Cultural Invasion in Pakistan

Socialists believe that historical context and national character play a role in shaping a country’s people’s behavior patterns, whereas traditions and values often affect people’s thoughts. However, rival countries’ electronic media also intensified the trend of people forming negative opinions about each other.

In these words, India has begun cultural penetration in Pakistan as part of psychological warfare, in addition to promoting subversive actions in our region, through movies, dramas, shows, and advertisements that explicitly target our own ideology and cultural values. These activities amount to an invasion of Pakistani society by Indians.

In the absence of official opposition or legislation banning the showing of perverse content, Indian dramas and films have attracted a sizable audience. In reality, the government granted licenses to various foreign outlets in order to generate revenue, and in the process, it demonstrated complete disregard for our culture’s core values.

Similarly, some private television channels aided the media invaders by showing Indian films, Turkish and Korean/Chinese dramas, and displaying foreign advertising. A few morally upright members of civil society objected, but many with political, social, and economic clout supported a liberal international film and drama policy. Our youth, who are in the midst of a formative stage of growth and are only beginning to recognize their religious convictions, societal norms, and core values, are suspicious of foreign media.

The aliens lure Pakistani audiences with cartoons and animated caricatures and infect them with dissenting thinking, challenging Islamic culture’s teachings and practices. Our cable networks broadcast Indian films and dramas, and Indian advertisements promoting Indian products and consumer goods are broadcast on our television channels. Brand loyalty for Indian products, films, and dramas is likely to grow among the general public, especially among the youth and female audience.

It’s worth noting that Pakistani dramas and films are not permitted to be broadcast in India. Turkish dramas (from Ishq-e-Mamnoo to Mera Sultan, and now Ertugrul ghazi) are also broadcast on our channels to generate money, despite the fact that these dramas are culturally distant from our society and social values. In order to protect the country, especially the youth, the relevant authorities must pay attention to cultural invasions that go against our values and take measures to reduce the vulnerability of our citizens.

Before the entire sequence of “Burqa Avenger” is shown to Pakistani youth, it must be thoroughly examined. Even though such cartoon films are entertaining and funny, they contain secret messages and profound meanings that are incompatible with our society and religious values.

The government should consider prohibiting such services, as such a prohibition would not be unprecedented. Many countries restrict citizens’ access to the Internet to only that which is regulated by the government. It’s also worth noting that India, our neighboring country, has a strict policy when it comes to allowing Pakistani channels to be broadcast in India. The decision by the Indian government was made as a precautionary measure to keep the next generation unaware of the other side of the story from Pakistani media debunking Indian propaganda against Pakistan. The most concerning fact is that the Indian media, news and entertainment appears to malign Pakistan’s image and dominate its culture rather than entertaining the audience and it’s a harsh truth that there is no shortage of supporters of Indian channel in Pakistan. The truth is that India’s film industry regularly produces anti-Pakistan films in which Pakistan is portrayed as a villain. In Hindi films, there is a lot of Pakistan-bashing, denigration, and flag-burning. Furthermore, even if such films fail at the box office or are a complete flop in Indian cinema, they are excluded from heavy taxes and receive prestigious awards. When it comes to music, it is undeniable that certain Indian songs contain profane or sacrilegious lyrics.

Apart from Hindi films, Indian television dramas feature Hindu rituals and colorful rites that are unnecessary. Is it an accident or a deliberate attempt to win a cultural war with Pakistan? Former Indian Prime Minister Indra Gandhi once boasted about India’s cultural triumph over Pakistan. The tragedy is that Bollywood gets its films projected by Pakistani media. Now, it is not just cable operators who are breaking copyright laws by airing Indian films; Pakistani cinemas are also doing so with the government’s permission. Perhaps more tragic is the fact that, in the absence of a consistent media policy, several well-known private television networks are following suit. Some have gone so far as to stage dance competition shows that are modelled after Indian shows, as if dance were a part of our culture. There is also a misunderstanding among Indian channel supporters in Pakistan that the two countries share a similar culture.

It is appropriate to quote one of Quaid-e-speeches Azam’s in which he discussed Muslims’ distinct culture. He said, “We are a country with our own distinctive culture and civilization, language and literature, art and architecture, names and nomenclature, sense of values and proportion, legal news and moral code, customs and calendar, history and tradition, aptitudes and ambitions”. Another point in favor of Indian media is that art is not constrained by geographical boundaries. Nobody can argue that entertainment is an important part of life, but it is preferable to have no entertainment at all then to receive perverse entertainment from any source. Just like every country develops a security policy to protect itself from external threats, the government must also develop a media policy to monitor what is imported from international media in the name of entertainment.

Not only Indian media invade our culture, but nowadays Turkish media are also invading our cultural and moral values. As a nation they show that they are Muslim country and follow Islamic rules, but, in their dramas, there is no sign of any Islamic values. They dress like Non-Muslims, which create bad influence in our media as well as on our younger generation. I can’t find any good influence on our young generation, especially university going students after watching Ertugrul Ghazi.

To protect our children’s minds from unethical entertainment, a ban on pornographic and filthy films and dramas from across the border might be the best choice. Pakistani films and dramas from the 1960s to 1980s were considered among the best in the world during the first two decades after independence. Furthermore, several Pakistani musicians have achieved international acclaim and recognition. Having said that, a policy to promote our culture, assist cinema, and make this industry profitable is needed so that Pakistani talent can divert their resources to serve their own audience rather than leaving the country to perform in other countries. We probably won’t need to impose a ban on the networks of our neighboring country until Pakistani artists and audiences are happy with local forms of entertainment.

I am not anti-electronic when I speak out about this whole media boom. It is an unavoidable reality that avoiding the media means killing oneself. Aside from the Internet, radio, and print media, television has become a powerful source of knowledge. We can’t keep our children away from the television in this era of mass media. Aside from Indian vulgar outlets, electronic media provides access to a number of other channels such as National Geographic, Animal Planet, Discovery, Aljazeera, CNN, BBC World Service, and others. These networks are a treasure trove of information about the world and the cosmos.

Encourage our children to watch these channels from an early age. We have complete control over removing the Indian channel from our optical receiver at home. We can’t hold the government responsible for this. You, and no one else, are the governing authority.

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Category: Socio Political