War on culture benefits none

India and Pakistan cannot achieve any objective by banning poets and musicians

Pakistani actor Fawad Khan has played in the Bollywood film, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Jeff Topping for The National

National Editorial

When two bulls fight, the grass gets hurt. This African proverb aptly describes the situation in India and Pakistan, where art and culture have taken a beating in the latest squabble between the two countries.

Pakistan last week imposed a blanket ban on Indian entertainment shows on television and radio after one of India’s top film directors vowed not to hire actors from Pakistan in response to the declaration by the Film and Television Producers Guild of India that it would not screen films with Pakistani casts. The Bollywood film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, mired in controversy for featuring a Pakistani actor, was allowed to open in India during Diwali after the industry body agreed to ban actors from across the border in the future. Pakistani artists working in India had been threatened with violence, while some Indian film actors have been labelled traitors for arguing to keep art and culture separate from politics. The action is not unprecedented in either country. Indian films were banned in Pakistan for 43 years, until 2008.

But cultural bonds are too strong to be broken by political or military power. This is evident in the close cultural affinities the two countries enjoy nearly 70 years after a bitter divide. Despite incessant hostilities, including four wars, their people share bonds of love and friendship, exemplified by the relations between the two communities in this country.

That’s because culture is no one’s enemy. On the contrary, it humanises what politics demonises. Banning artists will therefore encourage extremists whose aim is to create fear and hatred.

History shows that no nation can progress by undermining cultural relations with rivals. For example, the West won the Cold War less because it pointed nuclear missiles at the Soviet people and more because it won their hearts and minds. And this was aided by its music and pop culture, which gave it unrivalled soft power.

These examples should serve as a lesson for India and Pakistan. If they have political scores to settle, they should fight the battle away from the cultural turf.