The head of the state has seemingly endeavoured to influence the cultural choices of the people
MELBOURNE: The president of Pakistan recently asked Pakistanis not to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It’s interesting advice from the head of the state to citizens on the topic of culture and faith. Culture is what people do at any point in time; it cannot be frozen. It is, unfortunately, not the first time that a head of the Pakistani state has endeavoured to influence the cultural choices of the people of Pakistan. Our early leaders were the first to do this when they tried to impose Urdu as the official language on culturally sensitive East Pakistan. It is hard to understand what was going through the mind of the president when he made the suggestion of abandoning Western culture and living lives in accordance with a faith-based ideological concoction of the country.
The strongest element of any culture is its language. The business of the state of Pakistan is conducted in English. Pakistan conducts superior services exams in English. The country is brimming with English-medium educational institutions. Knowing English is generally seen as a guarantee to find a respectable place in society. The fact is that we live in a global world. In this age of information, the West dominates. We wear Western clothes, we speak the West’s language and eat Western food, and yet, we fantasise about living in medieval times. No one can stand in the way of change. Culture evolves; it’s not stagnant. This regressive mindset is also behind the banning of the Basant festival. Festivals nurture culturally nourished, vibrant and tolerant societies. Western multiculturalism appreciates festivals of all kinds, whether Eid, Christmas or Diwali and Western states remain strong and united. Pakistan has suffered a lot and continues to suffer at this point, but it seems that the mindset of the Pakistani state has refused to learn any lessons from the tragedies of the past. It is still adamant on sticking to its rotten ideological and cultural constructs.
Malik Atif Mahmood Majoka
Published in The Express Tribune, February 16th, 2016.
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