Your Canvas, My Country

It is a privilege, Mr. Media, to address you directly, and even though I have achieved a lot, this is humbling; for in any society, you have the ultimate influence. You, who have the power of words, who can morph unrelated images to create fancy tales, who can use eloquence to stir people’s emotions at just the right instant, are surely awe-inspiring. I am aware that after I’m through speaking today, a mere flick of your finger can either grant my wish or label me as a heretic. Even so, I intend to stand my ground, if only once.

To be honest, I was a nerd till my O’ Levels, taking little interest in social happenings. I watched little TV (which was evolving to be the most followed form of media), and then too, only Pakistani channels. One can argue that I had little exposure of the world, but I do remember that morning shows were educational and motivating; the cartoons didn’t have vulgarity; tourism and traditional cuisines were promoted; drama serials were either patriotic or had some tangible moral message; news were to inform us, not to frighten us; and anchors everywhere didn’t mutilate their mother tongue. Why has all that changed, Mr. Media?

I wholeheartedly accept that we’re inherently quite impressionable, but turning to other cultures for inspiration won’t help us; neither in the short run where we would appear to be copycats, nor in the long run where our next generations will never know our true identity and ideology. I admit that we have a long-lasting, if not everlasting, inferiority complex, but does it run so deep that we cannot make do with our own culture and religion? Do we always have to start our day with a mediocre morning show where the host has nothing constructive to say? Your disciples, Mr. Media, are always praising the way the Jews raise their children by educating them about anything and everything, by strengthening their beliefs and ethics. They laud the Japanese, who plant miniature speakers underneath their infants’ pillows to soothingly whisper ideologies in their ears, making them better citizens. And what do we do besides distracting ours with displays of magic and planting ideas of rebellion in their minds? Regretfully, that is not how a Pakistani should be.

I also accept that norms of journalism have changed in the 21st Century, and giving the front row to education and religion isn’t widely acceptable. All that is not necessary too, to groom a nation into becoming what its forefathers wanted. We portray the West (and our Eastern neighbour) in our entertainment programmes. How longer do you think it would take before our youth forgets the important place parents hold in social decisions? Or they forget how their culture expects them to behave in public? Has our entertainment industry lost all Anwar Maqsoods and Bushra Ansaris and Shakeels and Saba Hameeds that we have to play dramas like “Ishq-e-Mamnu” and “Mera Sultan”? Have all Alamgirs and Sajjad Alis left us that our music talent shows are being judged by the likes of Ali Azmat who do not even know how to react to the audience? And surely, the drones haven’t blown up all our Northern beauty that we cannot produce a richer, more vibrant “Travel Guide of Pakistan”. You, sir, show blood and gore on-screen, use sensationalism, and claim you’re only showing what is happening. Why don’t you, now too, take inspiration from the West and your neighbours, who only showcase their positive aspects on-screen? Our nation already knows what we are going through. Displaying it again and again is only making us immune to others’ suffering, while discouraging potential investors and tourists. Oh, and haven’t we all studied enough Urdu to at least speak it properly? Your anchors, sir, sound like some hybrids our neighbour countries have created with the West’s collaboration. Please tell them these fake accents and meagre stock of vocabulary only depreciates their already-limited capacity of talking sense.

My country, Mr. Media, isn’t grim and desolate at all. Nor are my people backwards and desperate. We might not love that our elders are evolving too slowly to adapt to a rapidly changing global environment, but we do not appreciate an open invitation to vices we’re taught to stay away from. Your brushstrokes, sir, define us. Paint us in our true colours. Bring back patriotism and dedication, honesty and righteousness, and help raise a generation without mental shackles. Believe me sir, only you and your canvas have the power to do so.