A political debate is reflective of any society being healthy and intellectually alive; therefore, its significance can hardly be underestimated. However, a keen observation of the Pakistani public sphere leads us to conclude that when it is over-done as it is in the case of Pakistan, it only trivialises politics, rendering the people sick and tired of it.

Politics as a subject of debate has also undermined the sanctity of the ‘word’ because all that is uttered in such debates loses its meaning. A scholarly person once stated something that sounded very perceptive to me. ‘When the word is driven apart from its meaning, it indicates socio-cultural decay’.

That is exactly what has happened to our society.

Obviously, when debate and interaction wriggle out of the normative space that the culture warrants, it is bound to foster moral decadence and insensitivity towards the fellow citizens. Thus, at a more mundane level, excessive political debate evidently polarises society, which entails gargantuan perils for a socially and culturally plural country like Pakistan.

The fallouts are that social fissures become more pronounced and excessive debate sharpens the split in every sphere and promotes cynicism among the educated and concerned citizens. It also severs the link of the listener from the political culture and the ethos that is usually spun out of it. A closer adherence to the culture enables the literati to be creative. Stories can be spun when writers closely observe the contradictions that generally define society.

Besides, in an institutionally weak polity, the forging of consensus becomes almost impossible. As a consequence, measures for the collective good that require reforms and affirmative action, do not transpire to the detriment of the citizenry. Exuberance generated by the ubiquity of political debate as it happens in our electronic and social media, promotes personal-sectional feelings that naturally tend to thwart nationalistic sentiment.

Most of the political opinion, articulated through multiple means for the last few years, caters to the aspirations of the factional or regional impulses. Thus, a conscious effort is needed to accord prominence to the cultural and social being of the Pakistani nation. All media channels should be persuaded to devote their prime time to programmes which are quintessentially social and cultural.

At present all such ventures are treated as peripheral modes of expression simply because they are not in consonance with the mood of the public. That, indeed, is catastrophic.

My argument in this column is that the nation is not made solely by politics. The collective self, inhabiting a specific socio-cultural space, is the most important constituent of the nation. The peculiarity of the collective identity resides in the socio-cultural specificity with which a certain collectivity of humans tends to identify with.

That socio-cultural specificity nurtures and fosters creativity which is essential for the social and intellectual evolution of nations. Ironically, the ‘social’ and ‘cultural’ components of our national self have been brushed under the carpet. I see no debate taking place on these vital subjects. The entire debate revolves around politics and religion.

Unless coupled with culture, rooted in the history and geography of the terrain, both become divisive, as is evident in our case. Both our government and academia in general are unmindful of the cultural tools of expression that help formulate the national narrative. Why don’t we invest our energies in coming up with our own cultural theory that is specific to our milieu and social setting?

The social space is denuded of poetry symposiums (mushairas), literary discussions and philosophical interactions. What measures can be taken to revamp the government-sponsored institutes of literature and literary organisations?

Have we ever thought about the Pakistani film industry? What is the status of NAFDAC? Has it been abandoned altogether? Are we alive to the importance that it (the film medium) holds globally? Do we know that Hollywood plays an incredibly important role in sustaining American cultural prowess throughout the world?

It is a powerful source of spawning its neo-imperial hegemony across cultures and nationalities. All these questions ought to be addressed and satisfactory answers be sought. In the case of our neighbouring country, Bollywood contributes immensely to peddle Indian soft power not only in the South Asian region but beyond it. Are we doing anything to counter it? Why does the Pakistani government/state bury its head in the sand like an ostrich?

The irony is that people are offered political debate (which consists mostly of diatribe and swearing on the idiot box) as a form of entertainment. Theatre and film industry have received step-motherly treatment from the state. No one appears to be cognisant of the utility of these media in educating people, cultivating civic sense in them, and inculcating in them the responsibility of being citizens.

Thirty-odd years ago, our tele-plays were of good quality but that of course is the saga of a bygone era. Decadence has beset our tele-plays as well. The quality of plays today neither reflects our cultural ethos nor addresses social issues. These plays play up the animosities and intrigues plaguing middle class families. The story lines are nauseatingly monotonous and lack creativity.

Even good humour is fast dying out. The apathy towards the arts and artists is lamentable. The music industry is heaving its last sighs. Homogenisation brought about by cable networks and the internet have sapped the folk culture, too. Attaullah Isakhelvi seems to be the last survivor, who was once the icon of folk music. Reshman, Mansur Malangi, Shaukat Ali, Inayat Ali and several of their ilk have passed away unnoticed. The importance of folk music is fast depleting which is alarming to say the least. Culture and various modes of its expression are not merely the sources of entertainment. Culture is the soul of human collectivity known to us as a nation.

The writer is Professor in the faculty of Liberal Arts at the Beaconhouse National University, Lahore.