We thought we had seen everything on television screens and we are surprised by this unlikely program. Is being audience leader in Pakistan a television program that “gives away” abandoned babies to couples without children.
The program is titled "Amaan Ramzan" ("Peace in Ramadan") and is a special version of the religious entertainment program that Hussain presents throughout the year in the Geo network, a contest with several awards. And among the appliances the babies have strained.
Aamir Liaquat Hussain is the controversial television presenter who, between telepredicator and media star, stars in this program and defends it fervently in the face of criticism. But what is the context that has led to the emergence of a space of these characteristics, unthinkable in our environment?
In Pakistan every day babies are abandoned, for various reasons (lack of resources to support them, too many children, unwanted girls, babies out of wedlock ...), although according to UNICEF there are no reliable statistics on the abandonment of children in a country in which there is no regulation on homologous adoption to that of the western states.
There is an NGO, the Chhipa Charity Association, which in this country takes care of these abandoned children who have closed adoption, since it is not legally regulated in Pakistan. How adoption is contrary to Islamic lawWhen there is a case of a child without parents and someone who wants to take care of him, he goes to a judge to ask for his guard and custody.
Well, it is this same NGO in charge of abandoned children (dozens every month) that has decided to give children to the television program to find parents in this way "circus".
Make a circus of a painful reality
The famous presenter is right when he wonders what would be of those abandoned babies, if it will not be their best future with those parents who wish to have children and cannot. And you may be right. In favor of this we have that babies are not delivered to the first to pass, but that couples without children are interviewed and shortlisted to give "the prize".
But what does not seem ethical to me is that this great problem that exists in the country wants to make a circus, publicly exposing the babies and considering them “the trophy” as if it were a ham, corticos or an apartment in Torrevieja .
In fact the babies are delivered in the context of a program in the style of "The right price", where there are several prizes for the contestants, from washing machines, microwaves, motorcycles to ... babies.
Nor does it seem ethical to me to take advantage of the feelings of parents who are usually of a low social and cultural level to also expose them on television. Because they don't know that they will receive a child live.
That they make this whole unfair context a morbid spectacle for the sake of the struggle for the audience rather than for the welfare of the children. Because if the end is that, Can't it be done in a discreet way, preserving the privacy of those affected, legally binding all the ends?
Because if adoption lacks a legal framework here, does the “donation” be accepted? (I don't know what to call it, really). What if with these children if the laws change in the future? Are the parents really right for the child? With what criteria have they been chosen?
But of course, if this whole process were done in private then a show would be lost that gives such good audience data on the screens. And this is the result of the liberalization of television in Pakistan and the struggle of audiences between the networks.
In defense of the program ...
Faced with the controversy that this contest has aroused internationally (also some critical voices dare to be shown in Pakistan) the presenter Aamir Liaquat Hussain has raised his voice defending his program. For him, tireless speaker, explicit and showman (which calls itself "doctor" although it lacks such a title) is nothing but "a show of sublime love":
We have created a symbol of peace and love, that is the motto of our show, to extend love. I am giving an example. Deliver an abandoned child to a couple without children.
In short, both Hussain and the NGO that cares for babies defend the program as a way to make people aware that you cannot "abandon children as if they were animals" and a way to give children a better future. abandoned
Of course, from the NGO they say that there is no money in between, and that they will continue delivering abandoned babies to the program “as long as they are asked”.
In short, we are facing a sample of a painful reality that has no blush in showing itself publicly in a way that is quite doubtful legally and in my view objectionable.
It is not bad that he has jumped into the media, because that is how we know that every day babies are abandoned (especially girls) in a country that does not do much to avoid this situation or to ensure the rights of children. Although I don't know if it will help much for the world to echo this ...
It shows everything and it really is not the interest and welfare of the baby that prevails, but other issues. Everything is for the audience, until give away an abandoned baby in a television contest. What will be next?
Official Site | Amaan Ramazan Geo TV Photo | Mark Sebastian on Flickr-CC Image | Boltay Sitaray In Babies and more | Pregnant women looking for a partner in a controversial reallity, teenage mothers on television, help or morbid?
