.
Ever since I saw the op-ed piece by Syed Talat Hussein in an Urdu Daily about Angelina Jolie, I have this ‘I told you so’ smirk on my face. Unlike most Pakistanis, I was never fooled by Mr. Hussein’s façade of urbanity. Quite a few of my friends and acquaintances (you know who you are) were taken in by his persona but I always knew that underneath the suit and the blow dried hair lives a man as primitive as those who consider honor killing and stoning of women as part of our heritage.
For those who still don’t know what happened, Syed Talat Hussein wrote an op-ed piece in an Urdu Daily about Angelina Jolie where he first called her a dirty slut and then said, in no uncertain terms, that he does not find her attractive. His was a fairly detailed and vicious tirade with such great gems (naa jisam mein jawani kaa saroor tha) thrown in that one can safely assume that if Dawn fires him after this op-ed (I know, it is wishful thinking on my part) he can make it big as chauvinist and sexist Urdu soft porn writer.
I don’t want to go into detail about how dreadfully malicious, presumptuous, factually incorrect and appalling his article was as two esteemed bloggers Kalakawa and cpyala have done a great job of cutting him down to size for making up shit against Ms Jolie. However I want to focus on just one part of what he passed off as an op-ed piece. He wrote that if Articles 62 & 63 of Pakistani constitution are invoked against Ms. Jolie, she, or rather her ‘reputation’ would not be able to pass muster. I hate to break it to you Mr. Hussein, but Article 62 and 63 define the criteria for membership of Parliament in Pakistan. As Ms Jolie is not contesting for a seat in any of the legislative bodies, her character or lack of it does not really matter.
Mr. Hussein, on the other hand, is not only a citizen of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan but he is also part of the brigade of news anchors who secretly want to be televangelists declaring fatwas left, right and centre and telling us how good Muslims should live in the land of pure. Sadly, if the above mentioned articles are raised to judge him, his morality would be found wanting. For starters, everybody who has been associated with journalism knows about his ‘alleged’ toy boy past and how he ‘earned’ his first editorial stint. Back in 2006, someone who had once interned under him caught him making out with a lady in Berlin. When the former intern went to say hello to the esteemed journalist with a purported viewership in Israel, he refused to recognize the poor soul and was also trying to hide the lady he was with. Needless to point out that lady he was found canoodling with was NOT his wife.
Personally, I couldn’t care less whomever does he make out with. However, what I do care about is his obvious misogyny, racism (he called Ms. Jolie's adopted children Rang barangay Yateem Bachay) and how he wishes that women of questionable morality (in his opinion, of course) should be stoned to death. As a public opinion maker who condones institutionalization of crimes against women such as stoning to death, Mr. Hussein is dangerous and I urge various women’s groups in different parts of the country to take action against him and other such people in media. They should demand that people like Mr. Hussein should not be allowed to spew venom against a marginalized group. He belongs to the category of men who simultaneously like “I Love Islam” and “Hot Chicks” Facebook pages and think they are the upholders of morality and the louder they cast aspersions against others, preferably a woman, the holier their standing in the society would be. Mr. Hussein and men like him think that whatever they do as men can be pardoned or even praised, but when women like Angelina Jolie’s mother refuse to take crap from their philandering husbands, they are considered outcasts outside the mould of a family and branded as family breaking sluts. Mr. Hussein, I just hope one day you get your comeuppance and your wife realizes that you too are a philanderer par excellence and do something about it.
Ms Jolie with yet another 'colored' child
PS: You suck as a journalist Mr. Hussein; even a Wikipedia search would have told you that Ms. Jolie is 35 years old.
PPS: I was in a dilemma whether I should write about Mr. Hussein's personal life or not, but Umair suggested that I should go ahead. People like him should not be treated with the courtesy we reserve for other normal folks.
