by B. R. GOWANI
Josh contraceptives
The ad in the above video shows neighbors feeling jealous of newlywed “super model” Mathira (actress/model in real life) who takes extra care of her nerdy husband because he keeps her happy by using “Josh” (Hindi/Urdu for excitement) condoms.
The ad is not done in high taste nor does it show women in good light. It seems as if women’s job is just to coddle their husbands without having any life-goals of their own.
Recently, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) ordered a ban on the above commercial. The reason given by the PEMRA was:
It would have made sense if the PEMRA had said that the airing of the ad was stopped because it was harmful to women’s rights and equality. Even then it would have been bad to ban the ad in a country where 1/3rd of the people have no access to any kind of contraceptives. The current population of Pakistan is over 180 millions. Most of the already born and to be born will have no chances of good education or other things and this does not augur well for a country where the Taliban and other Muslim militants are roaming free. On top of that, Saudi Arabia is going to send Salafi imams to Pakistan to spread more hatred towards minorities and non-Salafi Muslims.
Aamir Liaquat Hussain
If PEMRA is really worried about morality, it should go after people like Aamir Liaquat Hussain, a televangelist. In this video, he is proudly remembering the day the Ahmadi Muslims were declared non-Muslims in 1974. And here, through a long quote of another person, Hussain makes fun of the Ahmadi reformer/prophet and denies his prophethood. Just imagine the anger and violence which results when the opportunist Muslims’ anger flares up when Muhammad, Prophet of Islam, is ridiculed in such a manner. PEMRA doesn’t give a damn about the feelings of the Ahmadis. And why would it care when the Pakistan government itself treats them as second class citizens. Due to one of his programs, a couple of Ahmadi Muslims were murdered. An Ahmadi doctor’s reaction to the murder was:
“They talked about murder as a religious duty. A duty for ‘good’ Muslims.”
During Ramazan, his show is televised everyday, including a segemt where he asks questions, mostly Islam-related but also includes questions about about Mona Lisa painting or physicist Isaac Newton etc. The winners are awarded prizes. I watched few of his programs. He suffers from superiority complex which shows up in his treatment of the participants, mostly simple people. Islam has no compulsion against capitalism and so the rating race is there among the TV programs. In one of the Ramazan program, Hussain shocked his audience by giving away abandoned babies. Hussain and Geo TV, where his program is aired, are minting money.
The same Hussain was involved in another controversy a couple of years back when a video showed up on You Tube in which he is using all sorts of filthy language.
PEMRA should go after him and not after Josh ad.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com