Musician Salman Ahmad of Junoon fame on Monday, talked about his vision for the Pakistani music industry in a lengthy post. “My own life experience points toward being influenced by powerful books, films, music/ poetry. It is an area largely neglected in most backward societies. To encourage positive change, to educate and entertain, Pakistan must have a clear cultural policy which showcases our unique and rich history, human diversity and a clear vision forward. Pakistani original cultural content aligned with government-backed promotion, performance platforms, rewards and incentives would have deep and long lasting cultural impact in today’s tech-driven competitive youth environment. Over the last 75 years, arts and culture has been like a plant or sapling which requires replanting like trees. It’s very fragile but once it takes root, it gives fruit for centuries and millenniums. We are very fortunate that poets like Iqbal took the time to pen down their thoughts, which lit candles in the hearts of millions. It inspired musicians, singers, thinkers, philosophers, politicians and poets. A generation of Pakistanis grew up on transformational poets like Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Habib Jalib and Parveen Shakir. In the genres of qawwali, tarana, ghazal, film and folk, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Sabri Brothers, Mehdi Hasan, Noor Jehan, Abida Parveen and Pathaney Khan inspired another generation of modern and traditional artists like Nazia and Zoheb, Vital Signs, Junoon, Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Atif Aslam and Strings. But two decades on, since 9/11, the war on terror, violent extremism, fear, apathy and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic has decimated arts and culture in Pakistan. A huge vacuum has been created which has marginalised the artists and made them into an endangered species. Pakistan, the second youngest population in the world, has a cultural vacuum which is being bombarded by western & Indian content. This imbalance needs to be rectified & arts & culture requires fortification over the coming decade. THE VISION — Create artistic spaces and platforms in academic institutions across the country. Provide cultural platforms for competitive growth of new artists. Promote Pakistani cultural content over foreign content as policy across the electronic, print and social media. Institute a talent hunt scheme across the country to unearth future poets, composers, instrumentalists and singers from diverse genres. Enact a prestigious, annual Pakistani award ceremony to promote merit, respect and interest in arts and culture. Create an advisory board of mentors, teachers and experts to oversee the development of arts and culture in Pakistan. Make the music recording industry an institution subsidised by the government. Make venues available for performance based arts and culture. Provide relief to approximately 10,000 families of Pakistani artists and their support staff devastated by the pandemic. Change the mindset of the nation from despair to hope.”