March 4, 2024

From distant Pakistan, an NBC news story surfaces that serves to remind us of everything we need to know about our current crisis.

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A week ago, a female police officer in Lahore, Pakistan, patrolling a shopping district in the busy muslim city, saw a crowd gathering, to taunt, accuse, and threaten a young woman in a colorful Kurta (a long shirt-dress). Her dress was covered with bright and abstract calligraphy that the crowd assumed was an improper quoting of the Koran.

In Pakistan, when a crowd gathers to isolate and shout at a woman, it generally means one thing: they are accusing her of blasphemy or some other capital crime, and are preparing to beat, stone, or lynch the woman with the swift crowd justice that these people are raised to enforce.

Sheher Bano is the female police officer in the story. She recognized the situation that was unfolding, and rushed the young woman into a storefront, quickly getting a solid black wrap with which to cover her before escorting her somewhere safe.

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One might not think this story was newsworthy, but everyone in Pakistan knows the implications. The woman was almost certain to be killed by the mob because of her dress, and when this female policeman -– an assistant superintendent of police in the big city of Lahore -– took the political and personal risk of quickly acting to save the girl, that was noteworthy, enough so that Officer Bano was rewarded for her bravery and service in a public ceremony in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.

It turned out, upon inspection of the dress, that the girl in question didn’t “deserve” the accusation of blasphemy at all.

The dress is printed with multiple representations of the word Helwa, which is reported as being an Arabic word meaning “beautiful.” No Koran quotes at all. No blasphemy, no crime.

The global press is so happy about how great this story is for Officer Bano -– and it certainly is –- that reporters are gushing with compliments over this woman who would risk her life to save a girl about to be attacked by a crowd. Left unsaid is that the officer couldn’t have expected any help from the public; when onlookers see a crowd out for blood in such areas, they know better than to try to help the target of the day.

Officer Bano was called “fearless” in the celebration, and this recognition certainly speaks well of her superiors. She deserves the praise.

But one must wonder if the western reporters gushing over this story have really thought it through, because it hardly helps their standard worldview. The heroic female cop angle appealed to them immediately; the saving of a helpless young woman in danger, too, is always good copy for a reporter.