Nazia Nazar
WHEREAS Pakistan is doing its bit for glorification of Muslim heroes in the world with the help of Turkish brothers, our so-called liberals have come forward with baseless accusations of influencing the minds of youth. They tend to propagate themes and advance arguments as if our youth may be seen riding horses at the music of Erturgal in Islamabad. Such people never tried to raise the issue of Indian dramas and western films influencing young minds, whereas Pakistani culture and history is very different from them. The series, based on the life and times of the 13th-century Muslim Oghuz Turk leader, Ertugrul, has taken Pakistan by storm, and are very popular. Ertugrul was the father of Osman, the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, which ruled a large part of the world for 600 years – a sour in the eyes of western world.
Ertugrul has given people something to watch beyond English-language Hollywood movies, says Rafay Mahmood, who has been writing on Pakistan’s entertainment and cultural landscape for more than a decade. Other Turkish TV serials that were widely acclaimed including Mera Sultan, Ishq-e-Memnu, Ask Laftan Anlamaz, Fatima Gull, Fareeha, and Kosem Sultan. In September 2019, Turkey, Pakistan and Malaysia had agreed to jointly counter the rising global trend of Islamophobia. The three countries also decided to launch a TV channel dedicated to confronting the challenges posed by Islamophobia and make films on Muslim’s heroes. Pakistani novelist Nasim Hijazi had written lengthy novels depicting the lives of Muslim heroes in 1950s and 1960s. He was also criticized by liberals for, what they said, distorting history. In fact, he inculcated the pride by reviving the glory of Muslim heroes, and of course made history more interesting.
Indian dramas and films had acquired quite some viewer-ship in the absence of any official resistance or laws prohibiting display of perverse material. In fact previous governments had issued licenses to different channels with a view to earning revenue, and in the process showed utter disregard to the core values of our culture. Similarly, the media invaders were facilitated by some of the private TV channels through the projection of Indian films and display of foreign advertisements. A few conscionable elements of civil society resisted but those enjoying political, social and economic clout favoured liberal policy of foreign films and dramas. Foreign media create a sense of suspicion amongst our youth who are passing through a formative stage of development and are at the initial phase of understanding their religious beliefs, cultural norms and core values.
The aliens through cartoons and animated caricatures captured Pakistani viewers and injected them with dissenting thought to challenge the teachings and traditions of Islamic culture. Indian films and dramas were openly shown by our cable networks, and Indian commercials were also aired on our TV channels projecting Indian products and consumer goods. It is worth noting that India does not allow telecast of Pakistani dramas and films in India. In August 2009, Indian daily The Asian Age had reported that the Indian government banned Pakistani TV channels in India and it was also planning to establish high-frequency transmitters and towers in the bordering areas to stop transmission of Pakistani programs. Indian government decision was taken as a precautionary measure to keep the new generation ignorant about other side of the story from Pakistani media debunking Indian propaganda against Pakistan.
However, more disturbing is the fact that there is no dearth of the supporters of Indian channels in Pakistan despite the fact that the Indian media, news or entertainment tend to malign Pakistan and to dominate its culture rather than to entertain the audience. The fact of the matter is that the Indian film industry frequently made anti-Pakistan films in which Pakistan was projected as a villain country. Pakistan-bashing, denigrating Pakistan and burning its flag are not uncommon in Hindi movies. Furthermore, such films are exempted from heavy taxes and win prestigious awards even if they fail at the box office or a total flop in Indian cinema. As far as the music is concerned, it is an undeniable fact that some Indian songs include profane or sacrilegious lyrics. Apart from Hindi movies, the dramas presented by Indian media unnecessarily highlight Hindu rituals and colourful rites.
It is pertinent to quote one of the speeches Quaid-i-Azam made in which he shed light on the separate culture of Muslims. He said, “We are a nation with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal laws and moral code, customs and calendar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions; in short, we have our own distinctive outlook on life and of life”. Another argument which is advanced in favour of Indian media is that art cannot be limited to boundaries. Nobody can deny the fact that entertainment is an integral part of human life, but it is also better to have no amusement at all than to get perverse entertainment from any source. Just like, every country chalks out its defence policy to save the country from outside threat it is also incumbent on the government to formulate a media policy.
—The writer is freelance columnist based in Finland.
