Culture is the word encompassing the ‘dos and don’ts’ in ones daily life practices. Rather culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people defined by everything like language, cuisine, social habits and arts. It is the identity of a populace practicing customs, rites, traits and obeying the taboos and social mores. These sets of practices normally bind a population with a common civilizational bondage. Culture and civilization give a distinct identity to people having common ideology to follow. Thus Pakistan was established on the basis of ‘Two Nation Theory’ describing Muslim population as distinct part of entire demography. Though India has never accepted creation of Pakistan and is furiously adamant to undo it by hook or crook. In these days of so-called peace India is embarking upon a cynical campaign to convince people of Pakistan that there is hardly any difference between people living on both sides of the border. This lethal campaign is mostly being launched in subtle manner through cultural invasion via powerful electronic and film media.
Indian movies and TV dramas/shows with heavy budget investment, embed within them with perfect subtlety are the messages directly polluting hearts and minds of Pakistani populace. These cultural volleys are directly targeting our religio-cultural values and socio-cultural norms.
Indian movies besides earning huge business are perpetual source of strangulating our film industry. While Indian movies dominate our cinemas, Indian dramas/shows are given an excessive space in our domestic TV channels, availing full media space to freely proliferate Indian culture in our society. Ironically, Pakistani movies, dramas and music shows are extremely discouraged in India through intimidation and coercive tactics by RSS and the RAW. Indian RSS, Shiv Sena and other hardliners have recently harassed Pakistani artists in India and a number of concerts/ programmes could not be held.
Recently, Mekaal Hasan Band (Pakistani) was scheduled to perform in a concert in Ahmedabad but Shiv Sena activists gathered outside the venue and shouted anti-Pakistan slogans. Due to this concert had to be cancelled. Ghulam Ali, a Ghazal Maestro, had to cancel his concert programme in Mumbai and Pune in the face of Shiv Sena activists protest and threat they posed. Shiv Sena militants earlier smeared black the face of Sudheendra Kulkarni demanding cancellation of Khursheed Kasuri’s “Book Launch Ceremony” in Mumbai. Sudheendra Kulkarni was the host of the programme.
Besides, media is abuzz with regard to Hindu stalwarts publicly lynching Muslims over suspicion of beef consumption. Culturally chauvinist Hindus never brook the cultural pluralism in their country and despise Pakistani artists while upholding their Hindu culture. In the face of this Pakistani media has reason to abstain from telecasting Indian films and plays at the cost of the rights of own local/indigenous film/theater shows.
Indian films/movies are the portrayal of Hindu culture, a fact beyond any doubt. Besides, it is thrusting the words, vocabulary and diction of Hindi language in our language. Youngsters of our country are prone to gullibility to accept what is preached in these Indian plays. Common parley and diction of Urdu and other local languages are getting distorted. Pakistani electronic markets are seen infested with CDs/ DVDs recorded with Indian movies representing Indian/ Hindu culture. Young segment of our population is seen knowing more about the Indian artists, stars, film directors etc than about Pakistani artists. Such tendency is going to discourage Pakistani role models in various walks of life. Pakistani film industry can only re-occupy the space taken by Indian invasion once it (Pakistani film industry) is encouraged amongst the youngsters.
Indian movies, dramas/shows are a strong tool for promoting Indian culture in Pakistan which is directly targeting our ideology and cultural values. Indian cultural invasion needs to be stopped through a strong national commitment to ‘Say no to Indian cultural onslaught’ and no to Indian movies and TV shows in Pakistan.
India has shown its real face of extremist society, re-confirming the vision of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah. The cultural onslaught that Pakistan is facing from its chauvinist neighbour (India) is unique. In several European countries, France in particular, there is resistance against the large share of Hollywood in the movie market and against the adoption of English words in the local language.
Jack Lang, who served as French Culture Minister under Mitterrand, warned two decades ago of the dangers of the “Coca Colonisation of the minds.” The effort to purge the French language of foreign words is even older. The French Academy was set up in 1635 as an official authority to protect the purity of the French language.
But a prohibition on the screening of Indian movies in our cinemas will not be enough. As a national policy complete ban on the import, production and sale of DVDs and videos of Indian movies and of films and children’s programmes of other countries which have been dubbed in Hindi should be imposed. Besides, to fill the gap created by a ban on Indian films as a policy matter government should provide financial support for the dubbing of quality foreign-produced movies, educational films and children’s programmes in our own languages. There is a precedent. In France, the government provides huge subsidies to dubbing firms. Also, the National Language Authority, like the French Academy, should be given the task of popularizing and, if necessary, coining Urdu words to substitute foreign terms that have crept into our language.
As a nation we must recall the words of Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of our country who in one of his famous speeches 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.”
