An open letter to Maya Khan
Dear Maya Khan,
My name is Mehreen. I like browsing through morning talk shows when I’m waiting for breakfast made by my mom who, like your colleague said in a particular clip, is like my friend and I confide in her often. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I do. She’s never demanded an oath of eternal confidence in her. We’re humans, and we love our private space. You might be thinking, “Why is she telling me this?” I thought I should let you know about the knitty gritty of my personal life since you do enjoy delving into deeper details. Wise people always do.
Maya? I love parks. Parks are amazing. Did you know that the top ten parks in the world are located in London, Vancouver, San Francisco, Tokyo, Lisbon (don’t worry – not ‘lesbian’), Chicago and Bangkok? If you show up in Lahore in the same park that I go to, it might become the most famous park in the whole world for what happens right after we encounter each other. Parks have lots of nice, lush grass and benches. I love benches. Parks also have trees and swings and sidewalks for people to walk on, and sometimes chase people after. Parks are amazing. My dad used to take me to my favorite park when I was little, you know? Sometimes couples passed by us and my dad would bring his Sony high definition video camera out and run after them, inquiring of their marital or non-marital status based on his idea of morality. Kidding. My dad just yawned and pushed the swing higher for me.
Hey, Maya? Sorry, I know I’m rambling. Just bear with me. Come on, we’re girls, we should confide in each other. I really like someone. Most young people do. It’s natural, don’t worry. Nothing extraordinary, absurd or heinous about it. We hang out often. Since we’re on a nice, equal wavelength, we enjoy spending time in places that are simple, easy to go (unless someone decides to chase us with a cell phone camera to document our stray presence) and open-spaced because I love sitting in the sun on a winter afternoon. Do you know where we go?
A local park.
That’s right.
Young people fall in love all the time. Sometimes they don’t – it’s just infatuation. Sometimes they do and they’re confused as hell and they still go out to understand the significance of the other. In the process, they pick a location like normal people do where they can sit down and spend time together. I’m sure you liked someone when you were in college. No big deal. See, girls fall in love pretty much every single day of the week and so do boys. Sometimes they make the right decision, sometimes they make mistakes. It’s called being human. But trust me, they don’t need a team of middle aged women hounding them down public places to enlighten them about their decisions. And trust me, their mothers will handle whatever happens. No one asked you or anyone else to take the responsibility of scrutinizing them. See, what worries me a lot is when public figures like you with considerable influence on viewers morph into moral police. In a country like Pakistan where public vigilantism has exceeded levels of brutality, the last thing the youth needs is a team of moral watchdogs sniffing around for “impure” behavior.
If indeed your concern is sincere (which I still have qualms with – since the privacy of a person’s choice is most cogent; they’ll ask for help when they ask you) then invest in sex education or how a female can avoid getting hurt in various situations. Better yet, do a segment on respect for privacy. Now that’s a talk show I would make my entire neighborhood subscribe to. I understand that you might be fretting about the welfare of young women in this society. I do too along with thousands of other well-to-do folks. But there’s a difference between you and me: I don’t publicize their actions on a local TV channel, I don’t chastise them for going out on a date and I don’t expect people to slut-shame the girl or the boy into hiding. I let them be unless and until they ask for help or if there is eminent danger.
Hold on.
I’m Muslim too.
However the ethos of my faith urges that unless I am perfect in my moral conduct, I have no right whatsoever to point my finger at anyone for anything. Whatever is done is left between the individual and their conscience. Hell, no one ever told me to demand for someone’s nikah-nama when they’re sitting together. It doesn’t concern me or you or anyone else. Sometimes I am ashamed to be from the same faith when I see people like you dictating immaculate morality for others. Furthermore I am mortified as a Pakistani when I see wardens of rectitude making dangerous spectacles of common citizens simply to boost hits on their show or to become shining role models for people of equally disappointing, mediocre thinking.
If that young couple gets hurt – which happens inevitably as a result of your irresponsible moral policing – you will be held accountable for reinforcing the sick obsession our society has with prying and needling into privacy. I thought media ethics would’ve taught you and several others the art of letting people be. It’s not too hard, really. All you have to do is mind your own business and find other mature, commendable ways of increasing popularity for your show. Say, have you seen that reporter who raided on someone’s residence for possessing alcohol? Don’t you think it would’ve yielded a decent conversation if you, let’s say, entered Cosa Nostra or Espresso or CTC or Cinnabon, where privileged folks like you go to, and accosted an unmarried couple for sitting together in their unmarriedness? Isn’t it pathetically convenient to interrogate a harmless couple in a park? Can someone please explain why haven’t these righteous correspondents ever barged into a conspiring terrorist’s household to expose their plans? Or maybe into a conservative political figure’s cozy room when they call over hookers (I don’t even care about that, honestly) or when they approve of policies that render our lives a lot more miserable than it already is? That takes guts.
You’re smart enough to understand by now that I am legitimately aggravated and so are others. Invasive moral policing is not just hypocritical, it is harmful. A petition against your program has been initiated on Change.org and I’m signing this while making yet another sinful plan of sitting in a park with the guy I like. Is this a one-way ticket to hell and destruction? I’m sure it is. No skin off my nose.
Assuming your action was religiously motivated, I was wondering how you would react if a raging maulvi decided to hound you on his morning talk show for not covering your hair. And assuming your action wasn’t religiously motivated but only carried out as a display of social concern, I wonder how you would feel if someone verbally quartered you for making the decisions you have by telling you, you were foolish and misdirected for doing so.
Now if you don’t mind, I have plans to make. I’m spending unmarried time with the guy I like in a few days. We’re so unmarried, it’s amazing. Sometimes in our high unmarriedfulness, I hold his arm and we walk through the park past closet Maya Khans and Zaid Hamids who genuinely detest us for our open display of joy, comfort and affection. I can’t wait to have you show up and ask us for our nikah document. This is what I’ll give you as proof:
It’s legit.
Stay out of my park.
Sincerely Sitting Unmarried On a Bench in a Park With a Guy,
Mehreen.
This post was originally published here.
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Loading ...The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of The Express Tribune.
I don’t know what the rule of law say about this issue but there is a need to educate (legal advice) or empower our youth about their rights and limitations to go out at a public place with some one who is not mahram so also they could react in such situations. This type of moral policing for the sake of rating is not very much different from the act of harasment by city Police mostly for the sake of financial gain (bribe). But in addition in Maya’s case there is also issue of respect of privacy. Even I don’t know that either it’s a legal requirement to keep nikha nama everytime you go anywhere with your spouse.
Maya Khan a peace of advice for you many good things can not compensate for one wrongful act that one does atleast in this world. Make an unconditional opology. You had a great impact in highlighting and resolving many social issues in recent past and had done a job much better than morning shows of the most highly rated T. V channels of our country.
I like the idea of Miss Mehreen to have a segment on respect for privacy and also empowerment by sex education and how to avoid getting hurt emotionally and misuse or unethical aspect of social networking.
We are a confused nation we claim to be Islamic republic but do not follow Islamic ideology in letter and sprit on the whole. We are in a state of conflict due to many social issues that are in practice against the guideline available to us a part and parcel of our religion. We need to start working with issues which are not controversial like payment and proper distribution of zakat, tax payment, providing social justice, no one has to pay bribe, exemplary punishment and recovery from those involve in cruption, as a whole where everyone strive hard to achieve goodness a true welfare state and then we could implement a law which is in conciliation with moral and islamic values and ideology to its full magnitude.
DR S. ASIF JAHANZEB KAZMI
drsajk@yahoo.comRecommend
look maya khan or like maya khan celebs have d right to find some masala for their tv shows but islam says “gunah ko roko hath ce na rok saku tu zibaan ce ager ziban ce be nahi tu dil ce bura janu” when u cant stop urself or u dnt follow these practice of having guys in ur life then u have d right to stop them otherwise u cant first u dnt these practices u dnt like that someone interfere in ur life then how could other ppl become an open book for ur tv shows…Recommend
I think every body needs to take a step back and look at the situation from a broader angle.
First of all I think the issue Maya Khan and her team were trying to tackle is a serious one and threatens our social fabric IN ANY CASE (let’s not pretend to not know what goes on in most of these meetings whether in a park or an elite-studded cafe etc). Belonging to Muslim families and advertising about it and then going on to say “I am planning another date with the guy I love” is, i am sorry but, hypocrisy and speaks nothing but the amount of “dhitai” going on here. Being Muslims we should AT THE VERY VERY LEAST RECOGNIZE right from wrong instead of taking a stance as our very dear writer here has (could have rallied against the situation MINUS the lets just say “personal” references!).
However, I absolutely AGREE to the fact that the way this issue was handled or the whole thing executed was HORRENDOUS. I am all for personal privacy and respecting others. I specially feel bad for the couple who were caught off-guard with Maya’s tricks; who knows what kind of background they were coming from and what became of them and their families after the broadcast of this show. All in all a sad situation.Recommend
The Willing Scapegoat – Harasser, Harassed!
I know I’ll probably get the flack for this, but why would anyone feel so triumphant to see someone fail? Maya Khan lost her job because of the Social Media Mob. I don’t agree with her politics of conducting a show like that at all. Neither would I make light of what she did or take the blame away from her. What she did was clearly a revolt to our combined code of ethics and personal sensibilities. But some of the Titles accorded her by many people I have utmost respect for, have been to say the least, insensitive and less than becoming of the one’s that can rightfully lay claim to the luxury of pronouncing Public Judgment and Sentence. It doesn’t sound like a Trial, let alone a Fair Trial. I know fair well how Social Reforms works. But whatever transpired smacks of the Reactionary Movement, betraying our aristocratic contempt for a woman that made a mistake that the entire population of this country witnessed and scorned.
Having been part of the Entertainment Industry for a few years, I know for a fact that Content is decided by the Management and not the Anchors themselves even if they are also ‘called’ the Producers. The mistake Maya made was agreeing to it. Assuming, it was her personal whim, (that happens too) but it is still the Channel Management’s responsibility because They agreed and let it go on air – all in the name of Ratings. But it backfired. So the owners of the channel have redeemed themselves by ‘sacking’ her. It’s very easy to shift the blame, rather than owning up to the burden of responsibility for our joint pool of mistakes.
Did we stop to reflect; perhaps insistence on an ‘honest’ public apology from both the Host and the Channel would have sufficed. (Yes, I did watch her nervous (for a reason) speech trying to defend her ‘good’ intentions at heart and explaining what’s what in her own erroneous way. Trust me, it wasn’t her.) Maya Khan was the Channel’s Scapegoat to please the Demagogue and the Demigods. You and I, the Public Eye, and the Moneybags. Perhaps a promise of cleaning up her/ their act would have redeemed her/ them in our Sorry Sinful Eyes.
Content is the Channel’s responsibility when the owner’s themselves utter words like: “It doesn’t sound like your (sic) a good fit for us. We are not interested in all that you said (compassion etc). thanks and bye” Looks like we’re all not interested in “compassion etc”.
I washed my hands of some shows when I couldn’t or wouldn’t be allowed to control the Content, with That precisely being my job. No conscientious professional wants a bad name. Hence, my eventual resignation from a well paying job because I had to stay true to myself and not let myself become a Puppet in the Master’s hands. Perhaps I would’ve sold my soul to the Devil, had I been making as much money as the poorly misguided pool of Talent we have. We’re all the same!
None of us is a textbook example of Goodness and Purity. What of (compassion etc)? What of ‘the milk of human kindness? What of forgiveness that we expect from others for our own failings? Whoever said, ‘hate the Sin, not the Sinner’? I like to remember that ‘to err is Human, to forgive Divine’. We can all comfortably claim that we’re Ace of Spade when in reality we’re a struggling “C-Grade”. There’s nothing wrong with not being the best. I like to gossip with my friends and so many times I jeer and jibe – insensitively, shamelessly. But then I’m repulsed by myself when I look in the mirror and no one’s watching except God. Because, all my life I’ve longed for Divinity. Forgiveness and Kindness sound like a good start. I wish myself and all my friends a Beautiful Big Heart.
Disclaimer: The writer of this note is ‘just a woman’ diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder; in quiet rebellion with everything her personal morals or whimsical predilections won’t let her stand for or run with. So don’t take anything she says seriously.
Free Advice from the person mentioned above: Please don’t try to make use of your Medical Insurance offered at work. Diabetes and Heart Disease will be held against you and so will your Bipolar Disorder, for which the company would readily, in full confidence of your Supervisor, reimburse your receipts from the visits to the doctor, the shrink and the pharmacy. But when the need arises, the blame will easily slide towards the weaker side, even though no one would have been the wiser if you didn’t tell them about the disease of your own choosing.
Here’s to the “Survival of the Fittest”. Applause!
.Recommend
i am not the religious type but also am not liberal too ……….. but i do consider that everyone is responsible for his or her own acts……….Recommend
I was disgusted by the Maya’s action. Haven’t she got anything better to do.Recommend
Dating is not a crime and it is no-ones else business. It is natural that young people want to hang out in parks and elsewhere socializing. But I do not really understand why they are firing the messenger, the tv-station was the one making the decision doing a show like this.Recommend
Sorry to say but this overwhelming culture of morning shows is really disappointing …usually with no sensible themes,as everyone is overacting,with iron hair and constantly bothering for their outlooks.Its very rare that they are actually contributing towards betterment of society.Instead of this morning show race media should better tune some cartoon shows for kids.hopefully no one get offended,just my suggestion.
RegardsRecommend
Where is my comment???Recommend
I just commented, but not shown??????Recommend
@Saima Shirazi:
I like thisRecommend
If people are in open space enjoying each other s company why it warrants a marriage certificate? This is how moral madness looks at normal people, who want to talk in an open space, which is safe and secure. Similarly what happens in private spaces of elite or poor is noone s business unless it violates someone s rights. Either way, lock away lunatics like the hosts of this TV program, away from the civil society.Recommend
@Waheed Ensari:
Sending you Love and Light. God bless!Recommend
i really appreciate ur efforts mehreen to exposed this immoral maya.i might be don’t like the idea to go for date but privacy for everyone must must be respected.i think now morning show should be ban bcz they have nothing for their viewer which could be benefical for them or groom them.i hate u maya khan for this criminal act.Recommend
@Rizwan:
Would you let your family members have their own space?Recommend
my comments have been censored. is this freedom of speech at you blog?Recommend
Never expected that Dr. Moiz’s daughter, Urooj, that she would participate in such a program! Shameful!Recommend
True friends stab you in the front :)Recommend
Miss Sitting Unmarried On a Bench in a Park With a Guy does Islam allow to sit in Park with guy ?
urgg lar what a hypocrisy and blind peeps .Losers.
At one point they call them selves Muslims and now they wanna go on date even on park .LMAORecommend
Mr. ABC (With no name):
Where in the Quran is it written that men and women are not allowed to SIT in a park?
Where’s the hypocritical behavior? What gives you the authority to call someone who speaks up for the truth a looser?
Doesn’t Islam preach tolerance? SO, Are you not part of the Hippocratic Behavior too then? Or is Islam ONLY CONVENIENT TO YOUR BENEFIT and not to that of others (Typical example: Talibans) I think your foremost problem is that a girl has openly declared that she can go for a date at a public park. Dates DON’T mean ‘making out’ as YOUR TWISTED MIND has perceived; it could mean a simple meeting, a hi hello, catching up discussing old times, friends and family, discussing homework, problems . . anything . . many things to talk about in the park as a couple other than what FILTH is going on in your mind no doubt.Recommend
the ppl with her are also the culprits and i wish that each and every one of them should be punished for what they have done why they are not getting prominent and escaped in their homes like cowardsRecommend
@Jude Allen: where in the Quraan does it say to write your comments in a blog??Recommend
Really sad to read and hear all that news about Maya khan, and its even more sad and depressing to read about people comments, specially the lady Mehreen….i dont know in what state of mind people are really. You are not living in US or any other Secular place, remember from where you belong to, remember your origion….this is very very sad move from the CEO and after watching that program anyone can guess why she is fired.. even during the program she said she recieved a call from…..and rest is all we know…
What she was doing was a fair thing, may be the way it is was done is not 100% because of the nature of what thats been done there. just imagine your own sister or daughter doing that openly in the public. Such people are sick and have filthy minds. They just dont care there are civilized people and children around. Really pathatic to do that and really pathatic to side line her….i am sure this comment will not be published due to a particular mind set…Recommend
Very good
God bless youRecommend
What Ms. Khan did was the morally right thing but in a wrong way. The preaching should come from elders and close friends and in private not in public. But dating is no way right. If you’re a Muslim and have some knowledge about Islam then you should know that intermingling of sexes is strictly prohibited in both open and in private. Even other religions have moral values and not too long ago the good morally correct families—and I am talking about non-Muslims here—used to keep a chaperon between the young couples, if they were to go out. Moral values are going down the drain and that too fast.
Pakistani modern people are blindly following the west without knowing that they are destined for doom. Besides gravely sinning they are calling for a broken heart, emotionally demolished, and utterly depressed future. I live in the US and I know what total freedom (Free Dumb) has made this so-called civilized society totally flopped and morally corrupt. For those who pay heed and have the wisdom to judge would refrain from such acts and build a good family which in turns makes a good community and a society. And readers, what you think is right is not always right. Every person has a level of intellect and reasoning. What’s right is what’s in the Quran and Sunnah (if you’re a Muslim), so follow that not follow the crowd—because most people indeed are ignorant and heedless.Recommend
Very shallow idea….couldnt understand what Maya Khan and the entire team of this program was up to…..extremely irresponsible media person…this program depicts that media anchor persons dont have brains to come up with some other purposeful ideas…Recommend
@TruthSeeker:
finally some one has made sense. Thank you SeekerRecommend
Author: Azaad Khan
Comment:
@Jude Allen: where in the Quraan does it say to write your comments in a blog??
@Azad
hahahahhhah Good one. Now answer him Jude LOLRecommend
@Azaad Khan:
hahahah so much for freedom of expression.
I call it freedom of depression. Media is nothing but an effective tool to control opinion and the world. Media IS what created World Wars from I (BBC was new) to Iraq wars. Remember that CIA/Mossad manipulated and altered the news about WMD in Iraq and Bush admitted later that wrong information was given to him (yes after he destroyed a once flourished country). I always wonder how CNN, new at the time, got the sole air rights to air from Baghdad during the war.
Anyway, media is nothing gheebat, jhoot, propaganda, makkari, fareb, and any or all social ills taht Islam forbids to commit, you will find in media. If it werent for them, world would be far more peaceful.Recommend
I have read lots in different papers, emails, blogs about this apisode with titled as “Maya Khan”
Was this only Maya Khan who Produced, Planned, Executed, and “AIRED” the show ?
Where the hell was producer, Senior Producer, Executive Producer, etc. etc. (a long list of names displays after every show /programme)
Maya Khan has applogiesed the next day (some what) but what about the ethics, norms of another big print media who critised through the editorial lot on this show, but did not applogised on the story published on half page about a fraud person who claimed his boys were kidnapped, one killed, other one was injected and now suffering from cancer, and his girl is also kiddnapped for ransom and the person needs help !!! which later turned to be a false story by a fraud person who collected about a million rupees through this story.
Was the journalist of the story partener of this fraud ???
Has he applogised for his un-varified story !!!
If yes, which paper ? which page ?Recommend
@ Azad Khan: No where in the Holy Quran is it written about writing comments in a blog . . So whats your point? Are you implying that what Mehreen did was wrong to put Maya Khan in her place? and of course there are thousands of Mehreen fans who support her including some people who pray 5 times a day – they too have agreed Maya was wrong and that dating is personal and none of your business . . read all these blog comments.
Because of people-unity, TODAY a great justice to those poor people has been fulfilled. To me that’s a pure joy. I have NOTHING to loose in speaking up and supporting these people. Hell, I don’t even visit parks unless I need to exercise.
If I have to date, I can go anywhere I want, Butlers Cafe, Park Towers, a friends place ANYWHERE that the media has no right to invade my privacy . . simply because they don’t have the guts to venture in areas where people are well connected. I, among thousands of other supporters stood up for what is RIGHT & JUST. Its not that you cant understand that . . its just that you DON’T want to. I fail to understand what Gazoo Martian or whatever that is has found so funny??? Non of you have actually made any valid point actually. And while you may be tempted to reply to this comment please do note: WE ALREADY WON!!! LOL The channel apologized and terminated Maya Khan with her team. No doubt you will be tempted to reply, I don’t wish to as my job (Our job) has been done, completed and we move on to the bright future. Good Bye!!! Have a nice day :)Recommend
@Jude: These 2 guys obviously have a problem. Why would you even bother replying? Being a non Muslim you spoke more sense than them. I have no idea what Gazoo is trying to achieve either with his views and where he is heading but, hey you are right, we WON :)
So lets move on . . btw lets meet up? at some park . what say? Maybe we can defy Gazoo and Azad Khan to come and WATCH us :) hahaRecommend
Fantastic article Mehreen. Your sentiments are shared by the sane and sensible majority which has been highjacked by these self obsessed, self righteous bigots.Recommend
now that maya khan is out, the parks are not safe, where to go…???Recommend
@ Mehreen : Nice but not complete..Recommend
@Noman Ansari:
Please add capital “S” and capital “W”.Recommend
@asghar Ali:
Mr. Asgar Ali:
Now, after having your comment published, you know that your mindset was wrong about a particular mindset. You talked about somebody’s sister or daughter sitting in a park. First of all, if any law of the land is broken by sitting in a park, then law enforcing agency is the one to act. If no law is broken, then no disgusting mind vigilante is allowed to interfere in your and my sister or daughter’s matter. Somebody’s religion is his/her personal matter. If we allow these self proclaimed moral inspectors to interfere in citizen’s personal lives one can stop you for not having a beard or even go one step further and show up in your bedroom and question you about your relationship to the lady you are sleeping with.
I wonder if you have seen Maya Khan’s own character in video’s surfacing on You Tube. By no means does it imply that if somebody is practicing extreme restraint they have a right to impose their morality upon others and infringe upon other’s fundamental rights. Hope you understand.
I commend Mahreen’s effort, great job Mahreen.Recommend
all social media s/b banned along with chat rooms of yahoo/msn etc and this weblogs too
These outlets serve no purpose but destroys society. The very invention of media is nothing but:
jhoot, fareb, khurafat, makkari, be-rah-rawi, ma’asharti tanazzul, awara-gardi and all in the name of personal freedom and expression.
Freedom of exp has been invented by the secular group to gain upper hand in society so they can do what ever they want and ruin a decent society as they want.
Now I am willing to bet this post will be blocked because the weblogs is probably owned by some secular Pakistani too. lets wait and dont see my post hahahahhhaRecommend
Are you kidding me ? I have soo much to say in response to your post.
Do you really not know how cheap is sex in Pakistan ? you can buy sex from a woman for 20 rupees, some people can’t afford that so they buy it cheaper from a man. So all that Mullah ruling in Pakistan is obviously not working out too well, perhaps its time you let people practice their rights. Maya Khan is a phony moron who based her shows on subjects only to raise her ratings. If you can’t see that, and consider her a hero for fighting for the “sharifana” ways then you need help. @Ferocious Tiger:Recommend
I fully agree. Maya Khan has no right to probe the private life of anybody.Recommend
Well i love the article by Mehreen, well said, and I agree with her in a sense that we should know by our own self i.e. what is right and what is wrong. as per Maya did, i never ever bothered to watch her showRecommend
@SA:
Are you kidding me ? I have soo much to say in response to your post.
Do you really not know how cheap is sex in Pakistan ? you can buy sex from a woman for 20 rupees, some people can’t afford that so they buy it cheaper from a man. So all that Mullah ruling in Pakistan is obviously not working out too well, perhaps its time you let people practice their rights. Maya Khan is a phony moron who based her shows on subjects only to raise her ratings. If you can’t see that, and consider her a hero for fighting for the “sharifana” ways then you need help
Ulemaare not ruling Pakistan, thats the sad thing. If they truly ruled the country, you wouldnt be here uttering mughallizaat.
Sex is cheap: you always pay for what you get. Buy condomns. Safe sex is a good sex. Preferably dont buy sex
perhaps its time you let people practice their rights. Maya Khan is a phony who based her shows on subjects only to raise her ratings.
You are being a hypocrite, areant you? You and everybody else should have rights, but not Maya to expose those miscreants in park. Now that must Free Masonic democrazy.Recommend
Very well written, Mehreen !
Maya Khan just wanted to be in the limelight somehow..She is a disgrace ! Plus she should GET A LIFE and do somethin’ better with it rather than intruding privacy of other fellow citizens.Recommend
your questions was directed towards a guy about how would he like his sister dating in a park…I had to give my two cents here, do me a favor and move on from the overly used “agar app ki maa ya bahun hoti tou” questions. They totally remind me an old Mohammed Ali film where the mom cleaned people’s house after hero’s father’s death, till the hero gets is FA degree….. now to answer your maa behan question: who cares if this person doesn’t want their sister dating, who cares if you don’t want your sister dating…as a young adult she must have an opinion, and unfortunate for people like you, she also have rights, though you may not like her to practice her rights it doesn’t change the basic fundamentals…and from a religious/secular point of view it is utterly disgusting to exploit people like they have in that show.
Also why are you overly concerned about girls dating, if rights are being snatched then lets be fair and take them away from guys too.
Lastly I hope you know that the more serious concern here is about the violation of basic rights to people’s privacy, so your “maa behan” question, that I’m sure you wrote thinking of hitting a sensitive nerve is irrelevant. I wish those boys/girls knew how illegal of an act it is to be broadcasted on national TV without their consent. I wish each of them would sue her, and Samaa TV.
Her apology is as fake as she is. She deliberately and strategically attacked, humiliated, and harassed these kids just so that her cheap show could survive. Her claiming that she did so many good things, is voided the minute she attacked those kids. Shame on her and everyone who supports her.@Rizwan:Recommend
“What Ms. Khan did was the morally right thing but in a wrong way. The preaching should come from elders and close friends and in private not in public.”
Morally right, in a wrong way ??? A wrong doing is not moral!
I don’t get why is everyone preaching about dating. Lets stick to the important issue here of Maya Khan striping these kids off their basic rights of privacy. How could she exploit a class that will kill their daughter in the name of honor ?Recommend
Saima, very well written!!! I’m envious of your writing skills…so you are saying lets forgive her since it was a mistake pulled by many, but one is being punished. I do agree that the channel is not getting as much heat for it as it deserves. I won’t speak for other people, but as far I am concern what makes me really upset is that she keeps claiming credit for all the good she has done, which leads me to think that her purpose/aim/goal has always been to do something positive for the community, I would assume that she is saying she will go after anything that SHE finds immoral..or at least that is what she is depicting. Her attacking these young adults for dating hardly seems to be something that she feels strongly against. I am assuming that based on her dance video, based on her clothes. With these factors in light I find it hard to forgive someone who seems to have a strategic plan. I heard her claim that she will go after anything that the public wants her to go after. So does that mean she will support people like the killer of Salman Taseer, do correct me if i’m wrong, it appears to me that majority of Pakistan thought Qadri was a hero. What she has done is quite terrifying, and the only way I see myself forgive her is when she does shows to promote privacy laws, when she goes out to teach these kids who she harassed the rights they can practice against bullies like her and Samaa, she obviously wants the easy way out of pointing out the “good” she has done….I’m sorry that is not how it works. I am sure it is really hard on her right now, but I don’t see her doing anything about it so that just tells me that her apologies are phony like her and her previous show.@Saima Shirazi:Recommend
I’m not sure why did you just give me all that sex education, but uh yeah ok…moving on are you calling me a hypocrite because I think Maya Khan has violated people’s privacy ?? You really need to do away with your personal preferences of opposite sex mingling maybe then you will see that video taping someone and putting them on national TV without their consent is a violation. Taking someone’s picture and using is without consent is illegal. You can not pick and choose as to who deserves privacy and who doesn’t. If you go to Hanna Jhel in Quetta all these women wearing burka in veils will freak out if they see you taking pictures, out of respect to their privacy one will have to wait till they are out of picture frame to take the pic. I am sure you won’t object to that out cry by those women, but because these kids are doing something that you don’t agree with, you easily have declared that they have no right to privacy.@Gazoo Martian:Recommend
Brilliant job mahreen..Recommend
It was a stupid idea, and she shouldn’t have done it. But I think it’s such a shame that a woman that made women feel more empowered is being brought so low. It’s her fault, but I just wish there were more strong women on telly. As it is there’re only about two or three.Recommend
OMG! A very long letter. Did all of you read this completely? :pRecommend
You got it all wrong. Maya Khan is not educated. Actually she is a typical hypocrite Pakistani tamashbeen.
Good post Mehreen. Thank you very much for raising voice against this nonsense.Recommend
i think that MAYA KHAN is a v.good interviewer but yet she had no right of intruding in others life its there life does she even know there names there background so overall its wrongb butits not even right to date even if u are engaged or whateverRecommend
@Nauman: True Nauman I agree. I live in Canad too and ur 100% right. Which prog of Maya ur talking about? can you plz tell more on “I have seen another show in which Maya was given the opportunity to explain herself..”
Thanks….Shahwar NadiaRecommend
Mahreen,
good shot, you did good work. i really like.
thanks
TahirRecommend
well written :>Recommend
this is the clear manifestation of being oblivious of the ethics of journalism.where is the damn privacy in the said anchor’s show?
it is hoped that this awakening of our youth would be beneficial for the country and trust me we need it.we should be known to the rights we have been bestowed. We should not let any such kind of a person to break the ethics with such impunity which she showed.Recommend
Very well written Mehreen, totally agreed to whatever you wrote but what if i say that its between her and her Allah? Leave it on God. Fine we know she did wrong but may be she also did a few things right for a few of us (for instance bringing a mother and a doughter togther n stuff, by the way i am not an avid viewer of her show), we humans have written enough on her lately to the extent that she has now been terminated! and like you mentioned ‘Sometimes they make the right decision, sometimes they make mistakes. It’s called being human’ .
anyways i liked ur letter. Good1Recommend
Shame on Maya & co how dare u to talk about moral values and Islamic ethics. Don’t u know its the order to knock a door 3 times waiting response otherwise leave their living space you may cause their privacy disturbance.?????????? what teachings you people have gone through????????? And you people accompanying her its not the reason to be proud with her,think of your own deeds don’t try to be extraordinary.Recommend
amaazing
good workRecommend
Who are u to judge the life i live? Iam not perfect and i dont have to be! Before you start pointing fingers on me make sure ur hands are clean! BOB MARLEYRecommend
@sadaf naqvi:
thank God, thus stupid blogs is dying slowly. This girl mehreen is not a real girl. Its a make belief article posted by secular NGO and stupid Pakistanis fell for it
I was one of the only few ones that has been condemning mehreen from the day one
After maya got fired all NGO seculars disappeared from here. It was a concerted efforts by the NGO’s to promote awargi and zana in open parkRecommend
give some solution yar…. highlighting issues only….wat z wrong wd u maya??? “900 chohy kha k billi haj ko chali k misdaaq”Recommend
Its time that these so called morning show queens let us live our lives…these low-IQd bunch of women are further widening gaps in the society…what Pakistan needs the least is another forms of viice and virtue police a la mode Taliban, Saudi Arbai, Iran etc.
Who is Maya Khan who will judge morals of people…logon ke bachay na zeba harkatein lol…Maya you should work to pass alaw that should ban young people for voting…after all voting is a responsibility too…why thsi obsession with women’s sexuality and freedom? Strange that we keep on talking about democracy in a country where people are as draconian as ever. We also need to breathe!
May go back to acting…u r only perhaps gud at that! leave us alone please!
Ayesha, PeshawarRecommend
Hello Maya
I was just watching a tv channel i think it was sama tv and i found you crying and weeping on the screen and the anchor person Mr kamran shahid was asking you questions in a very rude manner which i hate. He should learn some manners before coming to tv screen.I feel deeply sorry for you i know that your intention was not that which is being reflected by the Mr anchor person.Any way you are part of our faimly and we love you maya you are just like our faimly member.Every body makes mistakes in their life it is not a sin it is a mistake. Be confident and i hope that you will pass through this hard time.God bless you.Recommend
Well…I just want to ask Maya Khan why the hell you didn’t reveal that secret before which she revealed in Kamran Shahid’s program in Front line. Why did you keep on waiting to be invited and provided a forum? Social media is open to everyone. you could have shown the proofs on any forum.. Well since you faced the music what I understood that you were preparing this Drama which you considered so called proof. You didn’t have any right to fool the Pakistani nation.You claimed that you were the one who solved the problems of those women who were badly rapped and you got them married. How can we believe this Maya that it was not all your drama and all the victims were only the professional actors.
Maya! you have once again played with our emotions. Please no more crocodile tears..Recommend
LATEST:::It was a fake program so please stop all nonsense under the circumstances…..
All actors were paid and they came on TV to support Maya Khan stance…….Amazing story telling the truth in our Parks…….Recommend
My recent Email to ARY
Salman Iqbal CEO ARY,
Dear Salman,
I understand ARY is hiring MAYA Khan. Please note that Maya Khan was let go (or fired?) by Samaa TV for refusing to offer an unconditional apology and nothing has changed.
By hiring her are you sending a message to others that to behave badly to increase ratings is okay, and it does not matter if you get fired, someone bigger will be standing in line to hire you?
I am copying the over 5,500 individuals and organizations who supported me on the initial petition. I will copy them on your response as well.
Best
Ali Taj
http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/10449/maya-khan-apology-not-accepted/Recommend
Leave Maya Khan alone!!! Get a life of ur ownRecommend
Very well written article, its not an article its big loudy slap on Maya’s face
GOOD WORK MEHREENRecommend
Why she is interfering with personal life of others.Recommend
she was just worried about the ratings lol.. such a stupid stupid show.. what was she thinking??Recommend
@Moderate:
Well brother it is absolutely evident that you have completely lost your way and confused yourself in this argument. Teaching OUR children morals and forcing your opinion of morals on complete strangers or even relatives are two completely different and unrelated things. The writer was addressing the latter. And what she says holds true be it you are a teacher or a mullah at the mosque. The bottom line is i dont need you to teach me what is right or wrong. go find a better hobby like coin collecting or swatting flies. What you think is moral is your opinion ( and you better accept that instead of throwing islam at me ) so lets just live in peace and let others do what they feel is right for them as long as their doing it does not put others in harms way. YOU only should have one moral code which is BE GOOD TO OTHERS.Recommend
who cares, stop interfering in everyones bussiness
I live in Canada and it would be so wrong to do this here!Recommend