At the time of writing this article, many cities in the United States have been put into curfew in view of the dire situation created by protests for Floyd.
Floyd, an African American, was being charged for using a counterfeit $20 bill. Allegedly, he resisted when Chauvin knelt him down. For 8 long minutes and 46 seconds, Floyd kept on pleading that he could not breathe, but Chauvin kept him on the ground under his knee.
Even after 6 minutes, when Floyd became unresponsive and Chauvin was told to move, he kept his knee on Floyd’s neck, just the same, for another two long minutes. 8 minutes and 46 seconds, they must have been the longest and the most brutal 8 minutes and 46 seconds of Floyd’s life.
The video of the barbarism not only shook the African Americans, but all the races and nations around the world are moved by this racist and violent act of uniformed vandalism. The monsters locked in the closets seem very real, once again.
The emancipation proclamation of Lincoln, 1863, and the 100 following years of police brutality, and unearned suffering have come to life again. Dr. King’s struggle has yet to find resolve, it seems. But one cannot remain unappalled by the way the situation is unfolding in America.
When Sahiwal or Model Town happens here in Pakistan, we rarely see anything more than a trend on twitter, some keyboard and remote movements. But in the United States, where the mainstream media and social media are rather more vibrant and powerful than Pakistan. people do not just sit at their homes and tweet about issues, they come out to have a say, to raise a voice, to lend a hand, and to stand by right.
Many have come out on the streets to raise their voices for Floyd. Cars and walls are being painted “I can’t breathe.” Situation is out of control. On 29th of May, when protestors gathered before the White House, President Trump tweeted the following morning, a threat to the protestors. Trump said, “If they [the protestors] had [come close to breaching the fence], they would have been greeted with the most vicious dogs, and most ominous weapons, I have ever seen.” One cannot help but wonder, why keep vicious dogs in the White House, when you have President Donald Trump in the house.
What I intend to say is, when there is an elected president in the White House, and protestors have come, he should listen to them, and resolve their issues, instead of unleashing his dogs onto them. This attitude only means either Trump did not consider protestors to be potential voters, or he did not think he was and elected POTUS. I am baffled by Trump’s tweet and have no understanding of his viewpoint, whatsoever.
Floyd’s murder also invoked another hashtag, or movement, if I may say, #raisethedegree. Chauvin has been charged with 3rd degree murder, meaning, manslaughter – a kind of murder that is not pre-meditated and occurs due to heat of the moment. 1st degree murder on the other hand means a premeditated murder. One must commend the US citizens to be so minutely sensitive about wrongdoings, about tyranny, and vandalism.
It is not less than mind boggling that Pakistan has also been ruled by insensitive rulers. Police here have also been inhumane, and still is. Kids in Sahiwal incident must have pleaded, we can’t breathe, our parents are suffocating, please do not shoot more bullets, uncle. Unborn child of the Model Town’s pregnant woman who was killed, must have also suffocated to death.
Innocent special people die here by torture too. The US may have got Trump for the first time in history; we have been facing such souls for ages. But why do people not come out for such Floyds here? Why do we not talk about public rights in our assemblies? Why do people not come out when mothers and daughters cry in search of their fathers and brothers? What is the matter that when even the corpses of the people are not found by the relatives, our young generation cannot get out of Twitter?
People keep talking about how the US is differently ruled as compared to Pakistan. Recent past has only shown that both the countries are ruled by the same kind of rulers, it is the people that are rather different in these countries. Humanity is somewhat diminishing here, at a very fast pace.
George Floyd’s murder is highly condemnable, but it is not new for the people of Kashmir or the Indian Muslims. They are vandalised and vehemently brutalised with unearned suffering on a daily basis. They have been facing this for 70 long years.
Hundreds of George Floyds are killed in Kashmir, and videos get viral, too. Muslims in India are regularly beaten to death and filmed. And this is done by the same racist mind-set that killed Floyd. Alas, our honour is only confined to killing our women. Our honour is not honourable enough to stand for the oppressed.
