Daily Times

Pakistanis are deeply religious people. The recent surge in religious television shows mirrors the growing religiosity amongst Pakistani citizens. Not just this, some of our beloved television show hosts oftentimes use religion to boost the viewership of their shows. At least that is what the television channels claim. Some of the religious shows’ hosts have literally become celebrities. That is why there is a visible increase in the number of religious television shows. However, unfortunately, some of these hosts are meant to do what they are doing on live television. One lady host is often seen on a morning show, trying to cast out evil spirits from people invited on to the show. Two other persons, supposedly masters of this secret art, run the whole show, with the host doing the live commentary. The poor actors often start smiling when they are no longer able to do the foolish acts they are told to do. The same lady once invited a couple to her show, who claimed that some sacred words had appeared on their foreheads and that God’s name often appeared on the chapatis (flatbread) the woman makes. Sadly for them, this tactic did not work. The couple was a fraud and they were later arrested by the police. However, nothing really happened. No one raised the question to the female host as to why she had invited frauds to her show. Did she know about them or did she do it purposely to boost her show’s viewership? However, the most dangerous implication of doing foolish things in the name of religion on live television is that people take it for real. That is because it is depicted as real.

Religion, which is a person’s personal matter, is being commercialised for vested interests, and it is surely not limited to the television set. This phenomenon is everywhere. The other day, I watched an advertisement that used a verse from the holy Quran in it — the product was actually a herbal medicine but the seller thought of using religion to attract more people. This tactic might be considered successful in the advertising world but religion is not a commercial entity — it is a person’s personal matter. Ramzan special transmissions have become a special feature during the holy month of Ramzan. Every channel tries to outrun the other by hosting a grand show with millions being spent every day.

Television channels often claim that television shows are designed according to public demand. However, there is no accurate measure of public demand in our country. The people’s meters are too few and far between to give an accurate measure of public demand. More than half of the people’s meters are in one city only and the whole of Balochistan doesn’t have a people’s meter. So, how do these channels measure public demand? At least I do not have a definite answer to this.

However, something that is easily understandable is that the corporate sector drives our media industry because it wants to sell its products, and television remains the perfect medium to advertise. That is why the relationship between the corporate sector and the media grows stronger every day. Even during these religious television shows, the sponsors are seen everywhere on the set. I have written previously that, “The corporate sector, besides sponsoring such programmes, has also jumped into this trend. Recently, a telecom company introduced a mechanism that keeps track of your good deeds through Twitter. I wonder if they are looking towards acquiring an outsourced contract from ‘upstairs’. Similarly, others are offering deals on Umrah and Hajj packages on the purchase of their products. One positive aspect, which seems to arise from all this, is that corporate and commercial entities carry out philanthropic activities to improve their standing. The viewers are also encouraged through these programmes to give charity and zakat. The atmosphere of Ramzan within our culture has entirely changed, as it now also represents fanfare and celebration along with religious responsibility.” Having written these words, I was bombarded with e-mails and tweets telling me that we have always had Ramzan transmissions and that, given the magnitude of today’s media, Ramzan and other religious programming was bound to increase. Having religious programmes is not problematic and I am certain that they have their own audience. However, selling soap, soda and mobile SIMs using religion is, I must confess, a little unpalatable. It is no wonder that with such a context, at a communications training workshop in Gujranwala, I was stumped when a young student talked about the importance of wearing an “Islamic shoe”. Confessing my ignorance, he went on to explain to me that a shoe that does not cover your foot is not Islamic. So good bye to khusas, sandals and peep toes!

Perhaps the public demand can be measured, if not from people’s meters but from the revenue generated by the corporate world, which drives the media industry. However, religion is not corporate nor does it need commercialisation. It should remain a personal matter because commercialisation of religion can have serious consequences, especially in a deeply religious country like Pakistan. Pakistani citizens see religion being commercialised from the pulpit of a mosque to the vendor in the market and to the beggar on the street every single day. Perhaps the media should take it easy on the people and let them decide for themselves what they want to buy.

The writer is a development consultant. She tweets at @GulminaBilal and can be reached at coordinator@individualland.com