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Actor and content creator Khaqan Shahnawaz wants you to check your privilege when commenting on those videos of people “attacking” cake on Independence Day.

You know the ones — people scrambling and pushing each other in their rush to grab a slice or three, yelling and shouting and causing all sorts of uproar on social media where people label them “ignorant” and “the reason why Pakistan isn’t progressing”.

Shahnawaz isn’t buying this criticism of uneducated people being the cause of their own ignorance. “They’re ignorant and uneducated because they were never taught anything. They weren’t given any opportunities. They didn’t grow up in Lahore, Karachi or Islamabad, or Sialkot, Gujranwala or Faisalabad. They are coming from villages,” he said in a video shared to his Instagram account on August 14.

“Someone told you what happened on August 14, right? You weren’t born knowing what happened,” he addressed his followers. “Someone told you not to throw trash outside, even though you still do, I know. Someone told you not to attack cakes, because you get cake at home. You’ve tried cake before. If you were to see some Mano Salwa [divine food] somewhere and you didn’t know if you’d get any or if you’d ever get to have any in your life, you would attack it too,” he said.

Poverty in Pakistan surged by seven per cent, pushing approximately 27 million additional people into financial distress over the last six years and bringing the total number of the impoverished population of the country to 70 million, according to this year’s Economic Survey. Pakistan measures poverty based on the cost of basic needs approach, in which the poverty line represents the minimum expenditure required to meet essential food and non-food needs. That means 70 million people definitely don’t have the means to buy and eat cake.

“These things don’t happen all at once, it takes effort, and our governments, our leaders and we, the privileged class, have worked on it for the past 75 years to keep people like this,” Shahnawaz contended. “

“We also live in a bubble.” He referenced a video by a white content creator who made three videos with brands talking about how Pakistan is so great. “And it is great — for us. For the privileged class. It’s great for us, it’s great for foreigners. But go out and look at the main streets, people are out. That is the real Pakistan,” he said.

“You’re saying Pakistan has been ruined because of them, no, it’s been ruined because of us. We have the education, we have the political power, we have the voice, we have the platform, we have the ability to debate, but we don’t do it. If someone comes and speaks against Pakistan we say, ‘no, no, show only positive side’, ‘why always talk negative’, or other nonsense like that,” he said.

“Anyway, happy Independence to everyone. Before 1947, you didn’t have a political say, you couldn’t decide foreign policy, you paid tax that wasnt spent on you, education wasn’t that great, people used to say don’t educate your children, don’t give them a western education, the people wanting a western education for their kids would be abused, now things are very different, because we are free,” the actor said.

“Before, we feared there was a majority religion that would dominate us, they would oppress us, now, there’s no such thing, no majority religion is oppressing another. So yeah, we are free, and for that, happy Independence Day, guys.”