Pashtoon Culture misrepresentation in TV

news-details

Khadija abbas
Hyderabad: 12 June 2022: I remember as a child, most of the verbal 'jokes' cracked in classrooms involved mockery of Pathans, deeming them stupid. After years of hearing 'Naswaar' jokes, the bar has now permanently been set by our media to portray Pakhtuns as aggressive, violent, female-dominating, almost profiled as terror¡sts. Every other drama depicts actors from other provinces murder¡ng Pakhtun accent by their Gulabi Urdu, men carrying guns everywhere, disrespecting women, extremist representation of Jirga system, casual mention of Gagh and aggressive way of conversation in regular setting. The list is not exhaustive. Without denying that every province requires improvement, it is sad that one community is particularly targeted & misrepresented as some Jahil clan. When in reality, the literacy rate in KPK, saw the maximum growth in 20-21! Moreover, Punjab has the highest rate of r*pe and honour k¡llings, yet the dramas mostly stereotype Pashtun in this regard. Pashtun are one of the most courageous, self-respecting and kind people to know. They are NOT represented by these British Asian actors but the real life heroes like Rehman Baba, Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Malalai of Maiwand. Our Pakhtun brothers are not life takers, but are like Aitzaz Hasan, who sacrificed himself to save hundreds! It is NOT ok to misguide the next generation like that. As a Punjabi, I don't wish to see my Pakhtun brothers and sisters bear this profiling anymore!

  • Share

You can share this post!