How to Keep
Pak TV Talk Shows Alive
By Babuddin Ahmad
San Diego, CA
I
have been watching Pakistan TV channels, including
Geo and ARY, for the last two to three years.
Usually I watch the talk shows Capitol Talk by
Hamid Mir, Views on News by Dr. Shahid Masood,
Q &A by P.J. Mir and a few others.
The pattern of these talk shows is that the coordinator
(host) invites members of the ruling and opposition
parties of Pakistan and initiates a discussion
on some topical issue. The members of the two
parties just express their opinions on the topic,
putting emphasis on their point of view and proving
that they are correct in formulating their approach,
but it is very seldom that the two parties agree
on a common plan for resolving an issue and moving
forward together to execute the suggested plan.
The overall result is that the members of the
two parties go their own way at the end of the
show, thus wasting their own time and the time
of the viewers.
Unfortunately this has been happening since the
inception of Pakistan. People just talk and go
their own way, without coming up with an agreed
upon plan of action for the betterment of Pakistan.
And this is the reason that problems like pollution,
malnutrition, lawlessness, health, unfairness,
poverty, to name just a few are on the rise. As
Pakistan is a Muslim state, it is very easy to
come up with an agreed upon solution to a problem.
The solution should just be as per Qur’an
and Hadith.
The talk show hosts can play a vital role in promoting
democracy in Pakistan, and in improving the life
standard of the Pakistanis, if they can go the
extra mile in implementing the following:
Pick a problem. Invite authorities from both the
ruling and the opposition parties or anyone else
who has the power to solve a problem. Make sure
both the parties come up with an agreed solution,
a solution that should be as per the Qur’an
and Hadith. This might take one session or more
than one session, that should be OK. Then ask
for volunteers to implement the solution. If you
are right, then you will get lots of volunteers
easily, because people instinct is to stick with
the truth. This will serve as the foundation,
the essential first step to resolve the problem.
Assuming this approach only resolves ten problems
in a year, that’s OK. It will be far better
than just talking about fifty-two problems in
a year, with no improvement in the prevailing
conditions.
If the hosts could manage to go the extra mile,
they would contribute to the betterment of Pakistan
for which they will get lots of reward from Allah
SBT in this life and the life hereafter. Otherwise
they would just make their living from the talk
shows, but wasting their own time and the time
of fellow Pakistanis. Mere talking without accompanying
action is sheer waste of time, and whoever wastes
time, an individual or a nation, is bound to fail.
That’s the rule of Islam and nobody can
negate it. So please read between the lines: Do
not waste time to keep your talk shows alive.
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