|
|
|
The great bashing game
The art of propaganda has changed dramatically since the emergence of mass media as a global information tool. Governments around the world have used newspapers, radio, television and cinema for propagating their point of view, and at times maligning their internal as well as external enemies. With the passage of time, this art has been refined, especially in the industrialized societies, but it has been employed in a real crass fashion in the developing world.
Living in South Asia, we have experienced quite a heavy dose of media warfare due to our specific political scenario. Initially, the media war was fought by the government-owned radio and television networks, but the advent of satellite television has opened the door for the private sector to jump into the fray with the blessings of both governments.
Indian propaganda is not just confined to satellite television; they have the advantage of a huge market for cinema as well. As a result, more and more movies are churned out, which carry crude anti-Pakistan propaganda, which often distorts the facts. It seems quite clear that the Indian propaganda machinery has decided to use cinema to satisfy the domestic audience, while television is used for the foreign audience. This approach has yielded the desired results.
Our propaganda strategy has one very acute problem, which is the erroneous identification of the ‘enemy.’ Instead of propagating our point of view on the issues effectively, our planners have gone for ‘Hindu bashing.’ Often in special plays or period dramas, we turn our guns on Hindus and Hinduism
Our propaganda strategy, on the other hand, has one very acute problem, which is the erroneous identification of the ‘enemy.’ Instead of propagating our point of view on the issues effectively, our planners have gone for ‘Hindu bashing.’ Often in special plays or period dramas, we turn our guns on Hindus and Hinduism. The depiction of Hindus in our entertainment sector has been marked by stereotypical characters. Usually, actors who perform negative roles are cast as Hindus and the most common story-line is that of a Hindu betraying a Muslim friend or ruler, or the most ‘loved’ love story, where a Hindu girl falls in love with a Muslim boy. This theme was repeated in the recently released film Laaj.
The producers behind these ventures have quite liberally played with historical facts. The drama serial Tipu Sultan put the onus of Tipu’s defeat on the Hindu-Muslim conflict while ignoring the fact that he was actually betrayed by Mir Sadiq, a trusted advisor and the Nizam of Deccan. Then there was a play titled Jalianwala Bagh. This play was supposed to highlight the horrendous crime committed by the British forces against the natives. Instead, it stressed more on the oft-repeated theme of a mischievous Hindu and his love-stricken daughter (obviously falling for a Muslim boy). This subplot unnecessarily dominated the play. There are scores of other examples that follow the same pattern, such as the special play Major Tufail Shaheed in which Major Burman (the Indian counterpart of Maj Tufail) played by Asif Reza Mir, was needlessly shown as a womanizer.
The disturbing thing about all this is the fact that no one has taken notice of these follies and our bigwigs fully subscribe to these views. Ironically, some people from the Indian media have taken their planners to task over their blatant Pakistan-bashing. Karan Thaper (known to be a ‘hawk’ when it comes to Pakistan) while writing for the Hindustan Times, has blasted the producers of the movie Gadar for spreading hatred against Pakistan. More recently, Indian actor Akshay Kumar refused to deliver anti-Pakistan lines in an upcoming movie, Ab tumhare hawaley watan sathiyo, citing the reason that he has quite a large fan following in Pakistan (interestingly, Amitabh Bachchan, who has a much larger fan following here, has no qualms whatsoever being part of the Pak-bashing brigade). This act of defiance has done more good to the Indian image then any amount of crude anti-Pakistan rhetoric.
People taking part in these tactics often take refuge in the theory of dramatic licence, but what to say of serious programming? Sometime back, during a discussion on Holi on the Alim Online programme, one of our religious scholars started explaining the status of the festival in Islam, and then spoke negatively on the very concept of Holi. A young pundit, there to explain the concept as per Hindu mythology, was visibly distressed and looked for cover. The sad thing is that the whole incident looked like a deliberate set-up by the host of the show, which only sent a negative signal to our minority community.
These tactics need to be reviewed. We are a Muslim country and our religion does not permit us to malign anybody else’s faith. Secondly, Pakistan has a sizeable population of Hindus, and this community is an integral part of our society, and by depicting them in negative tones, we are certainly hurting their feelings. Finally, this strategy would not help us in getting our message through to the common man in India, as he would repel even a positive vibe from us.
The question is, have we reached that intellectual level where we are able to counter Indian propaganda sagaciously, without hurting the sentiments of our minority communities? After all, our flag does carry a white strip on it.
|
|
|
|
