National_Identity_Potrayed_by_Pakistani_Media_(Case_Study_of_Hum_Tv's_Play_Daastan)

ABSTRACT This thesis attempts to understand the ways in which Pakistani Electronic Media is playing its role in promoting National Identity of Pakistan. The importance of this research is of high significance especially in this era of globalization where National identity is becoming an even more complex phenomenon. Not only international but also the newly emerging local private media industry, with its own independent perspective, is leaving its marks on the way we identify ourselves as Pakistanis. Approaching this research, I based my analysis on the case study of Hum Television’s successful play “Daastan”. As the mode of my thesis is Qualitative so rather than collecting numeric data my inquiries were channelized by the introspective and informal observation styles of analysis, for which I chose YouTube as the best platform and digital tool of data collection. Through my research I have tried to explore the way National identity is reconstructed, reflected and depicted in terms of moving image and how the audiences receive, understand and appreciate this visualization. The study is also important in the relevance of the today’s identity crisis Pakistan. INTRODUCTION National Identity A nation is a group of people who share common history, culture, language and ethnic origin often possessing or seeking its own government. National identity refers to the distinguish features of group and to the individual’ sense of belonging to it. In some case even a little difference in pronunciation is enough to categorize a person as a member of different nation but in some cases two people may be separated by language, culture, geographical location etc categorized in same culture. There are some ingredients below which make the person’s national identity: Common language: It the main ingredient in the making of the nation. Without the common language nation cannot be evolve. Also to deal with everyday affairs within a group of a people living in a specified boundary need a common mean of communication to trade and socialize. Thus even a group of people even of different culture and history but sharing common language would still consider themselves attached to their respective nations as long as they share the same language. Common history: A nation can be constructed around a common history i.e. chronologically recorded events in the past, their ancestors have gone through. Common religion: Religion can also present a person’s national identity. Religion is sometimes used as a defining factor for a nation. Common culture: culture is very essential factor in presenting national identity. People having the same culture can easily be recognized by other that they have same national identity. Common origin: if people are living in common geographical area whether they have different culture, language, religion then they are suppose to be belonging to the same national identity. PAKISTANI NATIONAL IDENTITY Starting its journey in primitive ages our identity tries to find its roots in the Pakistani territory that has been home to one of the most ancient civilizations of the world i.e. Indus Valley Civilization. The Indus Valley civilization flourished in period 2500-1700 BC. It is generally believed that Indus Valley Civilization was destroyed by Arian invaders. Originally those Arians were not accustomed to civilized way of city life and they only could establish many small village oriented states that were run by many Rajas. Later on, most of the Pakistani territory has been a large province of world’s earliest imperial power i.e. Iran. Afterwards, Alexander put an end to the Iranian rule and he invaded the Pakistani territory also. Alexander then went back but died in the way. But Iranian imperial rule and the type of Alexander’s vast scale military achievements drew profound impressions upon the political set up of the sub-continent. Chandar Gupata Moriah, following the Iranian imperial type political model, brought about most of the territory of northern India into a single political regime, which was later on further extended by his grandson Asoka. But that large political set up could not last for long time period and the sub-continent was again divided into many small kingships of Hindu Rajas. A major political change, which shaped the identity of present day Pakistan was the event of 711AD when an Arab Muslim military commander, Muhammad bin Qasim, invaded the territory of Sindh, defeated the Hindu Raja Dahir and thus annexed the area of Sindh to the Muslim imperial rule of Umayyad Caliphate. Emergence of Muslim rule resulted in fundamental changes in the civil society of this area in a way that vast local population embraced Islam and thus acquired their identity as ‘Muslims’. After about three centuries, other Muslim invaders of Turkish origin managed to bring most of the northern Indian Territory including almost whole territory of present day Pakistan under the Muslim rule. Muslim society flourished under the Muslim rule because Muslim culture was more progressive and tolerant than the culture of Hindus, who were in majority. Muslim culture and society got its own distinct identity, which was quite different to the identity of majority Hindu culture. Muslim political rule continued over centuries until eighteenth century when signs of the decline of Muslim rule began to appear and many turn of events resulted in the shift of locus of political control in the hands of a British origin business oriented establishment which was doing business in the country in the name of British East India Company. After the war of 1857, the political control over India formally shifted to the British Crown. British government introduced democratic type limited self-autonomy in India. Under this type of government, Muslims would have gone under the Hindu political control in case the country got freedom from Britain. The two world wars made Britain so much weak that now it could not hold on its many colonies including India. It became apparent during the Second World War that sooner or later Britain will have to announce freedom for India. Indian Muslims were already concerned about the future of their separate identity as a ‘Muslim Culture’ and a prominent Muslim leader Sir Allama Iqbal already had proposed the establishment of a separate Muslim state within India where Muslims could preserve the separate identity of their culture. It was during the second world war when top Muslim leadership first realized that Allama Iqbal’s proposal could become the real motto of Indian Muslim’s struggle for independence from British Rule. So Indian Muslims demanded for a separate homeland for themselves i.e. Pakistan for them. The basis of this demand was the ‘two nation theory’. The themes of this ‘two nation theory’ was that Indian Muslims were not just a minority community in India but were having a distinct complete culture of their own and so were a separate nation. The underlying idea was that future of India should be decided by not considering Indian Muslims as just minority community but should be decided while considering Indian Muslims as a complete nation, which should be given a separate homeland where they could preserve their distinct culture. IDENTITY CRISIS OF PAKISTAN How a country identifies its National Identity is important because it is actually the comprehension of a country about the composition and structure of its own society and culture. This National Identity not only determines objectives and goals for the people and leadership of the country, it also determines the type of relationships with other countries of the world. Secondly, National Identity of a country is not any rigid or fixed entity, as its various aspects always remain in the process of change and developments as a result of the changes that occur in the political and cultural environment of the whole world. Pakistan’s National Identity also has gone through many such changes. One of these changes turned into crisis of East Pakistan that emerged as a result of Urdu-Bengali ethnic clash. The loss of East Pakistan resulted in somewhat reduced burden of this type of issues and so rest of the Pakistan successfully resolved the matters relating to interrelationships of the remaining provinces, in the form of unanimous constitution of 1973. With the passage of time however, those issues are again getting significance and so there is need to re-identify the current composition, structure and kind of country’s society. Country has also got the experience of both civil democratic political set-ups as well as various Martial Law regimes. But we still are in need to identify which form of government best suits to the taste and needs of our society. On the international environment, due to many factors, image of Muslim societies is being negatively projected. Mass international media is projecting this wrong information that Muslim societies are the supporters of terrorist activities on the global scale. Muslim societies are being labeled as ‘extremist societies’. Pakistan is also one of the victims of this wrong media projection. Under these current crisis, we are in need to evaluate our true identity i.e. whether we, as a nation, are extremist people or are enlightened, moderate, balanced, peace loving, and at the same time, brave people. PAKISTANI MEDIA There must be a medium who should promote national identity among the people of a nation and also among other people of different nations and in every country this important task is performing by media. It may be print media or electronic media, both are performing their roles. Our Pakistani media is performing this role since Pakistan came into being and still it is playing strong role in developing national identity through various dramas, national songs, articles, books and dances. National identity can be found in traditional clothes, which tend to be sleek and shiny. Our songs also help in defining us. They are fluid and shrill and contain many solitary voices. There is also distinct movement of our dances, which focus attention on our hands and feet. There are several books written on national identity which depicts our history and present. For all these elements of culture media is the best medium of promotion. Pakistani Media has gone through series of transitions during different decades, and so has the National identity with it, under governments of various dictators and politicians who had different sets of mind. This variety of ideologies left huge impact on the way how PTV portrayed Pakistan’s National Identity. In the first Decade the only real alliance between the people of Pakistan was, and has always been, that of "Islam". Urdu cinema has proved a useful tool to promote Pakistani culture especially with its base in Lahore giving rise to the notion of "Lollywood". Films like "Shaheed" or "Farangi" which deal with the anti-colonial struggle or "Anarkali" referring to the Mughal era are clearly made to enhance the feelings of a cultural identity. Later the medium was used by politicians as a tool for propaganda, mostly under the early martial law regime of Ayub Khan (1958-1969). Documentaries were produced to popularise the regime. Ayub Khan himself is presented in the documentary as the "hero" who eradicates corrupt politicians and saves the nation. After the modernization of identity under Bhutto’s “Populism” approach Pakistan underwent the second period of martial law in 1977, Zia-ul-Haq coloured the country’s identity into his radical Islamisation. It was an attempt to establish an Islamic national identity through media and Sharia laws. Musharraf raised the Nationalist slogan “Sab se pehlay Pakistan” which for many snubbed “Pakistan ka matla kya LA ILAHA ILL ALLAH”. The free media entered Pakistan like a flood and today there are many local and international channels in Pakistan with their own separate policies. The multiple definitions of National identity originating from variegated backgrounds at the same time are making it even more complex phenomenon. The field is very broad so, to avoid making it too complex, we will base this research on a case study of HUM TV’s drama “DAASTAN”. Why “DAASTAN” has been chosen for this research' Daastan is based on an old novel produced in modern times with the facility of contemporary media technology available in Pakistan. It proved to be a successful production that validates its impact and worth to be taken as model for our research. Hum TV stands as one of the leading entertainment channels of Pakistan today with a large viewership value. Another factor that lead me to choose the drama was its private sector background making it separate from the stereotypical portrayal of National identity produced by Pakistan Television. DAASTAN Dastaan is a Pakistani drama serial dramatized by Samira Fazal, and based on the novel "Bano," by Razia Butt. It is based on the Partition of India and the eventual creation of Pakistan. It takes place between 1947 and 1956. The drama depicts the story of Bano, a girl from a close knit Muslim family living in Ludhiana, located in the state of Punjab in the pre-1947 era. The story follows Bano and her fianceè, Hassan, as they face the trials and tribulations caused by the 1947 partition. The Heavy budget involvement is evident through grandeur of the production. Director Haissam Hussain is a seasoned media person. The drama is produced by Hum Television which is a private Pakistani entertaiment channel PLOT Based after the novel "Bano" Dastan begins with the wedding of Suraiya, Hassan's aunt and Bano's soon-to-be sister-in-law. She is engaged to Saleem, Bano's eldest brother. Hassan and Bano had not seen each other since they were children, and had no relationship whatsoever prior to Suraiya and Saleem's wedding. They slowly begin to develop feelings for each other, with Hassan visiting Ludhiana every now and then. Hassan is in his last year of studying to be an engineer at the Islamia College. He is an active supporter of the All-India Muslim League, and the leader of the Ludhiana Branch. He strongly believes in the establishment of Pakistan, and is an avid follower of Qauid-e-Azam, leader of the Muslim League and Pakistan Movement. Meanwhile, Bano's brother and Suraiya's husband, Saleem, is an active supporter of the Indian Congress, what with all his friends being Hindu, and believes that the establishment of Pakistan will not help, but rather lessen the position of Muslims in India. The political debate between Saleem and Hassan begins as friendly competition, but intensifies as conditions worsen throughout India for Muslims. Saleem, hot-tempered and rash, begins to bring political debates into family life, and eventually forbids Suraiya to visit Hassan or his mother Rasheeda, her only sister. But Hassan is not dissuaded. He continues to spread the message of Pakistan throughout Saleem's family, causing Saleem's anger to explode on many occasions. Hassan and Bano become engaged soon later, and Saleem decides to leave behind his rivalry with Hassan for Bano's sake. Soon, Hassan gets a job in Rawalpindi — which later became part of Pakistan and had no part in the pre-partition violence — and has to attend to it immediately. He and Rasheeda leave Ludhiana, with the promise that they will be back 5 months later for the wedding. But things don't turn out in their favor. As tensions between Hindus and Muslims rise, violence outbreaks all throughout India. Hate crimes against Muslims become common, and the fighting spreads all across India states, getting threateningly closer to Ludhiana every day. As the fighting becomes more pronounced, Muslims retaliate, leaving nobody safe. A rift begins to form between Saleem and his friends, and soon the entire family has to be locked in their home, unable to go out into the dangerous streets for fear of being killed or, in the women's case, losing their virtue. On a fateful night, a group of Sikhs and Hindus attacks the family's home, and Saleem and all men of the family are brutally murdered in a terrible massacre. The men and elder women of the home are killed, and the younger ones are either murdered or are carried away, presumably to be raped before killed. Here begins the ultimate story, as Bano travels throughout India on her quest to reach Pakistan. She comes across a Sikh man, who helps nurse her back to health after her first rape and the death of her mother. She also comes across Basant Singh, a Sikh man, and his mother who kidnap her from the train she is taking to Lahore, and keeps her in their home for 5 years. At first, Bano refuses to even tell Basant Singh her name, saying instead that he "doesn't deserve to say" her name. Basanta names her Sundar Kaur, or "beautiful princess," in Punjabi. He tells Bano that he will take her to Pakistan one day. Bano, mentally exhausted and with no options left, believes him. Nearly a year later, Basanta has not lived up to his promise, claiming that the roadways are still blocked and that traveling to Pakistan is too dangerous of a venture. Bano soon learns of his plan to convert her to Sikhism and marry her, and attempts to run away again. This time though, when Basanta catches her, he doesn't treat her gently as with the first time. He tries whatever method he can to break her; beating her, raping her, forcing her to become a Sikhni, marrying her, and in the end, having her give birth to his child. After many years, Bano manages to escape and finally make it to her beloved and Pakistan and back to Hassan, but her worries don't end here as she sees how radically different Pakistan is to the dreams she had seen about it. The Pakistan she had been dying to reach for 5 years, she realizes it is nothing like the speeches Hassan used to give about it. It is not a wonderful place like she had expected it to be, and slowly, Bano's mental condition worsens. Things get worse for Bano as she goes to her office one day to find that her boss is drunk, an action which is not allowed in Islam. Bano is horrified at his infidelity, and even more when he starts to call her "beautiful" and begins to undo her burqa. He snaps her mother's ta'wiz off her neck, and Bano has a flashback of her former life, and the struggles she and her mother faced. Losing her mind, she grabs a box opening knife and stabs her boss with it in a moment of panic until he dies. She grabs the ta'wiz out of his hand and holds it up in front of her, having a flashback of when she had done the same when her mother died. Bano goes to Hassan's home, where his wedding with Rabia is about to take place, covered in blood. She says to him in hysteria, "Mainay iss pak sar zameen ko pak kardiya. Mainay Basanta ko mardiya. Ab yahan koi Basanta nahi. (I have killed Basanta. I have made this Pakistan clean. Now there's no Basanta here anymore. Main Characters • Bano (Sanam Baloch ) sister of Saleem and Faheem, fianceé of Hassan and main protagonist of the story. Bano is shown at the beginning of the drama as a typical 1940's girl— innocent, obedient of her parents, and extremely shy when it comes to men. She had been educated up until the tenth grade. Bano was perhaps the character most impacted by the violence caused during the partition. Her condition after the traumatic events and her arrival in Pakistan becomes "worse than death." • Hassan (Fawad Khan) is an engineer because his mother had wished that he follow the same career path as his father. Hassan was portrayed as a slightly less traditional boy then was common in the 1940's. He was madly in love with Bano, so much so that he refused to look at even the shadow of a woman after her assumed death, in the fear that he would be cheating on her memory. • Rabia (Mehreen Raheel) daughter of Sultana, and a headstrong girl nearly a decade younger than Bano and Hassan. Rabia is in a different generation than the two protagonists, and she is shown as less traditional and more modern than the pair. She is a typical 1950's girl, headstrong and easily convinced. Long after Bano’s assumed death Hassan begins to like Rabia, and is engaged to her with the relaxation that he does not, and never will, love her as much as Bano, and that she is just the anchor that will keep him grounded to his life now that he no longer has anyone to live for. • Saleem (Ahsan Khan) is Bano’s brother who is a Muslim but rejects Two Nation Theory as member of Indian Congress. He prefers his Hindu friends on Hassan. Eventually when the riots arise at partition he realizes he was wrong and gets brutally murdered along with his family. • Basant Singh (Babrik Shah) is one of the Sikhs involved in massacre. Basanta kidnaps Bano and takes her to his home to convert her and marry her. She refuses and attempts to run away many times, resulting in him beating her and forcefully marrying her. Bano is forced to live in his home for 5 years, being beaten and raped nearly everyday. Basanta slipped off the roof of his home 5 years later, freeing Bano from her capture. After reaching Paksitan for Bano “Basanta” becomes a metaphor of social evils prevailing in Pakistan. • Rasheeda (Saba Hameed) Rashida and Bano's relationship was very loving at the beginning of the drama, and Rashida was very happy to have Bano become her daughter-in-law. After the massacre and the five-year period where Rashida and Hassan presumed Bano to be dead, their relationship hits very dangerous waters. Rashida is, against her better judgement, repulsed by the fact that her son wishes to marry a woman who has been raped countless times, lived in the home of a Sikh man for five years, and has a son that Hassan would be required to take care of. She momentarily forgets that Bano suffered all these traumas in the name of Pakistan. Rashida's cold behavior towards Bano is one of the factors that causes Bano to flee Hassan's home after he brings her there. • Suraiya (Saba Qamar ) Suraiya and Bano were best friends since childhood, and became sister-in-laws just around the beginning of the drama. Their friendship carried on even after Suraiya was wed to Bano's brother Saleem. Suraiya died in the massacre that took the life of most of Bano's family members. Suriaya portrayed the character of a shy girl of pre-partition era when women were even shy to express love to their husbands openly. • Bibi Ji (Samina Peerzada) the mother of Bano. She was potrayed as an innocent and very simple middle aged women of pre-partition era whose whole world is limited within the protected walls of her house and family. Massacre fall as a trauma on her where she witnesses carnage of her family in front of her eyes. She tries to kill Bano by strangling her to death to save her honour but cant due to mother love. Eventually while travelling in a Muhajir Carvan they face an episode of massacre and looses her life after getting raped. • Musarrat (Shazia Afgan) takes Bano home when she leaves Hassan’s home. Musarrat belongs to a lower class family of Pakistan and has to bear difficulties being a victom of all social evils that Bano cannot stand. Bano refers her as “Bicharay Ghareeb Awam” of Pakistan who cannot raise voice for their rights as cowards. Research questions: • How Pakistani media is developing the sense of national identity' • Is Audio-Visual a better medium of depicting National Identity than any other form' • What are the anticipations and reaction’s of the audience when they receive their depicted National Identity' • How does audience identify with the portrayed characters in the National image' • Can a topic like National Identity sustain its importance in today’s trends og globalization and consumerism' Objectives of the study: • In this difficult time for Pakistan where there are many conflicts are taking place under the label of identity crisis among ethnic groups and provinces, my aim of the study is to find a way how media should promote national identity as tool for unity. • Another objective of the study is to measure the stability of National Identity created by local Pakistani media in this era of globalization where culture is rapidly changing because of the bombardment of other international channels. • This study will find out the factors that directly or indirectly effect the way audiences of a programme perceive theirselves as one Nation. Significance of the study: • In the field of mass communication this research will help us to understand the phenomenon of constructing National Identity through media in Pakistan & its affect on the people living in or outside Pakistan. • This study will help us to understand the meaning of national identity and the factors media persons should know to develop a better way of its promotion. • This study will definitely help to understand exactly what audience wishes to see in a programme promoting National Identity and to what extent media should give importance to national identity. RESULTS Daastan based on an old novel tries to define National identity as it was shaped in pre-partition era. It’s insistently based on Islamic grounds which are quite debatable in the new context of Terrorism we are facing today. Especially after Musharraf’s regime the topic has become rather controversial. But the response of the audiences was immensely appreciative. In Today’s context when we perceive Pakistan as a failed state the drama deals with the old theme of National Identity giving it a completely new meaning. It promotes the morale we have lost as Pakistanis and successfully heightens self-image with self-respect. Through my research I got to know that most of my informers wanted to see themselves through reflection of their own media. Locally produced media products are better appreciated if the quality is maintained. Local media boosts National Ego and National Identity is received warmly through them. The Pakistanis living outside Pakistan are even more appreciative towards quality media products of Pakistan. There were various comments that support this finding of my research that Overseas Pakistani stay in pursuit of Pakistan dramas to identify themselves with their own culture. There were many comments which were against Star plus which in their opinion tends to distort our society’s moral value. The sense of morality and ethics of the culture it comes from is strikingly different form Pakistani culture. Moreover as a product of completely consumerist philosophy the soaps of India can’t match the quality of Pakistan drama industry with their cheap themes (as I assumed through comments). There is no doubt that Indian soaps have a grand market in Pakistan but still the intellectual level they present is low and criticized. This finding rejects the concept that audience only anticipates glamour. Though glamour can be used as an additional feature to make an intellectual product sellable but it’s not the only factors that Sells. Further I observed that many of the viewers were more inspired by the stardom of the actors in the starting episode and their star value seemed to dominate their characters but with build up of the story the audience became more interested in the theme i.e. National Identity. So much so that the tale of romance started to annoy the viewers as a distraction. Patriotism is emerging itself as a product. It sells and the reactions I have observed testify this result that themes like National Identity have their own place and value which can be used as major tool for its own promotion. We as a human beings need to identify ourselves with our communities and the programmes with patriotic themes give us a sense of collectivity which is highly appreciated. Audio-Visual leaves a deeper impact on receivers mind so the National theme, events or moral values which my informers had already read in schools and other text books could not leave them as emotional as they felt while watching this drama. Its heavy budget production added the value of intensity to it. Low quality productions directly affect the perception of the audience at they start loosing interest in the topic itself. Hence boring presentation leads to an impression to the viewers mind the theme is boring as it has happened to National identity as it is portrayed on PTV. Cliché is mostly not appreciated in field of media but I observed that viewers of the play were anticipating characters that were stereotypical and clichéd. Viewers tended to identify more with the gestures and items that were quite hackneyed. It seems that Pakistani audience perceives its identity frozen in time. The culture has changed a lot now but we don’t appreciate that we have changed as a Nation. Old is gold type of trend was quite noticeable when my informers were appreciating old customs and styles. Its was quite surprising for me to notice that in such a patriotic themed drama I could hardly find an emblem of Pakistani national identity which I expected to find. Image of Qauid e Azam was displayed only once in the whole serial of 23 episodes. Pakistani Flag wasn’t shown even once though the atmosphere was quite full of patriotism. Then I realized that it is not necessary that any indicator of National Identity should be physically present on the screen. At times the physically displayed National symbol fails to arouse Patriotic emotions independantly. The indicator is emotionally significant only when it’s depicted within a context e.g. a dying soldier raising the flag. Bano recites “Pakistan Zindabad” on Tasbeeh after she is convinced that she has cleaned her country from evils like Basanta. The emotional value of the slogan increases a lot. The reaction of the audiences to such an emotional National indicator is collectively Patriotic. Another important factor that I discovered through my research was the power of intangible culture versus tangible culture. As I have mentioned earlier that most of the anticipated National emblems were not shown on screen but still the writer and director was successful in forcing the audience to identify with their Identity. Bano talks repeatedly about moral values and behavior patterns that we should have as Pakistanis rather than the way we dress up or eat. She advocates the Philosophy that brings us together as a Nation. So National Identity is also intangible. Bano rejects every Pakistani as a foreigner who doesn’t fall fit on her definition. A Pakistani is brave, honest, sincere, promotes brotherhood and rejects inequality etc. or else through Bano the writer decides to declare him Basanta (the villain). To understand clearly “what we are” we tend to describe “what we are not”. The media using the psychology creates or can create better sense of National Identity. The theme of Two Nation Theory was clearly advocated in the story. The viewers tended to approve and appreciate it. Where a member of a nation accepts everything common as his national identity, the common enemy is also used as a factor of commonness. The portrayal of massacre at Partition arouses hatred for Hindus and Sikhs. This common hatred gives National identity its way to members of Pakistani Nation. In current scenario Muslim are fighting against Muslims which creates confusions so the drama portraying a common enemy successfully portrays its patriotic theme. Common Tragedy is another very important factor that can play a major role in the creation of National Identity. The scenes of massacre heightens Patriotic emotions. We share the pain of what Bano goes through. The trauma she goes through effects everyone of us because we identify with her as one of our Nation. The Patriotic reactions of the viewers were highest at the scenes which dealt with the pain and shocks Bano receives. So it can be concluded that common tragedy can be used as a strong factor by Media. At times objects that are not directly related can stand out as symbols of National identity e.g. the way Bano reacts to the Train of Pakistan Railway after arriving Pakistan is quite obvious. So in new context new symbols can add to the list National Identity emblems. Frequency of comments filled with Patriotic emotions kept changing through out the Serial. It was highest at points where National identity was depicted through tragic episodes. Post-Partition Pakistan was depicted quite differently from the way it was portrayed in starting episodes. The architecture of the residential house reflected Colonial impact which wasn’t the case in the portion related to pre-partition. Bano used to live in a house which was full of Arches but Rabia’s house reflected western influence. Bano behaved in a shy manner as a young girl of 40’s where Rabia was headstrong and free unlike bano and Surriya. Rabia openly went for outings with Hassan alone which Bano couldn’t even imagine of. The way Rabia dressed up and carried herself seemed influenced by the film industry of that time. Thus reflecting that media had already started to reshape the society, by creating its new identity rather than reflecting the original one. The elite culture seemed to prevail more openly rather than the culture of middle class Muslim household. It was a observed collectively my informant and me. Another observation related to Pre-Partition era is that its seemed excessively male dominated. The woman were depicted oppressed and overloaded with jewelry within the boundries of their own houses. Surayyi was forced to obey her husband and ironically none of the viewers seemed to mind it. One thing that disturbed me a lot personally was the overwhelming dominance of Urdu. Bano belonged to Ludhiana essentially a Punjabi region but the language the performers were using was refined Urdu that is used only by Urdu speaking families. Even the way they behaved was so much identical to culture of Urdu speaking families that they hardly seemed Punjabis. This disturbing factor is a clue that at times National identity tends to snub the regional culture so much that it instigates clashes. Separation of East Pakistan is one of the examples. This distorts the National Identity itself as of a tool of oppression. Thus Media should be careful while using Identity themes. Its wrong promotion can instigate adverse reaction. In the end I would like to comment on the reactions by viewers which were seemingly Humanistic. While promoting the humanistic elements like universal love and harmony we unintentionally tend to demean the value of National identity and its themes. This finding may seem strange but through various comments and my own introspective view I concluded that when we talk about collective humanity we loose the sense of separate nations which consequently effect negatively on the reactions towards National Identity themes. CONCLUSION The conclusion of this study is that National identity can prove itself as popular theme which majority of audiences tends to appreciate. The production quality of software directly affects the theme itself so the producer should be aware of his own capacity before taking up the challenge of its promotion. National Identity can be reflected indirectly with its intangible factors so it doesn’t need to be portrayed physically or literally. Daastan advocates patterns of behavior as a national image. New symbols can add to it as the context changes making National Identity an every changing phenomenon, ironically it’s not the way it is anticipated. Pakistani audience appreciate Daastan with its theme even more because it was set in a time period which presents an image we tend to identify with as nation. Pakistani viewers wish to see himself in the mirror of his own local media so media industry has great chances to flourish with national themes. Pakistanis outside their homeland tend to identify themselves more with their own culture through media. Media should be careful and act responsible in the portrayal of National identity as it should not seem to overwhelm or snub a regional identity factor. Due to the intellectual content and themes Pakistani dramas are conceived are better than Indian soaps hence making it an opportunity for media to promote national identity more successfully.