me of a much more immature mind that needs a few more years of development. I am not defending Fatima here, but I wanted to point
The ones blaming her of such childlike behavior do nothing more than yellow journalism (on this blog). 🙂
Fatima, Asma, Phil. It is encouraging to see you all rushing in to give explanations to a yellow journalism blogger such as my self. Seriously wow, you have made my day! I reserve the right to express my opinion in whatever form or manner I choose and if I find something that I don’t like, I will voice it 🙂 I really do like the effort you guys put in but then again, this I felt was a little out there. Oh and there has been talk of yellow journalism on WeCite before so don’t think that would dampen our spirits 🙂 Thanks for dropping by and giving us your side of the story
LOLz .. on the thoughts of Yellow Journalism, Wecite and metroblogs … an old relationship 😉
Fauzan’s gonna crack up in the morning – I’m sure 😛
I don’t think she meant it intentionally to make fun of the security setup but Fatima your wording does hint that you were having fun back there. Perhaps because this is an issue that effects a lot of people in thousands of ways so it is bound to attract various opinions. Still I believe we all need to chill down here. I have been reading this blog for some time and its not just about yellow journalism as Phil puts it. Letsnot sling mud at each other over this please.
oh please miss Fatima wat do u mean by we have to find humour in this? this is not a funny issue. may be you should ask the families of people who were injured or dead in bomb blast by suspicious people that they appreciate these strict checks or not. please understand. thank u
hehe I just read the disclaimer on the post by Fatima. Why do you need to explain your selves if your posting does not give ideas?
same story different players. can’t we all just coexist in peace please! 😦
lolz tell Fatima and Selina to kiss and make up 😉 ghussa achi cheez nai hai na 😉
What nonsense is this really? I think both of you (fatima and selina) deserve the blame. On one hand fatima your post does suggest a bit of sarcasm but Selina your choice of words were too harsh also. This is not that big an issue that it had been made in to really. And Phil you really don’t have to jump in and slander this place with the Yellow Journalism tag because instead of diffusing the situation your remarks are inciting and bothersome. Please be aware that Selina said she has respect for your site. The least you can do is give back the same respect to the blog. The issue here is between two bloggers and not the sites they blog it. Let’s keep the difference in mind.
Too much has been said on this already so let’s can it and move on.
Yes, Selina, your moment of glory 🙂 Revel!
And I won’t be surprised to see if Selina self-commented her post so many times with different names 🙂 The comment post times just give off too much of that 😀
Thank you Phil uncle and yes I would revel if I want to. As for posting with different names on my own, I don’t know if you adopt that practice but I sure as hell do not have that much time to waste supporting my claims. And from the way it looks, it is not wecite giving explanations is it? 🙂 don’t be so sore in life and have a nice day.
Whoa! I leave you kids for one day and we already have a world war 3 going on here! *chuckles*
@ Selina: Easy on the wordings darling. Islamabad Metblogs are old friends. We need not be picking fights with them. I shall neither defend nor stand against your opinion in the matter but I’m sure you did not mean to harrass the author of that entry and was only stating what you feel.
@ Fatima: I think that disclaimer should have been there to begin with as suicide bombings have become a very picky issue. No I don’t think you have no right to see the lighter side in (almost) everything including the fishies but a picture is worth a thousand words and words itself can be deciphered in a million more. So yup, its good that you followed it up with a disclaimer to avoid any further confusion. Thanks for that and keep up the good work.
@ Asma: Your opinions are most welcome as always but what link might you be talking about missy? You need to explain that to me in person :p
@ Phil: O Brother! LOL. I understand you seem to be irked the most out of the lot for what you read here. And I was so tempted to post my comments in YELLOW but *chuckles* …nah! The Yellow Journalism label you just pinned on us is most welcomed. I would call it Infotainment. I am sure you would disagree with my next statement but really, everyone around us indulges in a little bit of yellow blogism or journalism. Biased-ness is seen every where and sensationalism sells. Our sold out media uses it, our newspapers use it, our politicians use it, and yes I use it too. Oops but there you go! I expressed my opinion and said that out loud and clear. I love to put up news that interests people. It is not everyones cup of tea but that is not my problem is it 🙂 They can all moan and grumble for all I care and I’ll smile and keep doing what I love doing. Daily, I get atleast 4-5 emails from people who say I should not make fun of mr or miss xyz or not talk about this or not show that. They tell me they hate me. Who cares? They do. I don’t. So yes Phil, we flirt with that color and we claim it openly and it is OK if it is not your favorite color. Plus we don’t even claim to be journalist yaar. LOL. Read our About Us link. We are a news and entertainment blog. Period!
PS: I am sorry about not posting one of your comments here that went in our moderation queue for you know what reasons. There is no need to edge and pick on needlessly. Fatima and Selina have the right to express their opinions and they have. I don’t necessarily agree or disagree with the two of them and that’s about it 🙂
But Fauzan, what defies me is the purpose of this post. Why is it that what is wrong for others is right for us? IMB never claimed to be a citizen journalists’ blog. Neither do we dare take that bold step of ‘reporting’ matters with a journalistic objective pov. So why worry what IMB writes, and then rebut with such venom…? Tempers and sensitivities need to take a back seat.
Ty.
No no you have me all wrong Phil. I have not said that you guys are journalists but come on, are you telling me that the three biggest metroblogging portals operating from Pakistan does not have journalists or those who aspire to be one? And I in fact appreciate the effort you guys put in from Islamabad through Lahore down to Karachi. It is a wonderful network no doubt.
I hope you understand that whille the three metroblogs are all about their specific cities, the WeCite Blog is about Pakistan and beyond. The post under question here stands out because of the opinion expressed by one individual over the point of view of another. It is by no means an attempt to downplay the wonderful efforts Islamabad or other metroblogs put in and neither does it cause a worry at WeCite blog 🙂
Tempers and sensitivities indeed need to take a back seat esp when it comes to religious issues in Pakistan. We all know how divided our people are over this so like I said in my comments above, let’s chill 😉
PS: have you had any luck with the cypher? :p
Yo,
I have got no opinion on the issue at hand.. Just wanted to see my name in the thread.. 😀
yay!!!!
-Sameer Durrani
Chill P(h)il!!
Can’t you see they obviously regret 😉
— Author (IMB)
LOL oh you wish Asma! You wish! 😛
Go find our the kaaghaz and the ink and solve the cypher you lazy Islamabadi! 😛