Imran says promoting ‘Pakistaniyat’ would be true soft image

Ag Agencies

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday criticised the perception of promoting the soft image as the “speaking of English and dressing like Westerners” and made a case for “Pakistaniyat” — having national pride.

Addressing the first National Amateur Short Film Festival Awards (NASFF) ceremony here at the Pak-China Friendship Centre, the Prime Minister said the “[true] soft image of the country comes from self-esteem and self-belief as the world respects those who have faith in themselves”.

He described the post-9/11 scenario in which global criticism of fundamentalism led to a defensive reaction from people, which led to the prevailing definition of “soft image”. He pushed back against the notion and said that “is not a soft image, that is low self esteem”

He further said the youth does not need to copy what the others had done in the world. “We don’t need to look like others to improve our perception. You cannot achieve anything if you have fear of failure,” he maintained.

Expressing his confidence in the innate potential of the country's youth, he urged them to present the “true and real image of Pakistan”, a country gifted with “huge variety and diversity”.

The Prime Minister stressed upon the young filmmakers to concentrate on production of “original stuff” as the world always prefers the original, no matter how good the copy is.

He also paraphrased American poet Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken, and said: “Those following the trodden path never excel in their fields,” he said adding that the new starters in the film making must explore the vast variety and diversity of climate, culture and civilisation of the motherland.

The Prime Minister noted that during the 70s, the country was producing quality films but it went on to copy Indian films, which resulted in the downfall of the industry. Through this “copy and adoption of alien culture” the film industry lost originality, he regretted.

Khan, sharing his experiences in cricket, said Pakistan had introduced to the world the reverse swing and opening bowling with spinners, ideas “which were later copied by the whole world”.

Previously, there was a mindset which thought that they could not win from England’s cricket team due to the “serious impact of colonialism” and had already resigned to defeat in their minds, he added.

The Prime Minister said things started changing when they developed self-belief with new playing techniques. He further said that he had brought the Ertugrul drama serial which was widely watched by the people in Pakistan.

The event was held under the patronage of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in association with Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) to give awards to three winners each in different categories of short films.

The jury consisted of renowned artists and international experts nominated the best films. Fifteen winners will win scholarships to study advanced media techniques in the University of California, United States.