This is a very tragically lost statement in this thread.
No one says that music and dance are not part of our culture, in fact they're part of every culture. Even the Saudi women have their own dance. Arabs have debke dance.
But can you really say with a straight face that the dance in that video is part of our culture? Is it a part of our traditions?
I don't know what Saudi women have to do with this... Pakistani and Saudi culture couldn't be more different! And frankly, thank the Good Lord for that!
Let's not get caught up in semantics. The point is not whether a specific form of dance is "Pakistani", but rather that people have the freedom to do as they please and in general, dance is a part of our culture. Keen in mind, there is no stagnant form of dance, much as there is no stagnant form of art. Luddi is part of our culture, bhangra is, classical dances are and all these forms have evolved over time. If young people want to experiment with other kinds of dances, there shouldn't be any issue with that and they shouldn't have to get a cultural compatibility certificate which would only officially authorize luddi and bhangra.
Pakistanis (granted, the more well-off ones) have been ballroom dancing in mixed gatherings for about 250 years now. How long does it take for something to become "a part of culture"? Culture evolves all the time.
Why does our secular/liberal elites justify and enjoy dancing to the tunes of foreigners?
Come on! Tunes of foreigners? The music was written composed and played in Pakistan and sung in Urdu. Are you taking issue with the use of western musical instruments? I'm sorry, but that's just ridiculous. If they played the same music using tablas and sitars, both inventions of the late great saint, Hazrat Amir Khusro, it would have been ok?
Speaking of Hazrat Amir Khusro, what a fabulous example of the perfect meld of a liberal mind and a soul in tune with the Creator. On the one hand he is writing Man Kunto Maula, and Nami da nam which have inspired lovers of the Prophet (pbuh) for a thousand years, and on the other he is promoting religious harmony, writing love songs, couplets, jokes, riddles and inventing new and exciting musical instruments! Our society was more culturally advanced a thousand years ago than it is today, in many ways. Oh blessed would we be were an Amir Khusro to grace this land again!
Where's the patriotic spirit?
Opps...have I said something blasphemous against the elite? LOL
The people who participated in the making of these videos did an incredibly patriotic thing... Pakistan is our country and we have the freedom to do as we please, as long as we stay within the realms of law. It doesn't matter if our exercise of freedom conflicts with some other individual's preferences. They are living their lives, we are living ours. To each his own. To stand up for our freedom is the MOST patriotic thing we can do. We are taking our Pakistan back from the pig-headed, medieval obscurantists! I look forward to a time - which is not far away at all - when someone dancing in the streets doesn't become a big subject of discussion and is instead looked upon as a regular, every day, normal occurrence. Much like someone marching down the street in a burqa, or hijab. Jis ki jo marzi, apnay mulk mein karay as long as they don't impinge on other people's freedom.
I understand this thread began with the average ritual of issuing condemnations of Mullahs and Islamic forces and blaming them for the decline in the lavish lifestyle of the morally and culturally lost secular elite. So i am not going to bring religion into this thread.
I don't know who is lost... people who debate all day long as to which formulaic prayer to recite before entering the toilet, which foot to lift (as per the spirit of their so called religion) before entering a building, and how many units of sawaab are allocated for different actions (as if there is a sawaab gazette available to them!) or those who have broader horizons and believe that there are *many* sources of enlightenment, knowledge and understanding... those who are ready to go to the proverbial "China" to obtain knowledge without feeling insecure about their beliefs and identity.
But...The idea is brilliant, though I would have liked it if only the boys had danced but no girls were involved, and danced to the tunes of Abrar's Bhangra. That would have been more cheerful.
I liked it as-is. Given the huge success of the campaign, I can safely conclude that most Pakistanis enjoyed it. Hey, it's better than watching a degenerate saas-bahu drama on Star!