Amir Liaquat’s show, Subah Pakistan, showcases the epitome of bigotry and jahalat at its peak. The infamous hate preacher, who now has a documented history of promoting terrorism and extremist views.
Source/Credit: Pakistan Today
By Nimra Khan | January 1, 2014
The Amir Liaquats need to go
In a country where we flock to the television like rats to pied piper, the media carries a huge responsibility. It perhaps plays an even more pivotal role in Pakistan where the high illiteracy rate, minds moulded by years of misinterpreted religious guidelines and backwards, claustrophobic societal norms, need to be dealt with caution. The onslaught of information as it pours out from talk shows and preachers make easy targets of impressionable minds. Sky-high ratings of such programmes are a great indication of their outreach. They yield the power to prey on sensitivities of an audience that is easily blinded by undue fury and misguided thoughts whipping them towards knee-jerk reactions.
Luqman Ahad Shehzad, a member of the Ahmadi religious minority, was shot in the back of the head near Bhiri Shah Rehman village, a small community of Ahmadis in the Gujranwala district last Saturday, five days after Amir Liaquat, a Pakistani politician and broadcaster denounced Ahmadis on his popular television show. Shehzad marks the eleventh person killed for being an Ahmadi in Pakistan this year.
Amir Liaquat’s show, Subah Pakistan, showcases the epitome of bigotry and jahalat at its peak. The infamous hate preacher, who now has a documented history of promoting terrorism and extremist views, stated on the show, “Ahmadi Muslims and Jews are the enemies of Pakistan” and “the culprits behind the Peshawar attack”. The programme additionally alleged that Ahmadi Muslims are the “common enemy of all sects of Islam” and are “enemies of Pakistan responsible for various terrorism plots against Pakistanis”. The power of the media and the ability of this intellectually challenged man, with a libido for ratings at any cost, to influence people can be seen in the fact that a man was killed. An innocent man was robbed off his life by ignorant members of the society who have been made to believe that ethnic and religious cleansing is their responsibility. Moreover, in a country where the ridiculous blasphemy laws are being unjustly used to target minorities, such statements, especially coming from a media and religious personality, must be severely punished.
Let’s delve into Mr Liaquat’s history a bit, shall we?
In 2008, he vehemently declared that Ahmadi Muslims are wajib-ul-qatal i.e., that “it is obligatory to kill Ahmadis” on his show. In the days following that, extremists in Pakistan confessed to murdering two prominent Ahmadi Muslim leaders in response to Liaquat’s demand.
Furthering misguidance and propagating extremist views by attributing religious superstition to sports, on 29 January, 2010, he claimed that the recent losses of the Pakistani team in cricket matches were due to the fact that their new shoe soles were green. With green being the colour of Pakistani flag and the dome of Muhammad’s (PBUH) tomb, the green soles were supposedly disrespectful towards Islam and apparently the team was being divinely punished. He further claimed that it was a matter of faith. This is a perfect example of how such people manage to drag religion into every facet of society. They spew intolerance and extremist narrative, wreaking havoc everywhere.
From instigating terrorism to unduly shoving mangoes down people’s throats while smearing it all over their faces in a highly derogatory manner, Amir Liaquat is eating away at the fragile intellect of our society. He must be stopped. I highly condemn Geo TV for allowing such material to be run and for having such a man leading one of their shows. The fact that this show actually propelling members of the community to go out and take lives and is one of the highest rated shows stands testimony to the notion that our masses are being heavily brainwashed and led astray. Furthermore, these are acts of terrorism and given the current sensitive state of the country, they need to be condemned publically and outlawed immediately.
It is beyond my comprehension how he has been able to flourish for so long in this industry but having said that, the same can be said for many of our politicians and most things in this country that will probably go beyond our collective comprehension. As Geo TV has revealed itself, the media does not have the respect or standards to properly assume responsibility and manage such shows by curtailing such extremist narrative. PEMRA seems to be asleep, as was expected. But you and I cannot stay quiet on this anymore. We, as a nation, have to step out and start playing our part as the common man is the one targeted, not the VIPs and certainly not the politicians that are cushioned by their entourage of policemen and bodyguards.
Everyone should boycott Amir Liaquat and any show of his that springs up. Pressure needs to be put on PEMRA and Geo TV to shut him down and be made an example of so that the rest know they can no longer continue infecting the society that already needs to saw off many gangrened parts. Amir Liaquat needs to be punished and banished from the public eye, as should anyone promoting or supporting extremism in our society.
Read original post here: Preaching for points
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