As the days went by, it was surprising to note that like other Urdu cable TV channels, our English newspaper was also very keen on sharing news on Bollywood movies, actors and actresses. I expressed my concern to the manager (who was much younger and inexperienced than me in fact) that I didn’t want to promote all that considering that I had been writing against showing of Bollywood movies in Pakistan. I also conveyed to him that India is attacking our borders since 2013 and you want to promote their cinema. Being a shallow person, he only said it was part of my duty.
That exchange of dialogue occurred towards the end of two weeks and the same evening I left the job. So my friends, are we free and independent? No, we are not. We are cultural slaves of our neighbouring Hindu country. Just turn on the TV channels and note how many TV channels are showing Indian content.
That reminds me further. Though I am narrating my own experiences but they are reflective of the general state of affairs. In 2008, I joined the newspaper THE NATION in the magazine section. I liked the job itself except the environment of workplace and the ugly politics that was going on.
I used to keep thesaurus with me on my desk while writing my stories. I would like to narrate here what happened in the initial few days. Well, the editor who was in-charge of the magazine section was standing near my desk. As I was busy, he stepped forward and said “What is that?” I said “Thesaurus”. He said “Hum tau use nai kartay” (We don’t use it). What a stupid thing to say considering use of Thesaurus is very much aligned with newspaper and magazine work.
