No country for (poor) couples in love

• Living in 21st century with medieval mentality, moral policing, hypocrisy and voyeurism

Here in this beautiful land of ours, dear reader, we have two worlds. In the first one you can get away with everything ‘illegal’, ‘immoral’ and ‘Haraam’. You can drink in the comfort of villas, farmhouses and posh apartments, do A-grade drugs from cocaine to ecstacy, have mad parties all night long, dance your wits out to the tunes of trance music and no one, let me repeat, no one will bother you.

Because the folks who are ‘empowered’ and ‘expected’ to bother you are outside the venue providing security and offering vigilance.

Love in this world expresses itself in rave dance steps fueled by imported alcohol with deafening music in the background, broadcasted live on Instagram and Snapchat. The party goes on sans nuisance, sans interruption. And so do expressions and acts of affections like kissing and cuddling.

Disconnected and severed from the other world, the dwellers of this world when meet the inhabitants of the other, both gain a martyr, in extreme encounters. One bags Salman Taseer, the other gets Mumtaz Qadri. That, however, we’ll discuss some other time, in some other piece.

Since time immemorial, men and women have been profiting and losing in this business called ‘love’. Few among us haven’t experienced sleepless nights because we can’t stop thinking about someone

Now, let us gaze at the second world that dwells here in our beloved land. The mostly silent, always ignored, busy in making ends meet

denizens of this world either live from paycheck to paycheck or from one odd job to another. It is a world where affluence is absent, want is abundant, love and affection are blurred before the altar of financial restraints and paltry incomes. These children of lesser gods who are denied earthly pleasures and relegated to a state much worse than the savages of bygone ages still have the same urges like the members of the other world.

Love-you may call it craving to have a beloved, infatuation, crush, lust, basic, primal instinct or whatever catches your fancy — creeps in this doomed world too.

Many of the folks from this second world are firm believers of religion and want to order their lives in strict accordance with dictates of faith. But, every now and then, nature triumphs belief and transgressions occur.

And that is where the trouble begins. The poor and pious of Pakistan are at the mercy of moral policing who make sure that they don’t wander away from the path of righteousness and salvation.

Last week a news story went viral where Islamabad police caught a couple around 18-19 years ‘kissing’ and ‘cuddling’ in a car near a market, took them to the Karachi Company Police Station where they were formally booked for ‘obscene acts’ under Section 294 of the PPC, an offence punishable with imprisonment for up to three months, or with fine, or both.

However after their arrest, both were released by the station house officer (SHO) on bail. The investigating officer while talking to a reporter said that they received a complaint that the couple were ‘kissing and cuddling’ in a car in G-9/3. He claimed that the couple was still busy kissing and cuddling when the cops reached the scene and thus arrested them.

Those who live in Islamabad or visit the city often know the socio-economic status of those who live in Sector G-9. Majority of those who live here in tiny government quarters are peons, helpers, assistant, and clerks in various government organisations. Rest are retired officers who live in small houses with tiny streets and an abundance of Afghan refugees thrown in the mix.

If only the ‘caught’ couple hailed from the other world and having ‘kissing’ and ‘cuddling’ in some farmhouse spreading on acres in Bani Gala or Shah Allah Ditta, or the uber luxurious suites in five star hotels like Serena and Marriott, or basement of some lush house in elite sectors of F-6, F-7, E-7, hill resorts like Highland Country Club. If only. Well, they didn’t. So, they had to face the iron hand of law.

Stop here and ask yourself this. Do these two worlds have anything, anything at all in common? The answer, trust me, would be a resounding no.

Since time immemorial, men and women have have been profiting and losing in this business called ‘love’. Few among us haven’t experienced sleepless nights because we can’t stop thinking about someone. We imagine them right next to us when they are hundreds of miles away. We envision futures with them even when our present is under a pall of uncertainty. We hold their hands with all our might in their absence. We talk like maniacs on adrenaline. We listen like stones. We suffer like stoics. We revel in silence.

However, to do all of the above without humiliation, you need to have a sh*tload of money or else ‘cuddling’ and ‘kissing’ are punishable offence under Tazeerat-e-Pakistan.

Another reason for us to salute our beloved Pakistan and its never-ending dichotomies.