KARACHI, June 20: The Pakistan Film Exhibitors’ Association on Monday criticized the Sindh government for not abolishing entertainment tax. Speaking at a press conference, the PFEA chairman, Nadeem Mandviwala, said that Sindh finance minister Sardar Ahmad had assured members of the association that taking a leaf out of the Punjab government’s book, the Sindh government would also abolish the entertainment tax.

“We were all surprised to find that the budget announced by the provincial government recently contained no such incentive to the cinema industry struggling with many issues, such as piracy, cable TV, Indian movies and a dearth of good Pakistani films,” he said.

He recalled that Karachi used to have 110 cinema houses in the past. “Now the city has only 36 cinemas. Similarly, the number of cinemas in Hyderabad has come down from 22 to four. There were 75 cinemas in the interior of Sindh. Now there are only 20 cinemas,” he deplored.

Mr Mandviwala conceded that a tax cut would not bring back cine-going crowds, adding that it would merely help the cinema owners keep their heads above water.

Making out a strong case for the screening of Indian movies in Pakistan, he said that three years ago when new TV channels were launched, their content used to be 100 per cent Pakistani. “Now 40 per cent of their programmes contain Indian content. One at times wonders what will happen to their programmes 10 years hence,” he said, adding that screening of Indian movies should be allowed in a tightly regulated manner.

He said that at a recent meeting Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had not categorically brushed aside the proposal of screening Indian movies in Pakistan. “It was the first time that the government did not categorically pour cold water on the proposal. But the prime minister said that since the issue was sensitive his government would give more thought to it,” he said.

He agreed with a questioner that tax cuts allowed by the government a couple of years ago should have revitalized the ailing cinema industry. “But at the same time the government allowed cable operators to show Indian movies through their networks. This move alone dealt a crippling blow to the cinema industry which was already struggling for survival,” he said.

Mr Mandviwala attributed the screening of x-rated movies at some cinemas in the city to lawlessness.

PFEA members Adeel Imtiaz Shaikh and Haji Ibrahim also spoke.