Meet Dr Maria Zulfiqar Khan.
She hosts a program called “Baat Say Baat” on Express News, conducts “raids”, and is the new vigilante in the Pakistani media market.
In her recent program, she conducted a self-styled raid on a massage center in Lahore, accused it of being a “sex center” and harassed the women there.
Although the police was accompanying her, she took full charge and gave orders to policemen, saying things like “inn ko pakro jee!” (arrest them!), and “ye darwaazay khulwaaein jee!” (get these doors unlocked!).
Who gave her the right to order police officers like so? Last I checked, she was an anchor!
In the program, we see women helplessly trying to hide their faces, pleading with the cameraman not to film them. We also see the so-called anchor, searching through the house, going through the handbag of a woman, putting the particulars on the table, picking up a condom and thrusting it in face of the lady and shouting “ye kya hai?” (what is this?) over and over again.
And it gets worse.
Maria Khan also plays an interrogator.
She cross-questions employees, and when their answers do not match with each other’s, she tells them to “at least corroborate (their) ‘bloody’ story”.
During her investigation, she also threatens one woman, saying that she would hand her to the police if she doesn’t tell the truth. At one point, not agreeing to the answers of her respondents, she says sarcastically,
“Yeah right, tell that to the cops when they take you.”
Can you imagine the audacity?
During the 19th minute of the program, she is seen ordering the girls to get up and get their passports and somewhere around the 32nd minute, she visits one of the massage center employees’ house.
From there, she calls the father of the girl, and confronts him by saying the following things, and I quote,
“Kis qism ke jaahil aur jallaad aadmi hain aap?”
(What kind of an ignorant and cruel man are you?)
“Sharam nahi aati tumhein? Foran yahan pohncho!”
(Are you not ashamed? Get here immediately!)
“Ye aadmi apni beti se dhanda karwata hai. Kis qism ka jaanwar aur darinda insaan hai!”
(This man is pimping out his daughter! What sort of an animal is he!)
And all the while, the program was being supplemented with tickers flashing the following text:
“Baat Say Baat ne kiya massage centres ka parda chaak”
(Baat Say Baat exposes massage centers)
“Massage centers ki aarh mein jism-faroshi ka dhanda”
(Prostitution in the name of massage centers)
“Massage centres ya ayyaashi ke adday?”
(Massage centres or hubs of immoral activities?)
“Massage centres: Jahaan jism sajtay hain bazaar ban ker”
(Massage centers: Where bodies are sold)
Referring to the Chinese nationality of the massage center owner;
“Zubaan samajh nahi aati, magar ‘kaam’ samajh aata hai”
(They do not understand the language, but know the tricks of trade)
My questions:
Who gave Dr Maria Zulfiqar Khan right to conduct “raids” when this is clearly the responsibility of the police?
Does she have the authority to barge into any one’s house, demand a ‘search’, go through personal belongings like a handbag, harass women, talk in a harsh tone, insult, order the police to arrest someone and pass judgments?
Are cameramen allowed to cover people who have explicitly stated they don’t want to be seen on air and that they are unwilling to be on TV?
The answers to all of the above is
No!
This is never acceptable.
We previously had a moral vigilante – the infamous Maya Khan.
She raided dating couples in parks; later, social media protests made her apologise for compromising journalistic standards.
What are we going to do with the new vigilante named Maria Khan?
(If you want to watch the complete program, click here)
This blog was originally posted here.
Read more by Omair here.