Pakistani Drama Breaks Silence On Blasphemy Killings

An axe-wielding mob chases a terrified group; a daring Pakistani tv drama has for the primary time tackled the deeply delicate concern of the handfuls murdered for alleged blasphemy.

Islam is the official faith in Muslim-majority Pakistan, and accusations of insulting spiritual sentiments can simply incite mob violence.

Blasphemy is an incendiary cost, and the difficulty is never mentioned by main media broadcasters because of safety considerations.

However producer Sultana Siddiqui challenged that with an 11-part tv drama, which has earned reward because it started airing in December for dealing with a taboo matter with sensitivity.

“This concern has not been raised earlier than due to worry,” Siddiqui, founding father of the Hum Community media firm, advised AFP.

Her drama “Tan Man Neelo Neel”, or “Bruises on Physique and Soul”, tells the tales of individuals in a small Pakistani city, and has generated thousands and thousands of views and widespread reward on social media.

“I took the danger in a cautious method,” she mentioned. “That is why folks appreciated it.”

Within the drama, the case of blasphemy centres round a personality who falsely claims a dance efficiency takes place in a mosque, slightly than the deserted mansion it occurred in.

That storyline of false allegations is an echo of actuality.

Pakistan’s impartial Human Rights Fee, in a report final month, described the “impunity for perpetrators of hate and violence”.

It detailed circumstances of individuals killed, and followers and locations of worship of Pakistan’s minority religions, together with Christians and Hindus, being attacked over false claims.

“Regulation enforcement… have typically did not rescue blasphemy suspects from vigilante violence,” the fee mentioned.

“A cautious examination of varied blasphemy allegations exhibits that these are invariably primarily based on fabrications, malicious disinformation and pretend information.”

Siddiqui mentioned she was motivated by a 2017 case within the metropolis of Mardan when a mob beat 23-year-old journalism scholar Mashal Khan to loss of life after accusing him of posting blasphemous content material on-line.

“I could not sleep after listening to Mashal’s mom say that ‘not a single bone in his physique was left unbroken — even his finger bones have been fractured’,” she mentioned.

“I stored questioning: How brutally should they’ve overwhelmed him?”

Mohammad Iqbal, the murdered scholar’s father, mentioned that the producer had chosen the “proper matter” and had “honoured his son”.

“We, these most affected, have not often spoken about it publicly,” he advised AFP.

“Ultimately, this dialog is occurring on tv”.

Siddiqui mentioned she had lengthy needed to deal with the difficulty and had been rigorously collaborating with fellow administrators and writers to deal with the subject material appropriately.

“I, too, worry extremists who may not like me and will hurt me,” she mentioned.

“Nevertheless, I imagine we must always tackle these points with them in a respectful method.”

Siddiqui mentioned it was her “obligation to teach folks” and “increase consciousness about essential social points” that affect society.

Pakistani dramas boast a large viewership and their recognition serves as a robust car for social change.

A Gallup survey carried out in October 2023 instructed that two-fifths of the nation watch dramas.

“We must always have spoken about such points a lot earlier,” mentioned Mustafa Afridi, the author of the present.

“If we had, maybe we would not be on this state of affairs right now, maybe our youngsters would not be dying.”

Pakistan’s media business has been cautious of the subject — and fallen foul previously of accusations of making blasphemous content material.

The discharge of the 2019 award-winning movie “Zindagi Tamasha”, or “Circus of Life”, was halted after the Islamist celebration Tehreek-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) objected to its portrayal of a cleric they deemed “blasphemous”.

In 2020, a music video shot at Lahore’s Wazir Khan mosque sparked livid protests after singer Bilal Saeed was filmed dancing with actor Saba Qamar.

Police filed a case in opposition to them, and so they apologised — and have been finally acquitted two years later.

Arafat Mazhar, the director of the Alliance Towards Blasphemy Politics group, mentioned Siddiqui’s present had “sparked a viral critique of blasphemy-related mob violence”.

He referred to as the response “unprecedented”.

“It wasn’t simply that individuals have been watching a drama about mob violence — it was that the dialog centred on mob violence at such a big scale for the primary time,” he advised AFP.

“The battle in opposition to blasphemy violence is not only about talking out in opposition to mob killings. It’s about difficult the buildings that create and maintain them”.