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.
Thank you for providing the much needed holy patriotic approval for the actions of a few young elite kids. I'm sure they need such doses of approval and justifications for their actions.
Afterall being "Patriotic" really means imitating Indian and Western cultures and enjoying them with full freedoms. Afterall, that's the purpose for which Pakistan was created, right? Who cares about ludi, bhangra and sufi ruqs...those are for the downtrodden and backward piss lower classes.
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.
The past 200 years we have seen a continous erosion of our cultural heritages and identities to such an absurd extent as we were ruled by foreigners and our so called "well-off elites" were in bed with their imperial masters.
It is very convenient of you to point out the 200 years of history under foreign rule whilst forgetting the nearly 800 years of history where we flourished and invented music art and whatnot for the sake of preserving our civilization values and cultural heritages.
Never denied the evolution of culture, but evolution sponsored and played out by a culturally and morally lost bayhis secular elite adds to more problems in an already highly divisive class based society riddled with corruption. But then again, Thank you very much for proving my point, really.
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!
Hazrat Amir Khusro (RA) would really approve this dance where girls in skin-tight jeans and tank tops are freely interminging and dancing with men in public to the tunes sponsored by the France based Coca Cola Company? Now would he?
I find it highly insulting to misuse the status and works of great Saints whose works and efforts were to reinstitute and reinculcate moral values and traditions through poetry and art and music which the muslims were losing at that time. For example Sufi's were known for reinstilling love for the Prophet SAW and his family which many muslims lost under the administration of the Ummayads. Sufism in general was born out of love for the Prophet SAW and under tyrant rulers.
What has gone wrong with our thinking? that we are resorting to finding justifications for actions that have no relevance to our culture and traditions? Actions that may bring a temporary delight to the bayhis elite, yet bring more misery and confusion to the masses? One elite's extreme actions that further radicalize the impoverished and downtrodden.
Is God really happy with us that we are made to listen to the tunes of Suicide bomb blasts everyday instead of the spiritually uplifting kalams of great Sufi Saints? No wonder he hasn't been gifting us such great Sufi Saints any more.
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.
The so called elite has all the freedoms and luxury to dance and enjoy to the Coca Cola sponsored tunes, whilst the ordinary citizens chained in shakles of poverty and slavery watching them enjoy life and dance must be contemplating on what those freedoms really means.
No doubt we're taking our Pakistan back from the pig-headed khawarijites and ghadars, but we're giving it back to the other extreme, the
rightful owners of Pakistan, Musharraf and Zardaris.
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.
...do I still need to prove who is lost? Lol
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!
I have no doubt that a handful of Pakistani elite who live on a fantasy cloud away from culture and religion and problem effecting our society must have enjoyed it. This thread is a testimony that disproves your claim that most Pakistani's watching the dance must have enjoyed it. Need I say further...? Hope not.
Bera Gharak kr ke Rakh dia ha thread ka
No need to be so worried. we're just having a good fun discussion. Btw, what are you doing up so late? Isn't it past your bed time girl
JK
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