We proudly welcome the Emmy Award nomination of two Pakistani documentaries. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness and Mohammad Ali Naqvi’s Among the Believers have racked up five nominations between them, and we commend these individuals on their efforts. The former is believed to be the first account of a survivor of a botched honour killing attempt. The latter tackles the rise of religious extremism in the country. Both of which are immensely pressing issues for Pakistan today. The former, despite being shown at PM House, has been restricted to private screenings with ‘liberal’ audiences here. The latter didn’t make it past the censor board on the grounds of the so-called negative image it paints of Pakistan. This is criminal. Meaning that here we have two important documentaries that tell contemporary Pakistan’s story through Pakistani eyes and Pakistani words. And neither is readily available to the people of this country. While we understand that Saba, the girl at the heart of the Chinoy piece, was uneasy about having the film on general release in Pakistan — we do have to ask who made the call as to who got to see it and who did not. As for Naqvi’s offering, it follows the journey of Maulana Abdul Aziz, the head of the controversial Red Mosque, while exploring the spread of radicalisation as well as the struggle of activists fighting this. Thus we find the ban, if we may so bold, absolutely ridiculous. The US-led war on terror has seen the people of this country take hit after hit after hit for 16 long years. This is intrinsically linked to the rise of Islamist terrorism here. Thus the government’s logic behind the ban is akin to sending the following message: it is fine and dandy to live through daily carnage but talking about it to the outside world is what constitutes a red line. This is a gross misstep. It makes it easier to hear the cries of those hurling accusations of artists wilfully selling out Pakistani subjects to better please western audiences. We say this while being fully mindful of how certain western awards, such as the Emmy’s themselves, or even the Nobel Peace Prize are often geared towards critiquing non-western societies. Yet what we find far more ‘offensive’ is how the Pakistani state chooses to infantilise its citizenry. If we are a people considered sufficiently adult to elect our own government — then we are sufficiently adult to choose what we watch. * Published in Daily Times, July 27th 2017.