THIS IS MY STORY–98
MY JOURNEY THROUGH THE ERA OF AYUB KHAN TO THE TIMES OF IMRAN KHAN.
GHULAM AKBAR…………….
The Rape of Punjabi Culture
The other issue that ‘soured’ my relations with the Dons of the film industry was the unashamed and ruthless distortion of the culture of Punjab in the Punjabi films. My simple question to the concerned film-makers was: “Will you want or like, your sister or daughter to act in public with such shameless coquetry and dalliance to lure the opposite sex? Why can’t a decent girl behave like a decent girl and a whore like a whore?”
Such questions raised in Mussawar didn’t fail to infuriate the concerned film-makers. At first I was subjected to the threats of dire consequences. Then a meeting of producers directors and distributors was called to deal with Mussawar in a befitting way.
As Mussawar didn’t ever publish a film advertisement, there was no way I could be financially blackmailed. A committee however was formed to have talks with the management of Daily Mashriq for suspension of printing facilities to Mussawar, which because of a huge circulation (that remained in six figures for a considerable period of time) could not be printed elsewhere.
A decision was also made to enforce an effective boycott of Mussawar and its staff.
Soon, in this respect, huge bill boards appeared on the walls of all the film studios of Lahore that read:
THE ENTRY OF ALL THOSE ASSOCIATED IN ANY WAY WITH WEEKLY MUSSAWAR IS PROHIBITED”.
The leaders of the KILL MUSSAWAR movement were soon to realise that their drastic steps were not working, and Mussawar’s campaign against Plagiarism and Cultural Distortion was gaining momentum.
