Selective Secularism and The “diaspora Conscience” Problem
I offer a reflection on a particular type of modern malaise: the selective conscience.
When Principles Travel, but Accountability Does Not
We are witnessing a curious phenomenon where individuals who have built entire careers on the virtues of secularism and democratic norms in the West suddenly develop a profound case of moral myopia when viewing the wreckage of their own ancestral home.
London Secularism, Islamabad Silence
Shaaz Mahboob, an acquaintance whose founding of the British and Global Muslims for Secular Democracy once seen as a courageous stand for enlightenment, has recently displayed a truly “deft” ability to balance his secular principles with a defense of the indefensible.
Separation of Mosque and State — Except Back Home
It is a remarkable intellectual feat to spend decades advocating for the separation of mosque and state in London while remaining conspicuously silent as the state and the barracks merge into a singular, predatory entity in Islamabad.
Imran Khan as The Convenient Distraction
To Shaaz, and those like him who share this “ex-Pakistani” blindness, the singular focus on the flaws of one political figure—Imran Khan—has become a convenient distraction from the crimes of far more established and lethal actors.
Target the Prisoner, Ignore the System
One must admire the tactical precision required to target a leader in a prison cell while ignoring the systemic rot of a government brought to power through the industrial-scale rigging of the February 2024 elections.
It is a peculiar form of “secularism” that demands proof of human rights violations while a UN Working Group (Opinion 22/2024) and Amnesty’s “Shadows of Control” report explicitly detail the arbitrary detention and mass surveillance of millions.
Universal Principles or Regional Ethics
This duplicity is not unique to Shaaz; it is a shared comfort among a diaspora that enjoys the protection of British law while providing intellectual cover for a regime that suspends the internet for 240 million people at the flick of a switch.
To ask for “specific examples” of violations in a country where journalists are abducted and protesters in Balochistan and Azad Kashmir are met with lethal force is not a search for truth—it is a performance of denial. It is a way of maintaining one’s “liberal” credentials in the West without ever having to challenge the real masters of the homeland.
The Line the Diaspora Needs to Cross
To those who often seek a more grounded reality, and even to those who navigate these same waters: we must decide if our principles are universal or merely regional.
If we condemn theocratic overreach in the UK or elsewhere, we cannot remain silent when the “same page” architecture in Pakistan uses the Anti-Terrorism Act to ban peaceful civil movements like the PTM/I.
To do so is to admit that our advocacy is not for the people, but for the status quo.
Detention, Surveillance, and The Demand for “proof”
The world is watching as the “secular” elite of the diaspora become the most reliable defenders of a managed bankruptcy.
When Asking for Examples Becomes a Performance
History will not remember those who asked for “proof” while the evidence was written in the blood of protesters and the exit logs of a fleeing middle class. It will remember those who had the courage to recognize that a tyrant is a tyrant, regardless of whether he wears a suit, a turban, or a uniform.
