Has August 14 come early this year? I could have sworn that we were in May, but if you were to watch that channel from antiquity called Pakistan Television, you would think Independence Day, or even Defence Day, is just around the corner. Pfft.
PTV is a thing of my childhood: when a father and daughter on screen would refrain from hugging, and if it ever did necessitate embracing each other, the father would merely pat his daughter on her bowed head, over her dupatta. Of course there was Moin Akhtar and Bushra Ansari, Anwar Maqsood’s bomb of a combination, to keep things real. I now realise that had they not been there, my childhood memories would forever have been scarred by that phrase meray aziz humwatnon. Dictatorship was an abstraction for my generation that was growing up in the 1980s, it became a reality by the time I went to college.
It was because of PTV that I fell in love with the Pakistan Air Force: every September 7, my father would take me to PAF Base Masroor to visit the air show, sit in the cockpit of an F-16, and buy memorabilia. For my fifth birthday, I remember my father taking me to Bohri Bazaar. I wanted to dress up as an air force pilot at my birthday party. It was raining that day in Karachi, and while we got to Saddar from Jamshed Road in a rickshaw, our return was my initiation into travelling by a Karachi bus – 8A to be precise. I was an air force pilot that night, and I loved it.
Fast forward two decades, and that love for the armed forces is but a fleeting sentiment. Back in my childhood, I remembered almost each dialogue of Sunehray Din and Alpha Bravo Charlie – that glory, that pride associated with the Pakistan Army that made many of us men want to join the armed forces. By the end of college, some of us realised that much of it was a sham.
Our great benefactor, General Pervez Musharraf, bestowed licences to operate electronic channels to quite a few media moguls. The subtext in any agreement was that “national interest” will not be compromised. By the end of his tenure, though, it was in our “national interest” to restore the judiciary and rule of law – only that PTV, till the very end, defined national interest as Musharraf’s interest.
PTV or private channels, “national interest” continues to be defined by GHQ and its perpetuation into the masses is left to the ISPR and ISI. No wonder then that Musharraf’s institutional corruption is not classified as anti-Pakistan, nor is the injustice and violence meted out to the landless peasants of Okara and Khanewal during his tenure.
Of course the historical and systematic extermination of Sindhi and Baloch nationalists, as well as the attack on Pakhtun cultural values in the name of strategic depth and assets are steered clear of. Most Punjabis aren’t even aware of the antagonism created against them as a function of the establishment oppressing the smaller nations. My country’s foundations are already weak, but the establishment’s strategy of brushing substantive issues under the carpet is in fact against the interests of my country. But switch to PTV, and ay putr hutaan te naen vikday.
Last Saturday, I was forced to switch to PTV after a customary power outage. Not to my horror was the elegant Farieha Pervez singing a rendition of a patriotic song. The images superimposed were those of the armed forces helping citizens out during last year’s monsoon floods. These images are for the consumption of the ordinary citizen, especially those who have little access to cable television and are reliant on PTV for their information. Most of them would show gratitude to the armed forces, rather than view their task as one in national interest. Few would know that they charged a handsome fee for their services – crippling an already penniless civilian government that was begging the world for aid. My concern is for them, for they are easy prey of the picture painted by the powers-that-be. PTV fooled many of us in our childhood, it continues to do so to the rural and semi-rural populace.
Once the dust settles on this Osama bin Laden fiasco – and it will sooner than later – those of us in the media consistently asking uncomfortable questions from our establishment are likely to be in peril. With the might of the great PTV in the bag, and anchors on private channels available on speed dial, creation of enemies is much easier to achieve. Working journalists, though, are too poor to run campaigns to extol our virtues of patriotism. I want to love the Pakistan Army again, but by god, I will only love them after they subject themselves to civilian control and begin some introspection. Because, sab se pehlay Pakistan.
I can see the gags coming but I will continue to say this: Pakistan Television, like our syllabi, is still slave to our masters. Independence, pfft.
The author is Deputy City Editor, Pakistan Today, Karachi.
How much did they charge for providing aid services and can you provide backing info
i think the charging for aid services the author speaks of refers to the fact that the Armed Forces eat up a hefty portion of our budget, and hence the little they do give back has to be seen in the context of the fact that had the citizenry been given some money of its own, it might have been able to use those resources to help the people better and for longer
@Ahmed Yusuf
what i really liked about this is that its easy to rip into the khakis, but its not mentioned often enough that part of that this is a reaction to the mindf*** they did to us by creating these insane ideals of their nobility and valor, when so many times they've let us down, and so many more times they've prevented any other narrative from emerging.
I clearly remember or may be it was my army loathing hallucinationreading something in the news that army has presented an invoice/billto provincial govt for providing aid.
Nice article!
These images are for the consumption of the ordinary citizen, especially those who have little access to *cable television* and are reliant on PTV for their information.
of course, *cable television* is like the *divine truth*
This is utter crap! What 'fees' were charged by the Pakistan Army? Hey, I'm as much for army-bashing as the next guy but can you at least write something believable? The editors are sleeping!
Have ever looked at the western media USA in particular how they portray their Army's image. I share the time period the author refers to but totally disagree with the narrative. Tell me one single program on any other channel which is about patriotism or for that matter shows whats good in Pakistan. PTV with all its short comings is a National Television a symbol of our unity.
As I remember my childhood, even though there was only one tv channel then PTV, the thing which stands out is that there was a genuine effort to educate as well as entertain. Perhaps one of the reasons for that is that profit was not the aim. I remember lots of programs that I watched that have shaped the way I think, the way I view the world. Programs which explained the world to me, opened the doors to science and technology, to rationality and looking at the world differently.
I dont watch Pakistani TV anymore and whenever I happen to watch I am left with an almost nauseating alienation … what is being taught to our children. We are robbing our children of their childhood. My heart aches when I hear some words from a child's mouth which are surely not his but some idiot and immature writers attempt at writing drama and I loath those directors and channels which see no harm in totally destroying the very fabric of our society in the name of openness or modernization. Openness and modernization is always achieved through education not by glamorizing the very essence of profanity.
Now Coming back to the Army and PTV. Who is responsible for the state we're in? its is Naive and foolish to put everything on the army's shoulder and thats it. We have to look at all that has happened objectively learn our lesson and move on … by not doing that and doing this, which is pointless Army Bashing, we are providing ammunition to our enemies who are real and who are out to get us…
"I remember lots of programs that I watched that have shaped the way I think, the way I view the world. Programs which explained the world to me, opened the doors to science and technology, to rationality and looking at the world differently."
Sir perhaps we are a different age, and I am completely wrong in stating this. But the PTV i used to watch would have regular programs like Kashmir Watch which would extol the virtues of Jihad, the entire afternoon was littered with Saudi Quran classes, the 'current affairs' shows would have extremely boring gentlemen pandering to stifled versions of our politics, there was no discussion whatsoever of the issues of the day, and even those much celebrated dramas were, as this article mentions, peddling many constructs which were unfair.
rahi baat bachoon ki zaban ki, I would highly suggest that you consider blaming the parents for a child's language rather than someone on TV. If parents can't teach their children right from wrong, how exactly is TV to blame?
I am not defending PTV in what was truly a waste of everybody's time and energy. It is true the programs you mentioned were boring as hell and I never watched them but do you remember Cosmos by Carl Sagan and many other programs that were meant to educate…
Lets for arguments sake say that the notion of patriotism that PTV sold us was false but tell me what can save pakistan now but a movement of patriotic Pakistanis defending its ideologies. what is the army? is it separate from us? … it is us … the politicians they are us… they are a reflection of what we are… true but what now … do we get our act together or keep on doing pointless bashing…
I am not saying don't state the truth. Just do it responsibly not at the cost of a Nation's Dignity.
"what is the army? is it separate from us? … it is us … the politicians they are us… they are a reflection of what we are… true but what now … do we get our act together or keep on doing pointless bashing…"
i completely agree on this point, but i think there is no reason to stifle debate, or more importantly criticism. at this point, our harkatein have made us the laughing stock of the entire world, when you and i know that the story being told about us is not true, yet we play along because our army wallay are not accepting their faults. if we are to know what our faults are, we need to be able to criticize and confront ourselves.
Dear editor, this article was as biased and enslaved by your believes as is ptv, it is the continous confused state this nation is living into, at one hand they say that army is in the hands of the civilian government and as an institution should be working under them. Right now they are doing the same and as our government is sleeping they do not order the army to take any steps. If the army takes its own vase to protect the Borders, while no orders are issued from the top you would say that the army is dictating it’s terms and another debate of dictatorship would start. Writing an article is easy going through kakul and living in the harshest conditions for your country isn’t. these brave men sacrifice a good life during their time of duty and deserve our praise. If it wasn’t for the army Pakistan wouldn’t be here. No wonder general kiyani is considered in top 50 most influential men in the world while no other Pakistani comes even near that list. Please debate
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