Adil Najam
I think that political parody – even when not of the highest quality – is often indicative of the political trends in a society. In fact, the presence of parody itself is a medium of political expression. Shows such as Daily Show with John Stewart, the Stephen Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, the many British political satires, Hum Sab Umeed Say Hain, Three Man Show, and GEO TV presentations such as Bush-Mush Hotta Hai are not only indicators of vivid political imaginations but also of political vigor.
I saw the following video of a parody of a Gen. Musharraf speech by a student on Adnan Siddiqui’s blog yesterday.
00:54
I do not know where and what context this was in, but it is one of a number of such parodies (some, it seems by the same young person) available of YouTube. The quality of the portrayal is variable at best as is the humor in the substance. However, like all satirical parodies it is a to be viewed not only for its humorous content but also for the points it seeks to make as a depiction of public opinion and expression.
Allah Vasaya
While I agree that Chaudhry Shujaat’s statements are difficult to take seriously, we must acknowledge that open criticism of the army as an institution remains muted.
The sheer fact that any politician in Pakistan can make such a stupid statement(as Chaudhry Shujaat did) is a reflection of the untouchable status that the army has in the country.
Dear Hamza
I am sure the real reason of Ch. Shujaat’s US visit was to remove the massive reserves of the brown stuff on his nose cause by years of having his face burried in army generals’ posteriors. Please don’t take him seriously.
While I agree that the Musharraf has a seemingly lenient attitude towards political satire, we must remember that any criticism of the army and their powerful corporate interests still remains taboo.
Here is an example. This is from the The News.
Those speaking against Army should be shot, says Shujaat
By Asim Yasin
ISLAMABAD: President Pakistan Muslim League Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain on Wednesday said that those raising slogans against the Pakistan Army should be shot, because according to him these people were carrying out terrorist activities in the name of freedom of expression and freedom of journalism.
“During my stay in Washington when I heard slogans against an institution of national security on a TV channel I was greatly aggrieved and immediately expressed my concern by telephone to President General Pervez Musharraf,â€
4ManShow is much funnier. The bright side of the picture is at least these days shows like this one can poke fun at politicians and people in power. In PTV days one had to resort to understanding hidden jibes and puns of Anwar Maqsood which at times were not funny at all.
Mistri mian, this is what the guy tried to convince that statments given by Musharraf doesn’t sound intelligent at all. *grin*
Siddiqi mian, thank you for the explanation.
If he was trying to sound unintelligent, he absolutely succeeded, hands down. In fact, he was brilliant, because he came across like a blithering idiot.
I was under the mistaken impression that he was trying to be funny/witty and trying to do a good “nakal” of Musharraf, who I may disagree with on many many things, but who nonetheless has several thousand times the intelligence and vision of an average Mullah (i.e. the audience at this event). Of course, I may get into trouble if someone points out that in the case of most Mullahs, intelligence+vision = 0. In advance, let me say, I am talking about the average Mullah. Hopefully there are one or two that make the average tip over just a tad above 0.