Adil Najam
PIA print advertisement from the 1960s (Originally uploaded by PakPositive.com which is a blog that highlights the positives aspects of Pakistan).
Let me continue with the ‘Image Pakistan’ theme in choosing the picture for today. I find this advert for PIA absolutely fascinating; both for what it says about how PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) saw itself and how it saw Pakistan (or wanted Pakistan to be seen).
Was this the reality of Pakistan before theso-called ‘darhi wallahs’ took center stage? Or was this ‘image’ of Pakistan as much out-of-sync with the reality of what was Pakistan then, as the image of the bearded-gun-totting-bomb- throwing-jihadi-Pakistani is today?
Speaking of ‘image’ and ‘brand’ the Association of Pakistani Professionals (AOPP) has recently launched an initiative on the subject and held a thoughtful and thought-provoking event on he subject in New York on June 3. I was asked to moderate part of the program, and found the discussion to be mature, reasoned and reasonable–something we should have more of.
Someone told me this was from the days of Omar Qureishi, the Berkley graduate who became popular later as a cricket commentator. He was some sort of PR head at the PIA.
In any case Mast Qalandar, you did get me a bit nostalgic (though I never lived in the 60s anyway) – btw I still stick with ‘khuda hafiz’ as a small protest against Ziaism..
[quote comment=”3095″]60s sound like paradise lost to many, but I wonder, was it really that great a time?[/quote]
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. …”
It was the time when PIA’s slogan was “great people to fly with” and everyone believed it.
It was the time when there were supposedly 22 families who owned most of the country’s wealth.
It was the time when one could drink in the clubs and the army messes, and a Murree Brewery bear would cost 5 rupees a bottle.
It was the time when most young people in Karachi and Lahore had never seen a handgun in real life. They hadn’t heard of heroin either.
It was a time when one could travel from Karachi to Peshawar in a car at night (usually a VW beetle) without the fear of being robbed or killed.
It was the time when people saying goodbye to each other would say Khuda Hafiz instead of Allah Hafiz.
It was the time when a plaque was unveiled or a ribbon was cut to inaugurate something people would clap instead of raising their hands for the cameras.
It was the time when Pakistan fought the first all out war against India that ended without any result.
It was the time when Nur Jehan sang her famous war song “merya dhol sipahiya – tenu Rab diyan rakhaan …” and won everyone’s heart — soldiers and civilians alike.
It was a time when the second martial was imposed in Pakistan.
It was the time when the first, and so far the last, fair general election was held in Pakistan — its results were not implemented.
It was the time when the secession movement in East Pakistan began in earnest.
Yes, “it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.”
Bhitai, thank you for that. I think you are right. In the 1960s we were an even more divided country than now. The rich lived a life that had nothing to do with the rest of Pakistan. They were in a London-Paris mode. I fear we are getting there again, but this time the disconnect is between those who live the Dubai-New York life and this time that group is larger in number. But the disconnect is still there. This ad was not the reality of Pakistan then, but it did reflect an elite’s vision then as you say. The elite’s vision today is very different.
60s sound like paradise lost to many, but I wonder, was it really that great a time? I mean wasn’t it a time of lopsided prosperity when only certain classes were thriving at the expense of the majority (the east-west economic gap was as wide as it gets). Yea I’m sure rich people were interested in flying PIA, and they are probably the target audience of this ad anyway. It probably didn’t give a damn about the village-dwelling illiterate majority of the country (that *did* eventually get to fly PIA when the oil boom started in the gulf). This ad is a classic example of an elitist culture, and I won’t necessarily equate that with a ‘tolerant’ culture.
@Sahar Humayun
Where do you live? I am born and raised in Europe. Go to Europe and you will see plenty of men staring to women. And the remark about a society being more “tolerant” because of advertisements like these are really funny. You can see these kind of advertisements in Pakistan still today.
God bless the people with ghayrat.