What Price Sharif Propaganda?

Prime minister Nawaz Sharif's attempts to convince the people of
Pakistan that he is sincere in implementing 'Shariat' or 'Islamic law'
are given huge chunks of time on what appears to be a vehicle for
personal projection, Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC), on its
two channels Pakistan Television and PTV World. Viewers -- obviously
those who don't have the choice of switching to other channels -- are
frequently bombarded by pious, earnest images of the Prime Minister
that are meant to convey his sincerity to religion and the people's
welfare.

Unfortunately for him, he is fooling no one, not even in the most
pious of the propaganda films, in which divine thunder and lightening
apparently indicate approval by the Almighty of Mr Sharif's intentions
(which are belied by his selfconscious, fleeting sideways glance at
the TV camera during the Haj footage). Mr Sharif even asserts that he
is being guided by 'the authority vested in me by the Almighty Allah'
-- now how, one wonders, did he come to that conclusion?

The propaganda is not limited to such puerile attempts to cash in on
the widespread illiteracy and superstition prevelant in Pakistan. And
it the long run, it is extremely damaging – although people are a lot
smarter than they are given credit for, at some point such messages do
get internalised.

As Bertrand Russell wrote, "there is absolutely no limit in the
absurdities that can, by government action, come to be generally
believed. Give me an adequate army, with power to provide it more pay
and better food than falls to the lot of the average man, and I will
undertake, within thirty years, to make the majority of the population
believe that two and two are three… or any such nonsense that may
serve the interest of the State… any verbal denial of the mystic
doctrine would be made illegal…. No person who did not
enthusiastically accept the official doctrine would be allowed to
teach or have any position of power". ('Unpopular Essays').

Does this sound familiar already?

Another propaganda campaign being run on television is meant to allay
the fears of women that CA 15, the controversial proposed amendment to
the constitution, will in any way curb their rights and freedoms. In
it, the Prime Minister expresses his desire for women to be safe -- if
they happen to walk out at night with their brothers, no one should
dare eye them with evil intent. This is doublespeak, hypocrisy, at its
best, or worst.

One of the reasons women are insecure in this country is because over
the years discriminatory legislation like the Hudood Ordinances, has
driven home the message that women are second class citizens, not to
be trusted, and need to be kept in their place. Introducing bills like
CA 15 will not make them safer – on the contrary, it will make matters
worse.

While some might hold that 'purdah' is a state of mind, and that
believing men and women should observe it by averting their gaze,
others might consider a dupatta inadequate, and insist that a chaddar
be worn. Some might think that the burqa be made compulsory – or that
women stay at home altogether. And given the levels of militancy that
have been internalised and encouraged, they may feel justified in
using force to ensure that their interpretation is followed.

Why should a woman be molested, harassed or intimidated, even if she
is outside without the 'protection' of her brother or some other male
member of the family?

The propaganda includes a catchy song picturised on images of women,
working, tending to children, studying: "Hum maayen, hum behnen, hum
betiyan... Qomon ki izzat hum se hai" go the lyrics – "We the mothers,
we the sisters, we the daughters... the honour of nations is vested in
us".

The lyrics betray another fundamental problem from which stems so much
of the violence against women in this society: the belief that it is
women who must uphold the honour of a family, a community or the
nation. The identity of women as human beings and as citizens is also
implicitly undermined.

The propaganda being incessantly aired on television projects women as
mothers, sisters, daughters. What about citizens, wives, activists,
workers who hold up their share of the country's economy?

Would similar propaganda about the male citizens of this country as
'fathers, brothers and sons' be propagated or tolerated?

Interestingly, the films meant to create support for Mr Sharif's
attempted tabling of CA 15, including the Haj footage and the
projection of him as a defender of women, has been put together by
PTVC's Current Affairs department (headed by Mr Azhar Lodhi of the
weep-for-Zia fame) using the extensive footage accumulated in the
course of following Mr Sharif around (with embellishments like the
thunder and lightening).

The kidney film, prepared by an advertising agency, was made by a
professional advertising agency at the cost of one and a half lakhs --
but at least it's for a good cause, even if it also projects Nawaz
Sharif as the caring head of government.

Even more interestingly, investigations reveal that these propaganda
films are not noted in the 'queue sheet' which keeps a record of all
the advertisements that are aired -- or if they are noted, it's a
closely guarded secret that television authorities refuse to
divulge. This makes a mockery of democracy. The people have a right to
know how much the propaganda costs us, and details of its running
time.

It also makes a mockery of democracy that the government of Pakistan
is not paying the Pakistan Television Corporation anything to air this
propaganda – on a network that apparently suffers huge revenue
losses. But even if the Sharif government isn't paying for it, someone
certainly is: we, the people; we, the tax payers.

And paying for it heavily. The cost of airing a one minute commercial
at mid-break news, the most expensive time on PTVC network, is Rs
1,72,000 a minute -- 225 per cent more than the regular
rate. Calculating that one of these propaganda films is run for just
one minute a day (which is not the case), running it costs PTVC Rs 12
million a week.

In actual fact, the propaganda, varying in duration from duration from
one and half to three minutes, is aired several times a day. Since it
is apparently not considered in the same category as commercials,
perhaps it is being passed off as 'public service messages'. But it is
nothing of the sort. Its obvious motive is to promote the image of one
man and his attempts to 'Islamise' society. Even the kidney film
focuses more on Mr Sharif's personal sense of grief at the poor health
care available to people in this country, rather than the causes and
prevention of kidney diseases. If he is that concerned, why aren't
efforts made on an emergency basis to get the basic health units in
rural areas functioning, staffed by doctors and provided medicines?

When he swept the polls in 1996, Mr Sharif's heavy mandate evoked
comparisons with the support enjoyed by the founder of the
nation. Some even went so far as to call Nawaz Sharif the most popular
leader since Mr Jinnah. Leaving aside the fact that the voter turnout
in the 1996 polls was the lowest ever, which makes the percentage of
those who actually voted Mr Sharif into power correspondingly lower,
the fact is that he was voted into power on the basis of his economic
manifesto.

Rather than trying to convince the people of his piety and his love
for Islam -- and using the electronic media for this purpose -- he
would do better to concentrate on the economic crisis the country is
facing.

If he must use the media under his control to project himself, let it
be on issues of economic well-being. Let him talk about providing
food, shelter, education and jobs to the people. Let him implement his
announcement that transparency and accountability begins at home, as a
first step towards rooting out corruption.

But please, stop trying to stuff religion down our throats. If that's
what the people had wanted, they would have voted for the
Jamat-i-Islami. Or any one of the other religio-political parties that
have proliferated over the years. Pakistan has come a long way from
the vision of the Quaid-e-Azam. We can't afford to move any further
away from the ideal of the secular social democracy he had promised.

The ground-breaking Munir-Kayani report on the 1953 anti-Ahmedi riots
is as relevant today as it was in April 1954 when it was
finalised. After extensive investigation, Justices Munir and Kayani
found that no two religious scholars agreed on the interpretation of
religion. Giving them a playing field on which to air their
differences has only deepened these divisions over the years. The
biggest casualties have been tolerance and peace. Isn't it about time
that the government of the day learnt this lesson?