It is an unfortunate world we live in today where intolerance is so rampant that a person with differing views does not even have the right to live (or die) on their own terms. For those of you who are unaware, On July 15th, 2016, controversial Pakistani social media celebrity Qandeel Baloch was murdered. She was strangled by her brother in what is being called an honor killing. Before I go into the particulars here, I will say that unlike the death of Pakistani humanitarian of Abdul Sattar Edhi, which received little acknowledgement from the international media, Qandeel Baloch’s death is already being given much more coverage by media such as The New York Times, CNN, Daily Mail, NPR, etc.. While some may disagree, my personal view on this is because unlike Edhi Sahab, Qandeel Baloch’s death fits in very well with the image that the media wants to portray of Pakistan. This being said, her murder and the reasoning behind it was nothing short of barbaric. There was a range of responses to her death, from outrage to applause, and everything in between. Along with these, another common response I noticed on social media was that her death was a wrong but that she was asking for it (or in some way responsible) because of her behavior. This refuses to address the serious issue of the lack of tolerance that our society has for those we disagree with and the incessant need we have to eliminate them instead of dealing with them.

Qandeel Baloch was born into an impoverished family in the small town of Shah Sadar Din in Dera Ghazi Khan in Punjab, one of thirteen siblings (six brothers and six sisters). She attained her fame through her postings on social media because of her refusal to conform to conservative societal norms. Hailed as an independent feminist by the progressives and viewed as an immoral and a disgrace by the conservatives, she was one of those people who brought out the best and worst of Pakistani society. She was known for sparking issues on multiple occasions, such as when she promised to do a strip dance for the nation if Pakistan won the Twenty20 match against India in March 2016, and for the music video, Ban, which showed her twerking and mocking Pakistani society and the woman’s role. In essence, for the society of Pakistan she was always known as the queen of controversy.

I will be honest here: As a person with strong religious and cultural values, I always intensely disliked Qandeel Baloch. I disagreed with a lot of her views and I found most of her public actions rather distasteful, especially in regards to Islam and our Pakistani culture. I didn’t think that she was someone who would positively influence Muslims and Pakistani society, nor was she someone who I felt could really represent the women of Pakistan. However, and this where the issue comes up with fanaticism in terms of being conservative, we as a society need to learn to live and let live. I dealt with her by ignoring her. I paid little to no attention to her social media posts and I also ignored her many controversies in the news. Since I strongly disagreed with her opinions, I didn’t give them much importance. Respectfully disagreeing with someone is the mature way of dealing with them.

We need to accept and understand that what Qandeel Baloch did, the choices she made and their consequences (in terms of the backlash she got from people), that is entirely on her. She knew what was acceptable and not acceptable in society and she chose not to conform to it, which is absolutely fine, no matter how much we as a society may disagree with it. It is not our place to take that choice away from her and tell her what to do with her life, which is why I find those who condemn her death but still feel as if it was her own fault to be extremely misguided. Our society has to accept that the freedom to choose what rules we want to abide by is what separates a nation from being oppressive or being tolerant and permissive. She had every right to choose how to live her life without fear of being harassed or murdered for it. As Evelyn Beatrice Hall said, "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

The problem I see here is a lack of tolerance for people like Qandeel Baloch. In my opinion, it is not our culture or beliefs that have to change as much as the tolerance for other's beliefs. In all honesty, people like her are a dime a dozen in terms of her lifestyle choices and her views. Does this mean that such people’s lives are worth less than those who oppose them? That they don’t deserve to live? Of course not. Just because we disagree with what someone says or believes doesn’t mean that their right to live is any less than ours. Those people are human beings with mothers and fathers and siblings. They have hopes and dreams. We do have a certain cultural and religious moral compass in our society. While I (as a moderately conservative Muslim and as someone who is very culturally Pakistani) personally don’t have an issue with most of what that moral compass entails, I do vehemently oppose the lack of tolerance for those individuals who choose not to abide by it. Wiping out people who we don’t approve of just validates our insecurity and shows that we don’t have the maturity to tolerate these differences and respectfully disagree with them. It makes us look barbaric and uncivilized.

For those who believe that her murder was in any way justified, I tell them this: From an Islamic standpoint, the sanctity of human life is absolute. There is no ambiguity whatsoever. Every single human being has the right to live however they want, whether we agree with them or not. We as humans have every right to express our opinions and practice our way of life however we choose to, but we have absolutely no right to force them onto others and harm those who don't follow it. And no one has the right to take a life, no matter what the supposed justification is. I absolutely love our cultural and religious values, but this type of intolerance is something that needs to be addressed, because otherwise our society will devolve into chaos and hatred. The people of Pakistan (and South Asia in general) need to understand that you don’t have to like or approve of someone to speak up for their basic right to live. In fact, no one is asking you to condone her decisions and her actions. Criticizing her brutal murder is not synonymous with approving of her conduct in society. All we as a society are asking is that you have the sense to recognize that her actions and words do not trump her right to live. This is why when I lament her death, I don't lament for who she was as a person, I lament for an innocent life lost. It is true, I strongly disliked her---a lot of people felt the same way. But we should all be outraged because her right to live her life, however she chose to do it, was snatched away from her. We have to accept that whoever she was, whatever she was, she was a human being first and foremost. A human being whose loved ones will forever remember that along with the outrage and indignation of her murder came acclamation and approval from a number of close-minded individuals. And that is what bothers me the most, that this is what they will remember about our society….that there are actual instances in which taking the life of another human being will not be met with universal anger and condemnation, and that factors such as intolerance and immaturity stemming from fanaticism somehow make it acceptable. They will remember that it is actually possible in our society for people to celebrate and applaud the murder of another human being.