Bilal passed away a day from his birthday as he would have been 32 on August 15. He was currently acting in Hum TV serial ‘Dastaan’. He previously acted in ATV’s serial ‘Pal Bhar Mein’. Bilal Khan also acted in some Pakistani movies. His first movie was ‘Pehla Sajda’ released in 2002.

Aamir Liaquat Hussain is a well known politician and broadcaster from Karachi. He is also former State Minister for Religious Affairs and anchored the popular TV program ‘Aalim Online’ on Geo TV. Aamir Liaquat Hussain was born on July 5, 1971 at Karachi. Aamir Liaquat Hussain contested 2002 general election under the supervision of Pervez Musharraf, and the platform of his affiliated party Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

DM Digital Television Limited – run by disgraced former lawyer Liaqat Malik – was slammed by media watchdog Ofcom for ‘seriously and repeatedly’ breaching advertising rules. Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s interior minister, was Founding President of DM Digital Network but he resigned after his appointment as Advisor/Minister to the Prime Minister for Interior.

The TV channel, on Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester city centre, was rapped for airing an advert for a spiritual healer called Professor Mohammed Zain.

An investigation was launched by the Advertising Standards Authority after a social worker of a viewer – who approached Professor Zain after seeing the advert – complained to Manchester trading standards.

The viewer paid £1,510 to the professor over two occasions for help in finding a partner, the ASA found.

She claimed he told her to credit his account with £110 and to pray for one week and then call him back.

When she did this, the ASA said, Prof Zain asked her to credit his bank account with a further £1,400 and in return he would find her ‘a prince’. The viewer transferred the money – but no prince appeared.

The ASA ruled that the advert – broadcast in February 2009 – breached national codes because it was ‘misleading’, likely to exploit the vulnerable and represented advice to individuals, based on psychic or faith-based practices for personal problems.

Ofcom hit the company with the £17,500 fine in the light of the investigation.

An Ofcom spokesman said the breach was ‘serious’ as the broadcast had ‘resulted in actual financial harm to a vulnerable person’.

It is the latest controversy to hit the digital station, which broadcasts mainly in Urdu to the Asian community.

According to the station’s website, its chief executive and chairman is the ‘highly experienced entrepreneur’ Liaqat Malik, whose career ‘spans over 25 years across various disciplines including legal, educational and teaching professions’.

Mr Malik was struck off by a Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal in July 2004 after an M.E.N undercover investigation revealed he had a criminal record for dishonesty and had previously been officially disciplined and banned from practising as a solicitor.

As part of our operation we were able to show he was prepared to help a self-confessed bogus asylum seeker.

We also spoke to a refugee who paid out thousands of pounds for advice he could have been given for free elsewhere.

In September 2007, seven men were arrested in an illegal immigration swoop on his TV company. Two houses in Cheetham Hill were also searched as part of the operation by immigration officials.

The TV station, whose website boasts it broadcasts to 168 countries with a viewership of 17.2m, was also fined £15,000 in October 2008 for breaching the broadcasting code over its programme Health Is Wealth. The show contained claims by a sponsor that he was able to successfully treat serious medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes and hepatitis. Officials said it raised ‘serious concerns about viewer harm’.

After the latest fine was handed out, DM Digital’s general manager Mahzar Bukhari said the penalty was ‘excessive’ and denied they had intended to mislead viewers.

He told the sources: “The advert was about spiritual healing – that’s allowed in Islam. It’s more of a cultural issue that that they (Ofcom) don’t understand. It’s a very excessive fine. I don’t know what basis they chose a fine of £17,500. There’s nothing wrong with what we did – we did not mislead anybody.”

The Ofcom spokesman said: “[This] breach occurred as a result of repeated long-term and systemic compliance failures on the behalf of the broadcaster.

“DM Digital had demonstrated a repeated failure to keep up to date with ASA adjudications and guidance and had failed to respond to the deterrent of a financial penalty previously placed upon it by the Sanctions Committee in 2008 for failing to protect members of the public.”

The meeting resolved that the two sole representative bodies of broadcasters and cable distributors in
the country would work together to promote Pakistani channels within the country.

Both sides agreed that illegal foreign Direct-To-Home (DTH) should not be allowed in the country, and reaffirmed their commitment to closely liaison with each other to compete effectively with the illegal competition from abroad.

It was decided that the PBA and the CAP would put a system in place to ensure that only the correct version of the CAP news releases would be broadcast in order to end the existing confusion prevailing at present.

The CAP members committed not to off-air any PBA member channel on verbal instructions from any source.

Justice Manzoor Ahmed Malik of LHC’s Rawalpindi bench asked petitioner Usama Khalid, son of Khalid Khawaja, to use the legal option of filing a private complaint against journalist Hamid Mir.

The petitioner through his lawyer Ayyaz Ahmed Khan Sial had said that the station house officer of Shalimar police in Islamabad was bound under the law to register the case against Mr Mir but he had refused to do so.

While disposing of the petition, the judge observed that the petitioner could use the option of moving the court through a private complaint.

Citing the SHO and a sub-inspector of Shalimar police as respondents, the petitioner had challenged the June 12 order of an additional district and sessions judge rejecting his plea to register the murder case.

The petitioner said Shalimar police had informed the court that they lacked jurisdiction because the murder of Mr Khawaja had not been committed in their area.

He alleged that the conspiracy to kill his father had been hatched in the area of Shalimar police and the travel of his father to tribal areas had been arranged by Mr Mir.

He said the justice of peace should have ordered registration of the case because a cognisable offence had been committed. He said a justice of peace could not discuss the merits of a case while hearing an application under Section 22-A of the Criminal Procedure Code.

The petitioner had attached a copy of the application submitted to Shalimar police for registration of the criminal case against the journalist and Usman Punjabi for planning and killing Khalid Khawaja.

Usama Khalid alleged that the journalist had developed ideological differences with his father on the issue of Lal Masjid operation in Islamabad and disliked him.

He alleged that Mr Mir arranged the travel of his father to the tribal area in March and Mr Khawaja trusted him because of their long-term relationship. Usama also accused the journalist of directing Usman Punjabi to kill his father.

The show is being produced by Sevy Ali, who has previously produced a film, Nazar, which was an India-Pakistan venture directed by Bhatt. Speaking to television show Mid-Day, Ali said, “This will be the first time an Indian personality will interview top Pakistani figures. It’s not a normal chat show but in an interview format.”

Bhatt is set to interview Pakistani figures such as cricket stars Imran Khan, Javed Miandad and Wasim Akram. He will also have an opportunity to tête-à-tête with political personalities such as former Pakistani military general and President Pervez Musharraf and current Premier Asif Ali Zardari.

The show will have eight episodes for which the producer is also in talks with some Indian channels.

Speaking further, the producer said, “You know Mahesh. He might take liberties and ask all sorts of question. The interviews will be no-holds-barred. Bhatt saab was keen to work this show as he wants to strengthen Indo-Pak ties.”

Bhatt himself is reported to have said that he is “looking forward to the talk show.” His emphasis as a show host would be to “extract the real story” behind each personality, with a bit of their history thrown in.

In his words, “I want to bring the journey of the individuals in the context of historic personal reflections like asking Pervez Musharraf what made him open the doors of Indian films when the Lal Masjid crisis was going on and release the first Indian film Awaraapan in 2006, talk to Imran Khan as a cricketer and crusader for cancer, Nawaz Sharif for his regime when the dreaded Kargil war happened. I want to take viewers across through cinema, entertainment, layman and writer – a common man’s conversation.”

Millions then sadistically enjoy the spectacle.

There is no sense of balance. Objectivity is conveniently forgotten and put aside. Political agendas and motivations are sugarcoated as analysis. Emotionalism and cheap sentimentalism is presented as something intellectual and profound. Emphasis on factual accuracy is absent.

All this is justified in the name of ‘ratings.’

Talk show hosts and politicians have become strange bedfellows. Both loathe each other but need one another badly.

If anchors indulge in excesses, politicians don’t lag far behind as they lay bare their shortcomings and deficiencies in utterly foolish displays. Shouting down their opponents in a crude and ruffian manner is a regular feature on such programs. There is almost no debate on policy or vision for the future. ‘In the moment’ kind of shows dominate the airwaves — their importance as ephemeral and transient as the passing moment.

Callers are also a unique feature. Every second caller forgets to or ignores turning down the television volume but remembers to praise the talk show host in absolute and grandiose terms. These callers prop the anchors not just as media celebrities but more as ‘messiahs’ and ‘harbingers of change’ who should feel the weight of the nation on their shoulders. And most anchors have already started to act as if only they know the cure to the malaise that ails the nation. Anchors act or seem to want to act, less like media-journalist types and more like politicians, bureaucrats, diplomats and policy makers. Public impatience with the incumbents is usually short but these media crusaders are now prompting such emotions to run extremely high. Demands for action in any sort of a situation are urgent and instantaneous. Any sort of delay is portrayed as a conspiracy or apathy of the highest order.

But what panacea are they offering?

These talk shows are only inducing and moulding the public to prefer sensationalism to rationality and reason. In the garb of awareness, they are promoting extreme ideas, oversimplification of often complex and multifaceted issues and above all: superficiality.

Some time back, I had a conversation with a female talk show host. She was concerned about another rival anchor having the same time slot. She wanted input about her show but was not particularly concerned about improving the quality of content. Her rival seemed to have a knack of inciting and instigating his guests, many of whom had left the programme in the middle, storming out of the studio after throwing down the mic in protest. Her producer wanted her to ‘spice things up’ and she was psyching herself to do so. “Do you see yourself as shouting at the guests or conducting your show like your rival?” I asked. “Its not that I can‘t do it,” she replied.

Expediency and showmanship is the winner on the screen.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22nd, 2010.

The channel, known as Azhari TV, was launched last year to give moderate Islam a greater voice to offset what critics say is growing radicalization in the Muslim world. The channel, which is closely linked to al-Azhar University, began airing last year in Arabic but is now expanding to English, French, Urdu and Pashto.

“There is a wide open market for religious moderation on the airwaves,” Sheik Khaled el-Guindy, who heads Azhari TV and is also a member of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs, said in a statement. “We are competing with voices of intolerance for the attention and loyalty of young people. We believe we have the better product.”

The new channel, Azhari TV 2, includes news programs, children’s series, drama series, lectures, and call-in shows dubbed into English, French, Pashto and Urdu. It is expected to reach more than 325 million households in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

The channel was launched shortly before President Barack Obama’s call last year for greater dialogue between the West and Islamic world, and was aimed at promoting tolerance within the Islamic world as well as showing Islam’s mainstream moderate side.

But el-Guindy said the channel has run into what he described as violent opposition.

“Those who misinterpret Islam for selfish purposes often see us as a threat” said el-Guindy. “We have been threatened with death due to our programming, as well as our social action. As Muslims, we must get away from this trend toward violence.”

The station, in the statement, said it received a bomb threat after it took full page ads in Egyptian newspapers criticizing attacks on Coptic Christians earlier this year. The January attack, in which gunmen killed six Copts in southern Egypt, highlighted what activists and analysts say are tensions between Egypt’s Christian minority and the Muslims who make up about 90 per cent of the country’s population.

“These threats serve as a vivid reminder that we are up against extremist elements who oppose our emphasis on dialogue and understanding between peoples of different faiths and cultures,” said el-Guindy.

Young talented singers including Sara Raza, Ali Abbas, Sanam Marvi and Masooma Anwar will perform in the show which will be aired in the night transmission at 10 p.m.

They will sing from the works of Baba Bulhey Shah, Sultan Bahu and Shah Hussain.

Talking to APP, Producer Khurram Latifi said the show is meant to spread and promote message of peace and love and make the younger generation familiar with sufism.

In the present period, when the country is faced with challenges of terrorism, it is important to remove fears of people by instilling message of hope, he said.

Older generations knew poetry of mystical poets by heart but there is a need to make the younger generation realize about the treasure they have, he added.

The music show will be an effort to rediscover roots of Sufism and let the younger generation know works of mystics.

The music compositions will be amalgamation of classical and modern presented by singers on specially prepared sets.

People can voice their opinion by making calls to the program host.

“Dr Shahid Masood has joined ARY Digital Network as President. He will be the administrative head of all the sub companies of the network,” said an announcement by the group issued here Thursday.

Salman Iqbal, CEO and MD of the group, has felicitated Dr Masood on assuming new responsibilities and wished him a good luck, the channel reports.

Shahid Masood came into the spotlight with his program ‘Views On News’ on ARY Digital and earned distinction of Asia’s longest-running current affairs TV show.

In January 2007, Shahid Masood joined Geo TV Network as group executive director. He rebranded his program ‘Views on News’ as ‘Mere Mutabiq’ on Geo News and his show became one of the popular shows in the country.

In June 21, 2008, he assumed the office of Pakistan Television (PTV) chairman-cum-managing director. During his time at PTV, he produced the first ever independent audit report on corruption in the office, for which he came under pressure from Information minister and subsequently offered his resignation. Shahid Masood refused to back down from his stance on the audit report; after meeting with Prime minister he tendered his resignation and was appointed as a Special Adviser to Prime Minister but after few days he resigned from that office as well.

After resigning from PTV, he came back to Geo TV and has been working there since then.