On the motherland

The female singer in Sohni Dharti and Jeevay Jeevay represented the nation’s own appropriation of the concept of a motherland, in the same way as the subcontinent would see a “Mother India”. To have these very nationalistic songs sung by women is to appeal to the idea of the nation as first and foremost a “mother”land, not just your place of birth but the home that gives you your identity. It is meant to evoke a certain kind of sentiment for one’s homeland, that of the bond between a mother and her offspring- unconditional and everlasting. However, though both songs appeal to national solidarity, Jeevay Jeevay and Sohni Dharti were released at different times in very different contexts. Jeevay Jeevay makes direct appeals to the preservation of a unified nationhood whereas Soni Dharti focuses more on the land and its endless bounty. Both however, reiterate the point that we must view our homeland as God’s gift for which we must always be thankful; in the same way that the child is eternally grateful to the mother for gifting him with life. Jeevay Jeevay was released for the specific purpose of calling for the integration of east and west Pakistan. Its lyrics appeal for a unity and solidarity among all Pakistanis: “Bikhray Howoon Ko Bichray Howoon Ko, Ik Markaz Pay Laya.” Soni Dharti, on the other hand never mentions the name of Pakistan which is why it is different from other nationalist songs such as Dil Dil Pakistan. Soni Dharti is written almost as a prayer or a song of praise, which sung by a female singer, renders it with hymn-like qualities.

'Laga Reh' and 'Allergic to Bullshit'

Ironically, the dialogues included in Shehzad Roy's song 'Laga Reh' like "In ko mat jagaao yeh kisi zaruri kaam se so rahe hain" or "Mujhe fikar yeh nahi hai ke mulk kaise chalega, mujhe fikar yeh hai ke kahin aise hi na chalta rahe' were first used in his song 'Bullshit' for the bollywood movie 'Katta meetha'. The movie highlights the same problems faced by Pakistan today such as corruption. The song went quite viral it was released. The main reason were these lines which highlight the common problems of the people of Pakistan and India

From the idea of Perfect Nation to the need for Reforms

After watching the patriotic songs from the 60's it is pretty clear that the states wants to insert an idea of blind faith in the nation which clearly overlooks many problems which the country faced at the time. These patriotic songs from the only television in the country on-aired songs which gave people a false sense of unity. The people of West Pakistan enjoyed prosperity where as the the East Pakistanis suffered. This hid the ultimate result of the prevailing situation.
In contrast, the songs from the post twentieth century stress on the need for reforms and highlight the loopholes in the system. This is mainly due to the freedom of media in the Musharraf regime. The state no longer controls what the people see.

Hum Zinda Qaum Hain (1973)

Some observations regarding the song:

There is the mention of a singular “Kalma” that everyone believes in.

“hai kalma bhi wahid”

This is problematic for any faction or individual who has, had, a dissenting view. Also, there isn't much emphasis on anyone out of the periphery of the kalma.

Then there is also the reference to the controversial personality of Muhammad Bin Qasim:

“Islam ke lashkar mein hain Qasim se farzand “

Just like ‘caravan’ in Dil Dil Pakistan, this song uses the word ‘lashkar’. The Muslim affiliation to this word is more explicitly mentioned in Hum Zinda Qaum Hain and also in a more exclusionary sense. Hence, here the nation is equated with Muslim.Atleast, Dil Dil Pakistan does not use the word caravan with the idea of an Islamic one.

A lot of the content in this song is similar to the one we saw in Pakistan’s national anthem. The song paints a rosy future for the people belonging to the industrial and the agricultural base.

The video features all youngsters; two men and four women. It is interesting to note the difference in movement in the two genders. All women have their arms straight down, with one hand gripping the other in the front. On the other hand, the men are moving their bodies and arms to the tune instead of fixing them like the women. 

National narrative today

We've discussed in class how Dil Dil Pakistan was instrumental in helping form a Pakistani national narrative. 'Aesi zameen aur asmaan, in kay siwa jana kahan' - such lyrics point towards something greater than ourselves, an identity, a story that all of us can relate to. Songs that are so stirring to convince the listener to leave everything and pick up arms at the Wagha border. Such songs are important because they are relevant even today. They define the dominant cultural narrative against which future aesthetic forms will be judged. 

Shehzad Roy's 'Laga Re' points to something extremely problematic for the contemporary Pakistani state. Our national narrative has become inconsistent, dormant, stationary. The lyrics of the song are  

'Aas baandh kar tu khaRa hai, tas say mas nahi hota

Tu hai aik aam aadmi, aray bus, ab nahi hota

[Siyaasi Kaarkun / Ali Azmat: Tou kia karun? Himmat haar doon?

SR: Nahi. Laga reh.]

And then the song goes of into a chorus of 'Laga re, khara re and para re'. I think that for every line of this chorus his intended audience is different. The stubborn politician should keep on preaching, the poor should continue lying helplessly on the streets and the literate should keep on cheering the status quo mindlessly. Shehzad Roy's criticism, I believe rests solely on a very important point that the status quo will endure no matter what with the consequence of a decaying national narrative. 

Bum Phatta and the Post 9/11 Discourse

The musical video of Ali Azmat’s Bum Phatta represents a popular discourse which attracted the attention of masses in Pakistan after 9/11. The proponents of this discourse treat the West as “nucleus of all evils” and national governments as corrupt troupes of politicians. The eventual remedy, for this discourse, is a revolution.

The ingredients of this thought appear at different intervals in the music video of “Bum Phatta”. Bum, or bomb, symbolizes the miseries and problems faced by the Pakistani people. The person at the center stage (Ali Azmat) is dressed as Uncle Sam and he holds an American missile throughout the video. The post 9/11 period and Pakistan’s alliance with the U.S. for the war on terror changed the dynamics of the region and thus this portrayal of United States in the video is essentially a reaction. The music video also shows military helicopters in the background at two intervals [Image-1], pointing towards the military operations against the Taliban. Therefore, I see this video endorsing the same mainstream thinking which blames the US and its war on terror for all the issues in Pakistan.     

Criticizing establishment and politicians, Ali Azmat has used the typical approach of blaming them for each and every problem, primarily their incapacity to provide the public with basic necessities like food, water and electricity. However, the music video uses an interesting style of capturing this issue. It shows these public provisions hanging through a wire which is controlled by a controller in a closed room. People try to catch them but fail in despair when the controller draws them back as soon as people try to catch them. The transition has been shown through kids and young people, struggling to get a doll and electricity/food, respectively. The whole process is similar to a game played at festivals where kids get sweets and toys, placed inside a closed jar, through a hanger whose control is in their hands. Ironically, the controller has been snatched from their hands by the politicians [Image-3].

Lastly, the video indicates the march towards bloody revolution where people first fight among themselves for food and then a revolutionary agent like Che Guevara appears who kills the guy controlling all the public provisions which symbolized the overthrow of the establishment. The video presents the similar situation through which Che brought the revolution in Cuba, overthrowing US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista [Image-2]

                                       

For those curious about the blondie in "Laga Reh"

One of the questions raised in class was the purpose of the ‘blondie’ in the song “Laga Reh” and on looking closely at the video, one realizes that her presence in some of the scenes convey a greater meaning. The first scene where we see her is on stage in a large public space and the group is singing in front of a massive crowd. The singers are then forced to leave the stage as the politician has to come and address the masses. The second time we see her is in the bus during the lyrics “Buzurgon ney mujh sey poocha, “Mulk kaisey yeh chaley ga? She is furiously playing her drums in a much smaller space with a much smaller and less enthusiastic audience. The last time we see her is on an empty road that held demonstrations and riots of the masses. The place is in tatters and there is debris on the road with absolutely no audience.

The point of charting her progression in the story is to show the restriction on the creative expression created by the situations in the country. Initially, the politician drives the singers away from stage to use it for his own purpose; this leads to a movement from the stage to the bus. Later, due to unfavourable law and order situations in the country, these artists are confined to a single empty road. We see the lead singer running away from the scene as soon as he sees the suited foreigner showing again that the threat of the foreigner and his power put a complete stop to the creative expression of the artists. These are all external agents that affect the singer, his band members and the space allowed to them to express themselves. Curtailing their freedom is evident not only through the dwindling space allowed to them but also through the reduction in the audience they have. Thus, the while the song critiques some pressing issues of society, it visually points out the limitations faced by singers or creative artists in pursuing their expression.