Different animated cartoon series and certain movies dubbed in Hindi language for the viewers of South Asian region is striking the soft minds of children in Pakistan and becoming a source of mind subversion against the local cultural as well as religious values and norms.
These are also serving the purpose of preaching of Hindu religion to the Muslim children and even adults of Pakistan.
A resolution, first of its kind, was submitted in Punjab Assembly secretariat yesterday by PTI legislator Malik Taimoor Masood which called for a ban on famous Japanese anime series Doraemon – which is dubbed in Hindi language for the viewers of India and Pakistan.
Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) should impose a ban on Doraemon or limit its airtime as it contains explicit content which is making a bad impact on children, Mr Masood demanded of the Authority through his resolution.
More than two teachers of private and public sector schools told The Nation that schoolchildren in free periods were found saying that they look for ‘bhagwan’ – a false god of Hindu religion – when they are in some kind of trouble.
When told that bhagwan is a false god, the children replied they have learnt from cartoons and TV shows that ‘bhagwan’ (the word mostly used for Karishna in cartoons and Hindi dramas) and ‘hanuman’ (a pale-colored langur monkey of southern Asia, venerated by Hindus) are gods.
One of the students told her teacher that she avoided playing or disturbing the monkeys during a trip to Ayubia-Murree as the animal is sacred which she learned through a Hindi dubbed cartoon series.
Narrating another shocking story of affects of unchecked material being screened on our TVs, one of the teachers told the paper that some of his students told him that they practice ‘rakhi bandhan’ – a ritual of Hindu religion – as a game during recess period.
“Round the clock cartoon channels are adversely affecting the educational and physical growth of children. The language used in cartoons is damaging societal norms,” PTI legislator argued in his resolution, which will be discussed in the next Punjab Assembly session.
Doraemon is a Japanese manga series and is dubbed in Hindi for viewers in South Asia. The anime series revolves around a robotic cat named Doraemon and a young boy Nobita. It is aired on various cartoon channels.
Researchers on affects of TV and film media propaganda told the paper that ‘mind subversion’, which includes two powerful sub-sections of cultural and religious subversion, could destroy an entire nation without any arsenal.
Propagating one’s cultural and religious values through electronic media on targeted nation’s soft minds is the best tool to defeat a nation from within, they said.
“Make a nation indecisive about his/her religious and cultural values and you will need not to fire even a single shot to defeat that nation,” they argued.
Agencies add: The move by the PTI lawmaker has also drawn ridicule on social media in a country fighting corruption, poverty and militants.
Malik Taimur’s party holds a majority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which is on the frontline of the fight against the Taliban and other militants that kill hundreds each year.
After Malik filed the petition, #PTIvsDoraemon began trending on Twitter in Pakistan, with many people wondering why the party didn’t focus on more pressing issues such as child abuse, corruption and poverty.
“In a country where child abductions and abuse is rampant, PTI decides to raise its voice for the real threat our children face. Doraemon,” said Twitter user Assad Zulfiqar Khan.
Another Twitter user Adeel Hussain said: “When you finally wipe clean poverty, hunger and corruption. So you have nothing better to do.”
Published in The Nation newspaper on 04-Aug-2016