Corruption is nothing new in Pakistan and has now permeated the field of arts and culture too as a ‘different art’. The latest example is of an employee of the Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA), who allegedly rewrote scripts of old dramas of different writers, using the names of his son and wife, and drew money on their behalf.
According to reliable sources, Dr Waqar Azeem, an employee of PNCA and working in the Drama Section of Performing Art Division (PAD), has been allegedly found guilty of plagiarism, as he used manipulated scripts of various renowned and less known writers and presented them, while using the platform of PNCA – one of the leading cultural organisation of the country.
“Waqar, who claims to be a PhD but is actually a homeopathic doctor, is currently working as an assistant in the Drama Section. He has been involved in the practice since the ‘National Drama Festival’, hosted by PNCA in 2009. Ever since his ‘successful adventure’, he has been reproducing the original versions of dramas regularly, sometimes using his own name but mostly that of his son and wife, the sources maintained.
They also revealed that Azeem was often found searching books in the library of PNCA, comprising classic dramas of Imtiaz Ali Taj, Saadat Hassan Minto and others. “His plagiarised ‘writing skills’ were exposed recently, when the PNCA staged ‘Black and White’ – a bilingual stage drama presented in collaboration with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on September 17, marking the death anniversary of founding father Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.”
This drama, according to official documents, was written by Ahson Waqar, a seven-year-old son of Waqar and often seen the PNCA premises with his father, the sources said, adding that ‘Black and White’ was directed by Arshad Minhas, who is closely associated with Waqar. “This drama was originally presented with the title ‘Buddha’ at Liaquat Memorial Hall in 1999 and was directed by Mustafa Sajjad Haider; however, the writer was not confirmed but there is no doubt it cannot be a seven-year-old Ahson Waqar,” sources said with complete responsibility.
According to an official of PNCA, every drama director is paid an amount of Rs 15,000 while artists and writers receive Rs 10,000 and Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 respectively. “Dr Waqar Azeem by using the name of his son Ahson and wife, Rehana Nusrat, who is a producer in Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), has allegedly been receiving the hefty amount, illegally,” sources said, adding that Waqar also rejected the work of genuine writers from the twin cities and sometimes offered them to accept their scripts while a 50 percent share in their remunerations.
Drama writers and directors, Hasnain Bukhari and Babar Ali Khan, in their separate letters to PNCA Director General (DG) Tauqir Nasir and Information Secretary Taimur Azmat, which were dispatched on September 22, accused Waqar of malpractices. They requested the DG to hold an impartial probe immediately, as the unfortunate exercise, involving intellectual corruption, deprived the artists and dramatist of their rights.
Babar Ali Khan, the director of Rehmat Art Production, in his letter to the DG PNCA said he directed a drama ‘Allah-o-Akbar’, written by Hasnain Bukhari, at Liaquat Hall in 1996 for the ‘Student Drama Festival’. “I was shocked to know that the name of Rehana Musarrat, the spouse of Waqar Azeem, was declared the writer of that drama, replacing the original writer,” Babar mentioned in his letter.
He alleged that every dramatist, who contacted Waqar, was bound to pay half of his earning to Waqar; otherwise, he (Waqar) rejected the script, while saying that the scrutiny committee did not accept the work. Hasnain Bukhari, in his letter to the PNCA DG and the information secretary, said he had submitted a number of his original scripts to Waqar, but he neither returned nor accepted them, and used the writings with fake names with some alteration.
“He is not only plagiarizing the scripts but also depriving artists giving them their due amount. An artist of Grade A is given Rs 1000, but in many of dramas staged in the past, there was not a single A category artist in it; hence, the amount went to Waqar,” Bukhari alleged. When contacted, Waqar refuted all the allegations as fabricated, saying it was stunt to victimise him. “The PNCA is one of the leading cultural institutions, with a full-fledged transparent system. We have a certain mechanism and scrutiny system to look after and scrutinise scripts,” he said.
Waqar accused certain writers and directors of forwarding some vested interests. “There are hundreds of people, who submitted their scripts, but the scrutiny team rejects them on technical grounds. Now, if their work is rejected, it is their moral obligation to improve it rather than showing hatred and prejudice towards me and putting all blame on me,” he said. When asked about ‘Black and White’, Waqar rejected the blame and said Ahson Waqar was never formally announced as the writer.
Commenting on the letters written to the DG PNCA and the secretary information, he said their content was untrue and aimed at tarnishing his image. “Just read the contents of those letters, analyse them, and make decision, who is right and who is not,” Waqar Azeem concluded. Hassan Abbas Raza, the acting DG PNCA and director performing arts and administration, told this scribe that the PNCA had taken notice of the issue.
“An inquiry committee has been constituted to probe into the issue and it will present the verdict within a few days,” he promised.
