 |
| Blood on the Tarmac |
There is so much wrong with this picture on so many levels.
But before anyone starts accusing me of displaying ignorance and pandering to
‘western sensibilities.’ Let me as assure you that in my family, sacrificing a bakra is the go-to option whenever the family
is experiencing a crisis or anticipates one. The usual form of anticipation is
a member of the family – usually an elder having a bad dream. I am all for it
and would not want to be questioning the practice though at times I do have my
doubts.
But this is not about you or me. This is about the national
airline. An airline, which in the recent past has had an atrocious record. They
could have enacted this sacrifice in the background, but no like everything
else in this country everything must be showed off. Having a live animal being
bled on the tarmac right next to the aircraft is wrong on so many levels.
Forget about western sensibilities, I for one would not want to be getting on
that plane. That image would haunt me.
What would worry me the most is the mindset behind the
management taking this action in front of the cameras. It is not only absurd
but continues the tradition of making us look like fools.
10 comments:
This is as medieval as it gets. I get the point behind offering a sadqa, but on the flight line - like this - without ensuring actual air craft safety is just plain crazy.
Its all about perceptions. This is as bad as they come
Animal sacrifices are rampant in all cultures.Maybe this was a PR thing where the airline appeased God and made the passengers feel safe !
Yes let's forget about trying ourselves to make flying PIA a safer and better experience. Instead let's rely on a third-party; an invisible entity even. This from an airlines that has almost a thousand employees for each aircraft in their fleet. Compare this with Ryanair and Easyjet who run much bigger fleets with an average of between 30 and 40 personnel per plane. And guess what? They don't rely on divine intervention to keep their passengers safe. The above photograph sums up Pakistan. A nation in which the ruling classes have misruled so badly yet fail to take any responsibility whatsoever. There's always someone else to blame for their failures: it's not their foreign policies that were bad, it's foreign intervention. it's not them that are corrupt it's the rank and file. We have no issues with misogyny and honour killings it's just journalists giving us a bad name. Something needs to change fast because Pakistan looks increasingly like a failing state.
I instinctively disliked the picture but plenty of organisations have superstitions.
It only becomes an issue when it looks like they are an excuse for actual work.
After reading your well written blog exposing the most irrational and superstitious act by the PIA Staff of sacrificing a Black Bakra to ward off the Evil, reminds me that nothing in the entire world is more dangerous for us humans than the pursuit of superstition with sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
@annonymous - We have a fair bit to go in terms of everything. This does not help - at all!
@takhlus - well put. Religion seems to be best go-to garb to hide professional inadequacies
@achilles - there are certainly more dangerous things in this world but you certainly make your point :)
Superstitions and other such irrational acts have no place in a professional organisation. They are fine ( ??!!) in the privacy of one's home--but to do it in public is a bit much.
bloody hell, u r still alive?
@Scheherazade_S Just wondering if your husband knows you masquerade as single woman purporting to come to the US for work and sharing lewd photos of yourself with total strangers? Not to mention raunchy sexual messages.
Post a Comment