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Art and Aurat March

Art is a core aspect of social movements according to Milbrandt, as it encourages social change, empowers commitment, and informs society about issues. In Pakistan's conservative Islamic society, art is the best non-violent method to highlight issues ignored for years. Posters at the Aurat March highlighted numerous issues, including one mocking an old song about the role of cinema in shaping today's society. Cinema has been used for over a century for entertainment, information, education, and propaganda. However, censorship laws imposed during Zia's rule damaged the film industry and shifted it towards violence and misogyny. This has negatively impacted Pakistani culture and society.

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41 views3 pages

Art and Aurat March

Art is a core aspect of social movements according to Milbrandt, as it encourages social change, empowers commitment, and informs society about issues. In Pakistan's conservative Islamic society, art is the best non-violent method to highlight issues ignored for years. Posters at the Aurat March highlighted numerous issues, including one mocking an old song about the role of cinema in shaping today's society. Cinema has been used for over a century for entertainment, information, education, and propaganda. However, censorship laws imposed during Zia's rule damaged the film industry and shifted it towards violence and misogyny. This has negatively impacted Pakistani culture and society.

Uploaded by

Manahil
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Role of art in Aurat March

According to Milbrandt, art is one of the core aspects that derive a social movement. It

encourages social change, empower and deepen commitment and inform the larger society about

social issues. [ CITATION Mil10 \l 1033 ] In a deeply conservative Islamic society like Pakistan, art

serves as the single best non-violent method to highlight an issue that the whole society has

silently ignored for years.

[CITATION Man21 \l 1033 ]

The posters at this years Aurat March highlighted numerous different issues, but this

specific poster by Rameeza Ahamd mocks the lyrics of the years old song my Noor Jehan. It

talks about the role of cinema and media in making the society that we are today. It has been a

century since the dawn of cinema and since then it has been a tool for entertainment, propagation

of information, education and propaganda as well. (Insert Citation)


After 1960, Pakistan saw a boom in the cinema industry that is now known as the Golden

Era. This introduction of color screens and actors like Waheed Murad kickstarted the film and

drama industry. But this all came to end during the period of Zia’s Rule. Zia tried to Islamize the

country. Numerous censorship laws were imposed which caused the industry to shift to violence-

ridden films, the period today knows as ‘ghandasa culture’. [ CITATION Wik \l 1033 ] Zia left the

Pakistan’s Cinema industry in disarray and the only other thing available for the Pakistani

population besides the cheap comedy were Bollywood films, which too were full of sexual

harassment, molestation, coercion followed by an abusive relationship disguised as a ‘love story’

and portraying consent as unmasculine. [ CITATION Niz \l 1033 ] The end of the Urdu Cinema

marked the start of what is known as ‘Dirty Theatre’ which is full of cheap jokes and

misogynistic dialogues.

The problem that we need to realize is that a whole generation was raised on such media

and no one is putting an end to it or doing something to reverse the damage. Dirty Theatres and

Cheap Comedy is still popular among the lower middle class, the drama industry is declining,

and the film industry is still not fully revived. The work that is being done is receiving backlash,

an example being the recent ban on the feminist detective show Churails, which discussed issues

like child marriage, harassment, abuse, forced marriages, racism, class inequalities,

homosexuality. [ CITATION Was \l 1033 ]

Works Cited
@rameezay. Mangobaaz. n.d. 17 3 2021. <https://www.instagram.com/p/CMKTxyjHzC7/?
igshid=h2bzr7h7wpta>.

Milbrandt, Melody K. "Understanding the Role of Art in Social Movements and Transformation." Journal
of Art for Life (2010): 1. 17 3 2021. <https://journals.flvc.org/jafl/article/view/84087>.
Mushtaq, Waseem. Churails: Why a feminist detective show was banned in Pakistan. n.d.
<https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-54629439>.

Pasha, Nizam. The Virus of Misogyny Went from Bollywood to #Boislockerroom. n.d.
<https://thewire.in/film/the-virus-of-misogyny-went-from-bollywood-to-boislockerroom>.

Wikipedia. Cinema of Pakistan. n.d. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Pakistan>.

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