KARACHI: Federal Min­is­ter of State for Information, Broadcas­ting and National Heritage Marriyum Aurang­zeb in her inaugural address at the consultative conference, being held for the formulation of the first ever national policy on film, production and broadcast, said that the government would take ownership of the industry in line with the vision of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who was keen to set into motion an effective process for its revival.

She said that the purpose of the consultation process was to ascertain the views of all stakeholders and seek their input in order to evolve a policy which was comprehensive in scope and could help achieve the desired objectives.

She recalled that the country had a very vibrant and thriving film industry in the ‘60s and ‘70s which served as an effective forum not only to provide entertainment to the masses but also to reinforce the cultural values and national heritage that had a galvanising impact on national integration and unity.

She lamented the fact that the industry failed to counter the onslaught of other mediums like Internet and the digital technologies in the absence of patronage at the official level and a pragmatic strategy to deal with the emerging challenges.

The continuous nosedive and decline of the film industry was a great national loss in terms of ideological moorings as new developments obscured the role of film and broadcast production in promoting and strengthening cultural values and national heritage, she added.

The minister observed that the emergence of fissiparous tendencies in society and narratives of religious extremism and terrorism over the last 35 years were undoubtedly disastrous consequences of the absence of a powerful medium like film to help in development of a credible and effective counter-narrative.

“Pakistanis are a resilient nation and the armed forces of the country and its people have given unparalleled sacrifices for eliminating the scourge of terrorism, but the prime minister feels that only the military muscle of the state is not enough to take the fight against religious extremism and terrorism to its logical conclusion. It [needs] to be supplemented by an ideological counter-narrative to challenge the narrative of the enemies of the country,” said Ms Aurangzeb.

She said that because of the permeating culture of religious extremism, terrorism and intolerance, the image of the country had been badly tarnished in the comity of nations as well, but our first priority was to set things right on the internal front which would also help us in dealing with the image problem at the international level.

The inaugural session was attended by Sindh Governor Mohammad Zubair, Senator Nihal Hashmi, film producers, artists, exhibitors, distributors and other stakeholders of the film and broadcast production industry.

Later talking to the media, the minister said that Pakistan Television (PTV) would soon be launching a sepa­rate entertainment chan­nel for children.

The PTV academy would also start a countrywide talent hunt, she added.

She observed that in the ‘60s, the Pakistan film industry ranked third in the world. She said the government wanted film policy that could be remembered by posterity.

Meeting with governor

In her meeting with Governor Zubair at Gover­nor’s House on Friday, Ms Aur­a­ng­zeb discussed the prevailing political situation and development projects in Sindh.

According to a handout, the governor informed her that the projects meant to benefit the general public were being executed on a priority basis.

He particularly referred to the M-9 Karachi-Hyderabad motorway, 500-bed hospital in Thatta and K-IV water supply scheme and Green Line bus service in Karachi.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2017