I see Bollywood as a connection to home. It lately sees me as a villain
CBC
This First Person column is the experience of Haroon Khalid who immigrated from Pakistan to Toronto. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.
I was in third grade when I first heard my Islamiyat teacher in school declare "All Hindus will go to hell."
As a writer who has written extensively about religious minority rights in Pakistan and explored the role education can play in demonizing these minorities, I am no longer surprised by the statement.
Many have pointed out the anti-Hindu bias in the current Pakistani education curriculum. Unfortunately, the situation on the other side of the border is not much better, with anti-Muslim discourse finding its way into the Indian education system.
But these are all points I was unaware of as a child. I just remember finding the statement hard to believe.
So, I raised my hand and asked innocently, "All Hindus? Even Amitabh Bachchan and Kishore Kumar?"
Growing up in Lahore, Pakistan in the late '80s and '90s meant growing up with the Indian film industry.
Back then, Bachchan was the biggest Indian film actor at the time — worshipped in India and Pakistan alike — while Kishore Kumar was a playback singer who sang for many Bachchan's movies.
Technically Bollywood films were banned in Pakistan but they were everywhere. You could rent out the video cassettes wrapped in brown envelopes. If you didn't have a VCR, you could also rent one for the night.
Like most other Pakistanis of that time, I grew up with Bachchan and Kumar in my home. They were not the other, unknown, Hindu population of India, but rather the Hindu celebrities whom I loved. I could not imagine them going to hell, but my teacher disagreed.
"Yes, they too," she said.
As an adult, my relationship today with the Indian film industry is more complicated — especially now that I have immigrated to Canada.
I still thoroughly enjoy Indian films and am eager to catch new releases. In fact, in some ways my relationship with Bollywood has strengthened since moving to Canada. They become a way for me to connect with my childhood, my family, and even Pakistan.
This connection was deepened during the COVID lockdowns. My Friday evenings were and still are reserved for Indian films. The sights and sounds of movies shot in Delhi, Mumbai or other cities of India take me right back to my home in Lahore, or remind me of Karachi and other smaller cities in Pakistan.
Intelligence regarding foreign interference sometimes didn't make it to the prime minister's desk in 2021 because Canada's spy agency and the prime minister's national security adviser didn't always see eye to eye on the nature of the threat, according to a recent report from one of Canada's intelligence watchdogs.