Norman Rockwell, American painter, was known for gathering archetypal representations of people and creatures together in one scene, all of them wearing expressions or carrying hopes or fears that each of us have felt somewhere in time.
What we see:
This amazing archetypal photograph sent me by a correspondent this morning, ran in the NYT, with the title: “Police officers beating a lawyer outside provincial High Courts in Lahore today.” There in the photo is a Pakistani lawyer, center, who is protesting Musharraf’s newest stand of declaring an emergency suspension of civil rights in Pakistan, seeming, some say, in order to protect Musharraf himself.
I hope Musharraf is not eerily wanting to be for nefarious purposes– I hate to say this– like The Bloody Butcher of Burma, Senior General Than Schwe, who holds office both as ‘President’ and is also self-appointed head of the military.
The thinking people in both Pakistan and Burma, both, fear one man holding ALL power over all affairs of state and civil life. It would be as if our US President had all powers to suspend civil rights, bring military to the streets without oversight in order to quell dissent, launch a military anywhere without agreement of the representatives of the people.
But, as of this week, Musharraf publicly appears to want to continue to hold both power positions, and all their respective say-sos. A large vocal group of Pakistanis doesn’t want that. Add in the reappearance of Madame Bhutto. To much of the world, it appears the emergency might be Musharraf’s personal emergency: imminent loss of his absolute power.
What we do not see:
However, there is also the issue of deeply combative Pakistanis within the nation, as well as old tribal groups who have their ancient hatreds still and are spring loaded for avenging. There is also a seething anger between the classes, also boiling just under the surface.
Musharraf may as much be holding ‘an Emergency’ to keep all those old resentments from breaking out into blood gushing. Again. In many parts of the world, including the US, the peace between various groups of people who carry old grudges, is far more tenuous than most realize. It just takes a few ‘incidents’ to ignite all the old dry tinder.
What we can see in the photo… but, are we seeing what we are told we are seeing?:
Blowing this picture up on a 30″ monitor using a photograph software I use to analyze photographs in cases, this photo noted on various news sites is one showing the beating of a lawyer by soldiers in the streets.
But, not so fast. It is true that for many people of the world, a roaming street military causes an animal reaction of fear and fight or flight.
What we cannot see:
But look at the photo closely and wonder: Is this a man being beaten by soldiers? Or is this a man being rescued by soldiers from a small village group who are beating him? Is this, despite its caption, really a photo of a lawyer being beaten by a ‘plain clothes’ policeman, that is, a village man deputized by the government, with no training, to ‘help’ the soldiers?
If so, who ordered, sanctioned such? Is there in Pakistan, the equivalent of an ‘informant network’ unleashed by the government, that also invites rabble-rousers, drunks, grudge-holding, mercenaries, and mentally ill people to join in beating up others? What is this a photo of, really?
What we can see:
I’ve used monikers below to identify the persons, normally they would be numbered right on the photograph. The identifying titles are not meant to be disrespectful, just to name by association, so track can be kept of the many persons in the photograph.
Here are the figures in the photo and what they actually seem to be doing that runs counter to the original title of the photo:
Center: The Lawyer, about 50 to 65 years old, dressed in his business suit. In this moment he has been kicked by Pantaloon Man (in white trousers and shirt). The lawyer appears to have been kicked in the back of his knees, and is on a trajectory to fall… and then either be hauled up or dragged next.
Right: Pantaloon Man: in all white, about 50-55 years old appears to outweigh lawyer by 50 pounds or more, and is dressed in a tribal clothing. However, he has on black, vibram-like soled shoes, and is wearing black socks. His hair is cut at the neck. And, coincidentally, his lingam appears to be about to be exposed.
Left: Motocross man: soldier or policeman wears a red helmet, knee-cap protector boots, and grasps lawyer by cloth of his suit coat at shoulder, not a firm grip. One wonders though, is he catching him or arresting him. That’d be an odd grip to use to arrest an adult. This grip may more imply that the lawyer was being led and was going peacefully. Motocross Man holds a plastic riot shield in right hand. Only 11% of world is left handed, perhaps Motocross Man is also left-handed, in which case, his grip would be from his primary side. But, if he is right-handed, he may indeed be reacting to the lawyer’s falling, rather than hauling the lawyer away. At least in this moment the photo was taken.
Outer circle: Villager with White Stick and white tennis shoes. Whether that was once a sign on a stick, or whether that is a blow being aimed, is uncertain, but the right hand of the stick-holder and his hand’s position could be either a ‘holding up the stick’ grip, or a ‘preparing to bring that stick down hard’ grip
Many sticks in photo: seeming no firearms.
All men are closed mouthed: No one appears to be shouting; all mouths appear closed at the moment the photo was taken. This may be the ending moment of something much louder that occurred right before this picture was taken.
Left, Middle and Right: Three Turtle Men police/ soldiers: the only ones wearing ‘crotch to v-neck’ Kevlar-like sandwich boards. The one to the far right who appears to be holding onto his helmet is wearing a heavy silver watch that if the watch has kept proper time, would tell us the exact time this occurred: from reading the watch face in blowup and sharpened, and from the shadows on the ground, the watch either reads near 5 pm or 12:25 pm, just after noon. From the shadows on the ground, it would appear it is near 5pm in Lahore at the moment of the photo. It would be useful to know what normally transpires at that time of day in Lahore, what time the courts close, what time people take repast or rest from the day and other details.
Ratio in enlarged photo, in toto: ten soldiers/ policemen in ratio to three citizens.
Discontinuity: There are many in the photo; one is this: As in many countries, when the local police have to buy their own uniforms and equipment, there comes a plethora of mismatched police dress and equipment, as each man buys his own at the market or it is handed down as cast off. Thus: helmets that don’t cover the head well, spare parts jackets, odds and ends.
The Central Tableau: the poor lawyer and the man kicking him. It would appear that the policeman to the right is reaching to perhaps help/catch too, but is distracted by something to his left side.
Is this a photo as-stated? You decide.
This is what the NYT wrote using the above photo, but clearly there is something else going on, something between those dressed as ‘village people’ which they may be, or they may not be…
Police officers armed with tear gas and clubs attacked thousands of protesting lawyers in the city of Lahore today and rounded up lawyers in other cities as the government of the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, faced the first signs of concerted resistance to the imposition of emergency rule on Saturday.
The opposition to emergency rule, which many here are describing as martial law, was led by lawyers, students and journalists. The main opposition political parties, however, mounted no immediate large-scale rallies or protests. The next few days will show whether they can organize in the current atmosphere, which is highly restrictive.
Benazir Bhutto, the leader of the country’s biggest secular political party, remained at her home in Karachi, although she said she would fly to Islamabad on Wednesday to take part in a protest rally. Ms. Bhutto has sharply criticized the emergency rule but so far has stopped short of criticizing General Musharraf himself.
Pakistani officials say an estimated 500 opposition figures have been arrested since emergency rule was imposed at the weekend, although lawyers and analysts said the figure could be far higher, probably around 2,000.
What we cannot see yet:
Still, there’s a story under the story here: Has Musharraf dispatched undercover agitators against the teachers, lawyers, students and other people in the streets and rooftops throughout Pakistan, to make it “seem” like it is citizen against citizen, rather than citizens against Musharraf’s stand?
If so, is this is a page from the play-book of Burma’s Than Schwe who last week dressed some non-monks up as monks in order to give the impression of the monks capitulating to him?
To both Than Schwe and Musharraf, not saying each man is the same, but still, a message: The world is no longer groaning at the oarlocks for whatever a leader’s whims dictate. The world around you is no longer a non-literate world who is uneducated, and who only gets their news from whomsoever’s mouths you deign. No leader can hide any exploitation that tries to ignite old tribal envies and resentments to further the leader’s throne-squatting.
More on the march of thousands of lawyers in Pakistan, in a bit. See also the good piece by my coblogger Swaraaj Chauhan at
http://themoderatevoice.com/politics/foreign-affairs/15929/bush-musharraf-we-swim-together/
nota:
photo by Mohsin Raza
h/t legalmind
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If any commenter knows of a site where I can upload photos then link them back to TMV, so they may be enlarged by readers to full screen size, please let me know. I’ve been blogging for 7 months, and am still not sure of all the nuances. WordPress will only allow a four inch column width for photos, meaning either the photo has to be very small, or else WordPress crops it side to side, leaving out details that are often salient.
Thank you.
dr.e