Pakistan has been paying a heavy price since it was dragged into the war on terror in 2001. Not many people can give a clear answer to who's doing what or what's going on in Pakistan today.
But "Khuda Khay Liye" (In the name of God), a Pakistani Urdu film, provides the answer. The film with English sub titles was the curtain raiser at the two-day Pakistan Film Festival held on Friday and Saturday at the National Film Corporation auditorium.
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| Pakistan High Commissioner Seema Ilahi Baloch |
"We worship in the name of God; we seek mercy in the name of God; we ask for our daily bread in the name of God; we give and we forgive in the name of God; But should we also kill in the name of God? That is the question this film will attempt to answer, this evening," said Pakistan High Commissioner Seema Ilahi Baloch introducing the film to the invitees at the opening of the film festival.
She said she hoped this film by Shoaib Mansoor would help the audience to get a perspective of an average moderate Pakistani family on the global war on terror - "a war which is being fought on the territory of Afghanistan but with grave consequences for Pakistan."
"This movie is about two young men suffering the impact of the war on terrorism. Pakistan as some of you may know has been thrust into the frontline of the war on terror since 1979. When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, Pakistan's territory was used to wage a holy war or a jihad against the Soviets.
The essence of jihad as our holy book, the Quran states, is the struggle within us, the war within us to overcome the evil within us. That is the real jihad. And when the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989 and the Berlin Wall fell, the West also withdrew its support from the jihad. Afghanistan descended into chaos. The Mujahideen or those fighting the war gave birth to a second generation of warriors, called the Taliban. Pakistan, barely recovering from the war with the Soviets, with 3 million Afghan refugees on its soil, was once more thrust into the front line after the tragic incident of 9/11."
She further remarked that "the men who crashed the planes into the Twin Towers were neither Pakistanis nor Afghanis. Yet Afghanistan was attacked and Pakistan was forced to co-operate. We did not ask for this war. We know just as you know with your experience of war and its atrocities that war destroys a nation - physically, and spiritual."
The high commissioner urged the audience to open their hearts and minds to look beyond the film, "because the victims of this war are real, their suffering is real; their loss of dignity is real. Only then, will we understand that the many faiths, the many civilizations, the many nations of this world must unite in the name of God, and not kill in the name of God."
The 2007 film won positive reviews in many countries and was a huge commercial success in both Pakistan and India. |
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