Daily Times

Patriotism, as stated earlier here at this forum and on Twitter is one concept, that most conservatives, regardless of the country, consider their patented property. They flaunt it blatantly and carry it on their sleeves and claim to be the sole proprietors of its lucrative franchise. If you do not look, act, talk or agree with their brand of “on your face type” patriotism, then of course the only other option left for you, is to accept that you are a “traitor” and hence a disgrace, to your respective society. I personally find such pathetic characters worthy of no discussion, but what do, when such unworthy characters are willing to display their unrepentant patriotic fervor with their fists.

A few years back, I had the pleasure of meeting a very famous Bollywood Producer along with my better half, at an event, hosted by a local Muslim organization. This gentleman, was invited and awarded at a ceremony here, acknowledging his efforts of showing, Muslims in a positive light. Those were the days, when one of his movie had garnered a lot of acclaim and accolades. The movie, showcased a Muslim man suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, his trials and tribulations, and his herculean efforts, to clear his wrongly tarnished reputation. After accepting the award, of course he was very thankful and spoke about the dangers of intolerance and bigotry and how all of us are somewhat inter connected in the family of greater humanity.

Call it irony or sheer luck, but the same very well-known Producer, was highly impressed by one of our TV actors. Our TV actor made a debut in a romantic comedy across the border and became an overnight Bollywood sensation. The aforementioned Producer did cast him in his two upcoming movies and had nothing but unrestrained praise, about our Khan. His first movie with our Khan was a smash hit and the other with him in a cameo was slated for last year’s winter break. But things sometimes go in the entirely opposite direction. The Uri attack happened and what followed from the both sides was quite unpleasant.

The TV channels on both sides went on absurdity overdrive almost instantaneously. The verbal salvos from the politicos were fired nonstop and the anchors and newscasters with overdose of caffeine, blurted out news, (if you call it news), at a speed of a reckless driver in his/her final lap of a grand prix.Before I forget, the people behind the patriotism franchise had to chime in as well, to validate their age old stance and make their unworthy presence felt with their signature.

The famous Producer, once vocal about the ills of bigotry and intolerance pleaded his case in a video message. But the Patriotism Brigade issued the ultimatum to all Pakistani artists to leave their country within 48 hours. The world’s largest democracy became a spectacle for the rest of the world. The poor Producer, who had millions at stake, had to succumb to the demands of the Saffron Patriots and promised to never ever dream of casting any actor from this side. After this solemn pledge, the flick was allowed to hit the screens. All this while, the government of our neighbors played it safe by issuing an official proclamation, that there were no restrictions on any Pakistani artists. Perhaps the government forgot to send a carbon copy to the patriotic organizations in earnest.

If you thought, we were behind in this game of idiocy, then you really underestimated the zeal of our patriots. The Producers Association across the border, slapped a ban on our artists and our usual patriots did the usual wailing like the old widows and sent their curses on the other side.The exhibitors without and yes without any direction or instructions from our equally patriotic government, imposed a voluntary (read involuntary) ban on Bollywood movies.

Now the over rated Khan of Bollywood has a movie opposite a Pakistani starlet, almost half his age, being released over this weekend. The Khan who is famous for his hyperactive speech and non-stop chatter in his early days, has somehow managed to get his movie released on time. There were reports in the media that final spells and shots requiring both actors were done outside India. If you are still confused, then let me help you by adding the catch all phrase, “for security reasons.” Let me further elaborate, to save everyone, from the wrath of the hyper patriots.

Amazingly, the saffron patriots have been a bit laissez faire in this particular instance and have not issued any warnings to the Producer of this particular movie. Either the saffron brigade has a gender bias or the over rated and mostly overacting Khan is quite a player and knows how to get the job done.

The Exhibitors on this side have pleaded their case with the government to allow them to show the movies from the neighboring country. Finally dwindling business at the box office trumped the patriotic fervor and reality splashed itself on the celluloid of hollow skulls. No one wants to question them, wait a minute, wasn’t this ban supposed to be voluntary, if so why beg the Information Ministry? To the dark and narrowly focused patriotism brigade on either side, please find something better to do and for a change, get a life.

The writer is a Pakistani-US mortgage banker. He can be reached at dasghar@aol.com. He tweets at http://twitter.com/dasghar