LAHORE: Debate is heating up since a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker moved a resolution in the Punjab Assembly on Wednesday seeking a ban on Hindi-dubbed Japanese cartoon series “Doraemon” – ranging from arguments of cultural invasion of children’ innocence to PTI’s choice of selecting a problem from amongst the host of issues plaguing the nation.
PTI MPA Malik Taimoor Masood moved the resolution, expressing his serious apprehensions about parents’ concerns at large that the cartoon series was crippling Pakistani children mentally as well as physically for they remained glued to TV sets all through the day.
He was candid enough to say that he moved the resolution at “personal level” in case of lash back and facing the brunt but as many supporters have come up, I don’t mind that the party will take the credit. “Opposition leader in Punjab Assembly Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed called and told me that the resolution is getting more positive and supporting comments than criticism,” he said.
Doraemon, one of the most popular TV characters, is about a robotic cat, who is sent back in time by a Sewashi Nobi to help his great-great-grandfather Nobita with his problems in life. The robot has gadgets and gizmos that cater to Nobita’s problem of the day.
As soon as the MPA sought the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) attention towards the issue, the resolution was taken by storm at social media and became top twitter trend #PTIvsDoraemon in no time.
Initially, the resolution attracted sarcasm as tweeps chided the PTI for not concentrating on issues like poverty, hunger and corruption. One tweet asked, “What on earth could PTI have against a Japanese cartoon?” While, others said that “they were happy that the public had finally noticed how bad of an impact did Doraemon have on our children”.
The tweeps began by showing disbelief in the resolution and made fun of the PTI saying: “The maturity level of PTI MPAs is evident”, “I can’t believe it”, and a bit serious “Have a heart to take lighter and sarcastic criticism unlike 126 days of verbal abuses and continuous social media abuses”.
This tweep said, “PTI can tolerate extremism by supporting and promoting it but they have no tolerance for kids entertainment”. A PPP diehard tweeted, “In a country, where child abductions and abuse is rampant, PTI decides to raise its voice for the real threat our children face – Doraemon”.
A woman tweeted, “Ab `Go Nawaz Go’ kay baad PTI is presenting ‘Go Doraemon Go” – the most burning political issue of today’s Pakistan.
This tweep questioned PTI’s seriousness in the issue. “Is PTI seriously trying to get Doraemon banned in Pakistan? They do realize little kids will stab them in the knees if they did?”
Children were also not happy with the move.
Class-VI student Muhammad Asim told Dawn the closure of Doraemon was like the end of the world. “We keep on giggling over the mischievousness of Nobita, Doraemon, Shizuka, Gian and Soniyo. If in the worst case, Doraemon will be banned on TV, the kids will glue to cell phones and find Doraemon on Youtube on laptops,” said Asim.
However, then came a series of tweets supporting the resolution saying that the “Hindi dubbed channels and cartoons are terribly affecting language of children”, adding that it was a very practical step by the PTI.
Not all tweets were against the move.
“Everyone is making fun of PTI without knowing the adverse effects of this cartoon series on our children”, read a tweet.
“Banning a cartoon isn’t the solution. We have to make our own cartoons or dub them in Urdu according to our values,” a tweep suggested. In a lighter vein, a tweep thanked PTI saying, “Now, I will be able to find remote control without bargaining”.PTI’s central media disowned the resolution, saying the mover did not consult the party leadership before moving the resolution.
Stating that the PTI is against media censorship, the media department asserted that trampling social and moral values in the name of entertainment was not justified altogether.
Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2016
