The 'see No Evil' Credo

SINCE there is going to be complete segregation on television and women have to wear the veil, will men now be sporting beards if they have to make an appearance on Pakistan TV (PTV) a la the Taliban?" 바카라 asked information minister Mushahid Hussain. But he laughed away the question because clearly there are no answers. After all, over the last eight years, PTV has suffered losses totalling Rs 2.54 billion and the current directive is not exactly likely to help the viability of its programming.

But purdah is not limited to the small screen. A few weeks ago, together with new laws for television, the Punjab government issued orders that all women students and teachers in educational institutions wear the veil. "Since when has the state been given the authority to dictate to our women? That went away with the martial law regime," says a political activist, noting that the press secretary to the prime minister, Siddiqui Farooq, formally belongs to the Jamaat-i-Islami. "You can take away the man from the Jamaat but you cannot take the Jamaat from the man," is one excuse given for Farooq's directives that programmes on the state media should be interesting, colourful, educational and entertaining but they should not rekindle the animal instinct of man. "They should be such that the whole family can watch them together," he told The News which recently carried a special report asking: "Pop goes PTV or does it?"

바카라 웹사이트It was prime minister Nawaz Sharif himself who banned long hair and jeans from PTV. This shocked the people, who believe that the head of government should instead concentrate on more important issues facing the nation. "The hypocritical new guidelines for the media fit in with the other pieces of the Sharif jigsaw puzzle. This is probably his way of stealing the stage from the so-called religious parties; the intended signal is that the prime minister is more bothered about Islamic values and Pakistani culture than they are," says commentator J.I. Hazir.

The tug of war appears to be between Farooq and Hussain, the latter being more liberal and in tune with the realities of the satellite era. Advertisers are getting more cautious with the new advice and PTV may soon see dwindling revenues because, with choice just a click away, who would want to watch PTV? Media experts agree that the aims of the government are absurd and do not have any chances of standing the test of time. According to the new dictates, there should be no mixed dances and only discussions on Islamic subjects, historical dramas, eastern music, etc, should be broadcast. But there is unanimity that there is bound to be a backlash. As cultural expert Imran Aslam says, "Culture will find its way, first as a trickle of protest and then as an all-pervasive wave." Till then, however, fashion will be conspicuous by its absence on PTV.