Earlier this week, videos of LUMS University students from their “Bollywood Day”, which served as one of the university’s farewell festivities for the senior class, went viral. Students were seen dressed up as their favorite Hindi movie characters, chanting famous catchphrases and creating going-away memories.
An offense to the Pakistani culture?
Although the event was meant to promote cultural exchange and understanding, many Pakistanis perceived it as a promotion of Indian culture and an offense to their own.
Initially, the LUMS Photography Club (photolums) posted a compilation of the event on Tik Tok which instantly went viral on the internet and divided the netizens. On the one side, many expressed their interest in being part of such a vibrant event while outraged viewers of the video sharply opposed the students’ choice of celebrating a day dedicated to characters from an industry notorious for producing anti-Pakistan material.
From influential personalities to keyboard warriors, many expressed their opinions in their own manner.
Motivational speaker and columnist Malik Ali posted an enraged video stating Indians will question what Pakistanis have compared to their IT Universities that produce the best IT experts and we will tell them we have a university like LUMS which is recently promoting Bollywood movies that look down upon our country in a lot of their media narratives
Here’s how Malik Ali shared his opinion
ہمارے پاس LUMS ہے ۔۔۔ 🥺🤦♂️#lums pic.twitter.com/PHM20bwqCf
— Pakistani Malik Ali (@pakmalikali) February 19, 2023
Angry journalist Imran Afzal Raja took to Twitter to express his extreme dislike toward the video
یہ ادارہ LUMS پورے پاکستان سے کوئی الگ ہی نسل پیدا کر رہا ہے ۔۔
خیر جن کے اساتذہ ہود بھائی اور ندا کرمانی جیسے ہوں وہاں ایسی ہی آئٹمیں نکلیں گی ۔۔
pic.twitter.com/d0Rts7ek01— Imran Afzal Raja (@ImranARaja1) February 19, 2023
Adding to the opposition against this controversial day at LUMS, Twitteratis also joined in on the criticism.
Check out this sarcastic tweet
پاکستان کی سب سے الیٹ یونیورسٹی LUMS جس نے بہت بڑی تعداد میں یوتھیے پیدا کئیے وہاں انڈین تہذیب کا فروغ جاری بالی وڈ ویک منایا جا رہا مناظر آپ خود دیکھ لیجئے
ہمیں کہا جاتا یورپ میں بچوں کو آزاد ماحول سے کیسے بچاتے جبکہ ریاست مدینہ میں اسلامی ماحول آپکے سامنے ہے🤦🏽 pic.twitter.com/RGF9VUuRPl— RAShahzaddk (@RShahzaddk) February 19, 2023
Coming on too strong
IQBAL k shaheen 🙈
— Aadil J 🍁 (@Aaadil4u) February 19, 2023
“Pakistan failed to implement sharia law (religious law) because no one wants it including the educated younger generations. People just talk about sharia and religion all the time in Pakistan” –a Twitter user commented.
Also read: https://gazettenow.com/fawad-khan-sanam-saeed-barzakh-premiered-film-festival-france/
Among the sheer criticism, some even showed their support for the students. Check out below:
A reply to behold?
Bachpan main pyar nai mila aap ko bhai. Let young people live and breathe.
— Ghazi Taimoor (@ghazi_taimoor) February 19, 2023
Shama Junejo, a political scientist also extended support and gave her two cents on Twitter questioning the criticism over the festive day at LUMS
“I loved the fun they had”
These kids only celebrated Bollywood Day, I loved the fun they had. What’s wrong in it? Let them live a few happy years of their lives before they are trapped in mundane situations of of practical life when in jobs. #LUMS pic.twitter.com/VkuomvlDnR
— Shama Junejo (@ShamaJunejo) February 19, 2023
Shehzad Ghias Shaikh, a well-known podcast host and stand-up comedian, backed up his point of view on Twitter by providing images from other well-known colleges throughout the world where students celebrate such peculiar days as well.
The comparison is uncanny
Priscilla Ball at Harvard Business School, Caesarian Sunday at Cambridge , Christmas Party at Oxford and Freakfest at University of Wisconson-Madison.
Universities aren't prisons. Students can't be studying 24/7 on campus. They're allowed to have fun too.
#LUMS #LUMSU pic.twitter.com/BzajPpdmWH
— Shehzad Ghias Shaikh (@Shehzad89) February 20, 2023
A sad and disappointed youngster also stated in his tweet and he speaks for the majority of youth here about the extreme hatred and criticism over anything fun in Pakistan
Unpopular opinion but LUMS is in the wrong here with the Bollywood day thing. We are living in Pakistan, we are not supposed to have any fun, just meltdowns over Twitter and killing random people for baseless charges.
Joy is a sin
— Daniyal Naqvi (@TambourineManDN) February 19, 2023
“Live and let live” is the statement, long lost among the majority of people in this country
Idk why people are getting furious at this "bollywood day" in LUMS. Being a 90's kid, I enjoyed bollywood for a major chunk of my life while Syed Noor Pakistan was busy making Saima and Shan dance wierdly in crops, so I'm not sorry if we relate more to bollywood characters.
— Usama (@Thebiryanihead) February 20, 2023
The university has not yet issued an official comment addressing the matter, but many Pakistanis are calling on LUMS to apologize and hold the students involved accountable.
While there is little motivation among our youth to stay and help our educational institutions and lead the country out of this economic and political upheaval, being overly harsh on every aspect might not be the way.
What do you think of Bollywood Day? Let us know in the comments section below!
