A love story and two countries

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Merlin Flower

Unbelievable, but the news media chose to ignore the Hyderabad riots and curfew over two people, their press conferences and their proposed marriage

This was one time when even the most dispassionate viewer stepped in to say, “Enough of this, please stop!” It began as a fairytale affair, only better. Two neighbours with six decades worth of hostile history and two young people with an announcement of love and imminent marriage. Are these enough reasons for establishing the mood of euphoric enthusiasm? You bet! The media obtained a story to run for weeks when Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik and Indian tennis sensation Sania Mirza decided to get married. But how many of us knew about the communal riots raging in the old city of Hyderabad?

First though, let us check the news that sauntered in as a triumph of cross-border love. A real life love story from a region often associated with divisions rather than unions. Here was an opportunity to improve relations between the two countries, which time and leaders had failed to do. We had enough coverage lately about relations between the two countries — the slide since the 2008 Mumbai attacks and Pakistani cricketers being excluded from this year’s lucrative IPL tournament. But history was to be made with the arrival of this feel-good story. It proved to be an excellent reason, indeed, to silence the divisive voices between the countries. Incidentally, someone asked the couple if they discussed politics and terrorism. That would make for some interesting pillow talk!

The people of both countries intensely observed this latest love story.

In India, the men had already gotten over the disappointment of their heartthrob’s wedding. Her earlier betrothal — since cancelled — had taken care of that. Soon, one saw Facebook and Twitter messages congratulating the young couple. Incidentally, have you noticed how the social media has brought together Indians and Pakistanis? So what if the governments are not talking, the people are! The messages from the Pakistani side were celebratory too. Indeed, the chief of Pakistan’s Tennis Federation, Senator Dilawar Abbas, jumped the gun when he said that he wanted Sania to play for Pakistan after marriage.

The reaction on the street in Pakistan echoed happiness, more so to do with being on the groom’s side, which is a typical South Asian mindset. If that accounted for an absence of opposition on the Pakistani side, the Indian side had the extremist political wing, Shiv Sena, lashing out against the marriage. But the huge support elsewhere in the country made them shift to inside their shell. The party’s executive president Uddhav Thackeray, responding to queries on whether the party opposed the marriage said, “How can I tell her that? We have no objections to her marrying anybody.” Soon after the announcement of marriage, there was speculation about where and when they had met, with the media donating a generous amount of airtime.

All this media hype when the old city of Hyderabad was in the middle of communal riots with a curfew imposed. Yes, not many knew of these riots and their lasting consequences. These riots were a serious situation as two patients died for want of medical care, and another person succumbed to his injuries — a death toll that reached three — due to the curfew imposed. The clashes between Hindus and Muslims began on March 27, 2010 when the organisers of a local Hindu festival removed flags and decorations put up for Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi. With some politicians belonging to the BJP prevented from visiting a temple in the locality, the clashes took on a more communal tone. Soon enough, the clashes spread across the old city of Hyderabad. Initially, the media did carry reports on the attack but the news came to a virtual standstill with the emergence of the more sensational story of Sania, Shoaib and a certain Ayesha Siddiqui, the ‘first wife’ of the cricketer.

We had experts giving demonstrable information on the relationship — lawyers, psychologists, psychotherapists and even astrologers. For a change, could we not have had experts commenting on the riots in the state? The police, religious leaders and politicians could have been asked to appear on air to help diffuse the tension. But no, instead, as if on cue, we had running commentary on every move made by the couple — the visuals were repeated to the nth degree — enough to qualify for a record. The whole affair was just like a soap opera, albeit the mainstream news media doing the job. Every two minutes there was ‘breaking news’ on the story. Unbelievable, but the news media chose to ignore the curfew over two people, their press conferences and their proposed marriage.

If a poll were conducted to determine which people were most grateful for the proposed marriage, the top rank would go to the state — the Andhra Pradesh government. Who knows, the couple can even expect a big gift on their wedding day from the government. For, did the reality drama not divert attention and save their skin?

With Shoaib divorcing Ayesha, the hype seems to have ebbed a bit. But the coverage was really extreme. A mention or two may have been acceptable but is this not a private affair better solved between the families? Was the story that important to ignore the more important clashes affecting the local people? The answer is for the media to find and ponder upon. Whatever the reasons, if a marriage between two over-glorified stars superseded real issues, we do have a problem.

In the meantime, wait to hear of some announcement from Bollywood on a movie about the story — a hero, two heroines, three songs, the media for comic relief and two fights. Whatever it is, do we not just love our movies?

Merlin Flower is a freelance writer based in India. She is currently working on her first book, a biography. She can be reached at merlin.flower@gmail.com