Daily Times

The recent pandemonium on the idiot boxes (a lingo that ended up a byword in 1990 after the comedy show The Idiot Box on MTV) of the poor performance of the PTI government was nothing but to vent the pentup emotions of the public. The concerned thought the hibernating opposition parties might stirthe anti-government sentiments to cause uproar on the calm lanes otherwise. The people felt contented that their anger had a voice. All went well since the good media strategy left the opposition with no choice but to noise on the floor of the house for the production orders for their incarcerated mighty lot and is now found licking the wall to find it intact the next morning like Gog and Magog as the same legend features in Koran as the story of Yujuj and Majuj. Do weneed prompting to recall the foolhardy endeavors of the opposition to dislodge the senate chairman when fourteen of their members ditched their mother parties? I think no, since the memory of that shamble is still crisp in the minds of the hapless people.

The clairvoyant turned journalists (I remember one of them brought parrots in his talk show to predict the fall of the Zardari government in the days of Memogate controversy) who are well fed with the information; the concerned wants to leak or the purpose to air is to call the unbridle horse back in stable. Our anchors are drumbeaters to lure the prey to scaffolding and the breathless prey asks for mercy pledging not to detour from the directed/right path.If the prey is adamantthen falls the guillotine. Those of you who are reluctant to buy my claim of well carved out media strategy are advised to read a “controversial book”; published just before 2018 elections causing a great commotion on our idiot boxes. Even some who were pronounced ‘les gias’ in the notorious book were seen defending themselves. Hilarious! In fact, the book reading is an activity of bygone days in our society so people sit and get lulled by persons attired in designer suits, some of them are found not befitting to the attire, delivering sermons on the idiot boxes. I’m calling the medium an idiot box not the personas.

Coming back to the ‘controversial book’ you find anecdotes of the means of winning the favors of the high rated anchors. But the well chalked out strategy had founders in the renowned media centers of the world as well. Who was helping whom? A difficult question to answer.

The best strategy of our media is to stage a story having a cathartic effect on the audience. In her phenomenal research paper Media Violence and Cathartic Effects Maria Florea opines “The catharsis effect mechanism is decided through that, that in their daily life people are confronted with frustrating situations which can lead to acts of violence. The catharsis offers liberation from these frustrations through imaginary participation in acts of violence and aggression presented on television.” Hence, you have frothing anchors on your TV screens.

For the poor people the Kafkaesque world is the order of the day. You must accept it or plan a failed suicide attempt like Lucky in Waiting for Godot. A bulk of public is benefiting from the parallel black economy of the country

Back in the 80’s I was lucky to read “Arsto Ayar……. Jabir ki Botiqa” (Aristotle the clever…. Poetics as a Tool of Suppression.) by an eminent Professor Raza Ali Abdi in Adb-e- Latif; a renowned literary Urdu magazine till late 80s’. Of course, we had good days too. Raza Ali Abdi considered the cathartic effect as a tool for suppression in the Greek tragedies and Aristotle helpedthe oppressors to hold on by the theatrical performance generating cathartic effects to hush the bitter feelings of people against their violent rule.

Aziz Ahmed, once our foreign secretary and the author of two of the prominent Urdu novels, translated Aristotle’s Poetics with the title Botiqa in Urdu. The word Botiqa is still a mystery for me.

Aristotle coined the word “hamartia” to prescribe the psychological effects on the audience of the Greek tragedies. Catharsis in Poetics is the purification or purgation of the emotions of the audience through art. When they leave the theatre, they are calm and peaceful. Bertolt Brecht turned the table on Aristotle and in his famous Essays on Arts called theatre a stimulus for understanding and theatre is a delight for him in changing realities.

So, nothing is going to happen in our present political scenario. The mighty will remain a winner on the political chessboard of our country. If other parties are allowed to have their share in the pie, they are desperate to have, will have to tread on the directed path as detour causes a rustle. Rustle in the scene is a forbidden fruit for the status quo must remain intact say the Oracles. For the poor people the Kafkaesque world is the order of the day. You must accept it or plan a failed suicide attempt like Lucky in Waiting for Godot. A bulk of public is benefiting from the parallel black economy of the country.

Maulana may bring madrassas students on the streets. He has no political issues to chant. The right is a rival of the center- right. So, what to expect from such futile attempts. People are happy to sit in front of their TV in their leisure hours to see cocks fighting and they start snoring in the middle of the fight. They are not interested to see results of the fight as they have to think about how to sustain in the coming days. And every morning they pray not to be killed by police in the police stations. People have a lot of other concerns. Politics is an arena of the elite who are there to have their share.

The writer is Professor at English Language Center, Taif University, KSA