Moin Akhtar, Anwar Maqsood and Karachi Literature Festival - Shehzad Ghias -  

I am from India, mostly watched Moin sir's work. And the satire skit he did was not to make fun or ridicule Bengalis, instead he making fun and ridicule of Pakistani administration and government. It was a satire and I can see that clearly. Lack of understanding of sarcasm and satire but new gen wokiyas is a problem. Target was clearly Pakistani Adminstration, government and policies.

Shahazad ghayas sahab.. it seems u didnt watch that bengali episode, its available on youtube and go watch it pls.. even bengalis of india and bangladesh have praised that episode.. instead of insulting bandladesh , they showed mirror to pakistani nation , its politicians and establishment.. your comments on that show are enough to gather that how “well informed “ you are

In case of that “Bengali act” by Moin Akhtar, I would say that - He might have smeared his face black and that might look de meaning, however, things he says through that character… sarcastic and all … is perhaps the sharpest criticism of attitude of Pakistanis !!!

A so called stand up comedian having the kind of jokes he has cracked is trying to criticise a comedian's past acts is funny in itself.

He calls himself comedian and yet couldn't understand that Bengali humour.

Ironic that the panel recommending that "Comedy should not be used to make fun of any group of people" contains Mustafa and Murtaza Chaudhary who coined the term "imrando" for PTI fans, a derogatory slur word. Yet we have more outrage on caricatures of 20 years back rather than introspecting on what the panel is doing themselves. I will respect you when you call out your friends over the same. And dont come up with the punch up bullshit because it is clearly punching down over the common PTI fans

Shehzad bhai agar aap ko bhi moin akhter ki satire samajh nai ai to afreen hai yaar. Moin akhter was not making fun of Bengalis, he was making fun of us. Please watch that show again.

As a pakhtun, thanks for speaking for us. These ppl think mocking our accent is funny. Its not.

Your first mistake was to have free thought. Second mistake was adding rationality to it. Third mistake was building political opinion in your head. Fourth mistake is expressing your opinions publicly. Aisa karogay, to YE TO HOGA!

Wasn't Murtaza Chaudhary the same person who started calling PTI followers imrando,what about 4 men show,they also made fun of Pathans and Sikhs, Murtaza Chaudhary continuously make fun of Pathans on ARY. Now they are trying to become saints.dont forget your past.

At the same time you were sitting with the Chaudhry comedians who themselves mimic everyone including ppl like Anwer Maqsood..

So I'm completely aligned with your point of view. We absolutely need to revisit the way we represent people of all our different ethnicities and many more problematic representations in our media today. I agree that today loose talk wouldn't (shouldn't) work. But after listening to this I went back to watch the loose talk episode of the Bengali cricketer. Blackface problematic, accent cringe worthy. But the content of the episode felt centred around praising Bangladeshi achievements and how far they'd come compared to Pakistan.

thank you shahzad for acting sane in this religious lunatic society! thank you for being our voice! Anwar not just ridiculed bengolis and pathans but sindhis too!

im sorry really dont get these guys, at one hand they are blaming legends like Moin Akhtar and Anwar Maqsood for being racist, but in their own show they do that and at times they do dirty comedies which cannot be watched with the families, secondly its now a fashion by some so called leftiest to critiziced every body for every thing, and called themselved INTELLECTUALS, i dare these ppl specially these 02 brother to say these things in front of Moin and Anwar sb when they were alive, not easy to critizise dead ppl, as they are not their defend and debate

I m an Indian fair skinned bengali. I am not at all offended by anwar maqsood, this is American education effect.

That was sarcasm that's why he was performing like that. Please understand the difference

Its a south Asian mentality..Even in India it is like that. Thanks for bringing that 👍

Could you please share your sources about Shakespeare being considered 'low-brow'? I am a student of English Literature. Elizabeth I herself watched Shakespeare's play. Back in the late 16th century, when she opened public theater where Shakespeare was performed, it was partly because she wanted to propagate English language. Shakespeare was the leading figure giving new expressions to English language. The theatres goers included all classes of England, with the elites sitting at the best places. However, Shakespeare was often despised by the literati of the time for not following the classical dramatic norms because at that time france was considered a 'master' to be immitated (if that is what you mean by low-brow) Afterwards, that is during the restoration period, the English literati began to develop their 'national literature'. The figures like John Dryden and Samuel Johnson placed Shakespeare as towering figure.

Hats off to you guys- Chaudhry brothers and yourself for all the work you are doing in Pakistan which is no less than minefield for critical ideas today! As far as the "legends" are concerned, we should absolutely call out for the wrongs they have done however with due regards to the milieu and context they were operating in. For instance, this big no-no for stereotyping peoples was not as much in vogue back then when Moin Akhtar was doing Loose Talk however as you said and I agree, we should definitely resort to constructive criticism speaking about public personalities like MA and their work regardless of their being alive or dead. Best wishes!

Shehzad, it’s really tough battle. A lot of respect for you doing great job. Spreading awareness in such suffocated and closed environment. Always worth listening! Keep going on and take care!

Trivia::: Azra Mohyeddin is Zia Mohyeddin Sb's wife.

Where can we watch the full stream of the talk with you guys on klf. It's not on their RU-vid page. Please guide.

Shahzad you have NOTHING to worry about. Masha Allah you taught me to think out of the box and actually question our people, our leaders and both sides of the coin. I also got shunned by my family when I asked them questions about Imran Khan and later learned that question Karna is not wrong. You're teaching people to question and that's beautiful my brother

We've made our own idols and don't want to listen to anything against them. A critical discourse doesn't mean you're belittling someone. It may be argued the way a critical analysis is carried out but critical thinking has always been imperative in a society's progress for good.

Where can i see the full sitting here on RU-vid?

Loved you and chaudhry braadraan at KLF. Hats off to you.

A good friend is one who corrects you when you are wrong. I also feel that you got a little emotional in your response that made you sound a little rude. Just my observation. Maybe i do not recall the episode 100% but I think the episode was about "typical Pakistani mentality" of a Bangladeshi person. This includes perception of how they look and what they think of him. And on the other hand Moin Akhter was teaching him how to conduct himself without prejudice and showing Pakistanis their real face by dropping some truth bombs. Some of them I recall: We have more exports. We are more educated and giving people more and more education. You don't need to talk on behalf of Bangladeshi people. We are enough. Double standard of Pakistanis where they only talk about topics where they are doing better than Bangladesh. How Bangladesh is better off than Pakistan.

You did not let that woman express her case and harangued her down.

Basically the crux of the video is dominance of urdu culture in Pakistan arts cinema and dramas. It has nothing to do with bangali, pashtoons, blacks, balochs, kanjars, amanat chand, 80’s treatment of women in pakistan, zia ul haq n all. They dont know how to say this urdu dominance, so they have selected urdu prominent artists and start criticizing their work and then in the mean time tell his message that ‘speaking clean urdu shouldn’t be a criteria in theatres, cinemas and dramas’. And i think its a good marketing strategy because it is appealing to 80% of the non urdu speaking population if pakistan.

Production houses in Pakistan have always made a lucrative business out of ridiculing pushtunz and stereotyping them.....

By the way, shehzad, that episode of loose talk where moin akhtar plays a bengali cricketer, is a pure satire. What you probably have not noticed that moin akhtar parodies the sterortypical point of view from our side. He performed the character as it is stereotypified and perceived. And as a clue, listen again to Anwar maqsood. I am rather surprised by your interpretation waisay.

Well done Shehzad . Requires guts to do .. Keep it up . I might disagree with things said on India but I think Pakistan needs individuals like you .

You know, I totally get what you're saying. Do we have a history of problamatic content and to an extent state driven content to mold and shape minds? Even if some folks nitpick about how things were visually portrayed or treated, it's really about digging into the meat of the content, right? That commentary on what's has been going on between the two countries was seriously spot-on. And man, that character had layers. It was like peeling back the layers of an onion, seeing how years of oppression and trauma can really mold someone's sense of self. And that whole bit about the inferiority complex? It hit home. As a comedian yourself, im sure you could see the tongue-in-cheek humor and the deeper message behind it all. It wasn't just about poking fun; it was about making us think. Now imagine all the other comedy done on expanse of other in our society and look at MA sahab. He knew what he was doing and years ahead!❤

Your efforts in raising awareness have been remarkable, and we are lucky to have people like you. I've witnessed your journey to this point. Avoid getting involved in unnecessary controversies and wasting your energy and potential in debates. You've made your point clear. In a society as diverse as ours, burdened with oversimplified beliefs, lot of fault lines, and misguided notions, achieving unanimous agreement is never possible.

I am not saying that anwar maqsood is never derogatory, but your reading of bengali episode of loose talk is not accurate.

You are a thoughtful, honest, intelligent and caring young man. This old Pashtoon lady hereby adopts you as her grandson! Your podcasts are such a pleasure to watch, you always give us something to think about! ❤

Very good video, I fail to understand why people are mad at you.

Shahzad.... i am your follower. However that show actually is a satire directed towards us. How west Pak. was busy making fun of their height, colour and language and the Bangalis got rid of religious extremism, educated their masses lived a simply life and.....won the real race.

Wow….what a mature n sensible talk…..absolutely loved it. Can’t believe it’s coming from a person who doesn’t know how to give respect to some of his guests and sole reason to invite is to make mockery of them (cf. “bheja fry”)

Shahzad is right. If we don't learn from the mistakes of the "legends", hum is hi tarah zaleel hote rahenge.

Applying woke concepts of 2024 on performances of yesteryear isn't correct IMO. Lots of things said back then won't fly today (let it be us or western entertainment industry). The core of moeen and umer sharif's presentation was mostly family friendly and saaf suthri.

Sir please watch the whole episode of that...that comedy is far better than today's 18+ jokes by most comedians

Shahzad, you have missed the point all together. I just watch that program, which is entirely different from what you were describing. The Bangali character was presented as a much better human being than any pakistani of the day. Besides, why do you have such an annomosity towards urdu. Certain character force urdu on Bengal was their mistake and short coming. I really like your program but will be disappointed if you have hidden hate for urdu language just because. Except for early days of pakistan, when urdu speaking immigrants were running the state, Punjabi and sindhi have been running this country, and I have no problem with that as long as they move country forward. It doesn't matter who and what language one speaks at home. Please pay respect their heritage

Where can I find the link to the whole KLF discourse?

This is what british do it with Irish as well. Very good 👍

Excellent narrative, much eloquently expressed. We need not to ridicule our diversity but to celebrate it. 👍

You r not only intelligent but also great intellectual...

Bravo! You are a rare voice of sanity in this lunatic asylum. All strength to you.

Indian here btw, I'm have seen the video you guys are discussing & I guess a lot of other Indians have seen it as well. The video states the ongoing degradation of Pakistan (the video's old I know) compared to Bangladesh; however, the black face was uncalled for, the accent was okay, I have heard similar accent on our side of the border as well. I agreed with both of you & thought you both could have discussed it differently maybe..just a thought.

I agree with you. While jokes are often meant in good humor, they can unintentionally insult people from other nations. -a trend that started in the early 1980s and persists today. This includes figures like Moin Sahib, Anwar Maqsood Sahib, and Iftikhar Thakur. Therefore, we should reconsider our approach to comedy, focusing on improving it without offending other nations. Additionally, we need to appreciate new generation like Shehzad.

Shehzad Bhai you never fail to amaze me with your clarity and wit. Started following you after the whole Muzamil podcast viral clips. Please keep doing what you do. JazakAllah and I hope you find the strength to keep standing for facts and morality.

First of all I don’t see any reason to explain or apologize for the views put forward, I agree we should always examine the art or other work which impacts people’s sensitivities. What was surprising in the interaction about Moin Akhtar was the participant was constantly justifying his work specially where there is blatant stereotyping and narrative reflective of our bigoted elite mindset. I agree Moin Akhtar was a great artist and has elevated the stature of anwar maqsood too, however with times we evolve and learn our sensitivities change, we can not denigrate other ethnicity’s or create a stereo typical narrative. Very unfortunate to see this interaction at a literary festival where we should allow a diverse discourse which takes all the sensitivities in account …

Jiye Shahzad Ghias. Always coming up with some good material. Allah aap ko aur tofeeq de. Ameen 🙌

I think Shehzad shb you and your so called friends did it and one of you also make fun of Aleema khan i didn't expect that kind of language against woman from you guys,,hamy app is channel prr women rights btatay ho or khud apka friend Auratt ki insult karr raha hai

Sir this klf episode is deleted?? From there channel

Dear Brother, always felt that u r a deep thinker...this video is the evidence of it...Lots of Love from India ❤

Aleema khan ka mazaq ap log beth kr bna rhy thy us time yad nhe aya ky wo bi kisi ki Maa bhn hain.

Not that you needed to provide an explanation because those who know you understand where you were coming from, and those who are targeting you won't change their opinion after all this too because that isn't their goal. But I feel like it couldn't have been explained better. I was surprised to find out that Azra ma'am was the one who asked that question but as you said, sometimes our association with the person being discussed does cloud our judgement. It couldn't have been explained better than your comparison to what's happening in Israel currently. While we seem to (rightly) be offended by that, we are unable to see how wrong it was to perpetuate the same stereotypes after committing a genocide. I have seen friends and relatives say some horrible things about Bengalis as mere jokes too because content like that made it acceptable. When you make an ethnicity into a gag, that normalizes the idea of people ridiculing them. Thank you for this video and keep doing what you do! 👏

Shehzad, you are intelligent, an intellectual and a guy with very high sensitivity and good sensibilities . Your explanation is awesome without being guilty or doing any wrong whatsoever. Actually such observations and debates increase sensitivity and sensibilities in our society . I am an ardent fan of Moin Akhtar - Anwar Maqsud duo . Possibly best actor - script writer duo of subcontinent. Undoubtedly they have entertained millions and quality of their humour was serene and pristine, 90 to 95 % of time . Yes they are legends but not God . Moin Bhai performed both roles , one of BD cricketer and second of a Bengali cook so well , in fact the script of Bengali cook had something in the favour of victims but one that of BD cricketer was only little short of derogatory. Till now I enjoyed on acting of Moin Bhai but after listening to your this podcast, I felt that my enjoyment was tainted . Thanks for what you are

Great Analysis. I hope some day you look into the fact that the biggest casualty of northern punjabi establishment has been the punjabi culture and language. Punjabi is a language that a vast majority of its speaker don’t know how to read or write.There is now a disturbing strand of reactionary punjabi nationalism simmering in some quarters.

Bro full episode Kha hai KLF ka ?

I watched that video live.....you and your colleagues answered beautifully...most crowd tried to heckle you but you responded with grace

This is such an important video.. your response at KLF was so apt... good work shahzad

More power to Shahzad. ❤ You always have a fresh perspective on old stereotypes which i always find rational. Love you.

Please share the link of klf video

Well, interesting discussions, but your categorization of victim and perpetrator arguments doesn't work in every case. Moreover, you don't need references of other conflicts in order to explain 1971 Fall of Dhaka to your people. Now tell me how you would fit your victim vs. perpetrators analogy in case of Yemen genocide ( 376000 casualties as per 2021 UN report)or Iran-Iraq genocide ( 1 million civilian casualties).

Excellent commentary. We are fundamentally a racist society. I dont blame Bangladesh going there own way.

Shehzad shb then why Mustafa make fun of Aleema khan app tou aurrat k right ki barri batty karty hou orr app abb Mustafa ko Defend krr raha hai Or Mustafa nai bhi Aleema khan prr fun kiyaa hai mazak bnaya unkko

This is true as today we will consider many jokes from the old series Fawlty Towers and Friends to be racist and homophobic. BTW it’s Pathaan and not Phataan

Grow up people take jokes as a joke. If you dont have humer for the joke dont watch or listen the joke. Moyeen akhtar did brilliantly his jokes i am pretty sure he didnt do that part to piss out of bungalies or pushtoons. Please we need humer to forget our day to day tensions from life or work or family.

once again thought provoking, since you have studied the subject you can critically analyse the content and since i have not studied the subject (or thought about on who is the target of the joke) i never realised if there is something wrong, but the kind of explanation you give in this video gives me a point around which some thinking should happen

punjabis on the boath side of the border have deep racist mindsetup here in india they also use mirasi, chudha, kanjar etc words in derogatory terms.

Shehzad could you please reference the episode that you are talking about?

Moin Akhtar ke Banglai walee video dekh lo aur comments b prh lo, Bangalis ko us video se koe problem nae hae but apko bht issues haen us se.....

Wonderful effort by you and the Chaudhry brothers. I am wondering how that man from Audience sitting at a literary festival and his criticism and questions were very much below the belt with no respect and he was using the words like sofa geela hojae ga. It was evident that he was out of any manners and may be he was not raised properly. This topic turned into a taboo. I remember the conversation of Khush Bakht Shujaat almost a decade ago on PTV with Ammar Masood on which she openly ridiculed Gulabi Urdu and was saying openly that Punjabis have no right to speak Urdu as they can't pronounce it well. Yet, the same Khush Bakht Shujaat was associated with MQM and yet called herself Urdu Daan when her entire conversation was not even in a single Urdu language but a mix of English and Urdu. I had 1000 observations and case studies like this but did not have enough time to share them publicly through social media. I completely endorse your stance and efforts to correct the concepts of Pakistanis and discuss taboo topics. Keep up your good work and never hesitate to such criticism.

I think human nature is not pushed to extreme by comedians but by the Imperialists, politicians and bureaucracy....but no one questions them.. They question comedians 👏👏

Shahzad I heard that lady from audience she will be hurt and object to a Israeli dress up as Palestinian and make fun of Palestine...but when u said it's holds true if you make fun of Bengali...she says no no he didn't mean that...she was so wrong...good u called that out

In pathan character moin akhtar didn't ridicule pathans, he just simply copy the life of pathan,

Shezad you are looking through critical way that is good,now that the time to speak up freely. Good job...

I love the part where he pointed racism against Punjab

This is how punjabi establishment have been launching their own trained intellectual both in religious and political arena to belittle and suppress those writings and contents which removes the veil of so called protectors and defenders of pakistan, pakistanis in general have never been respectful to those who actually made us proud globally.

Great show sir

I am a big fan of this chap's work as a scientist. Even though when the left denounces some of his repulsive work e.g. bad words for women by nadeem farooq paracha in a live show; that is perceived as humor by the left. Shehzad has referred to criticism by the liberal left on many occasions by literally calling it as 'sastay tarek fatah'.

Literature Festival turned into a political debate. Why do we need to politicize everything? We need to expedite a proper education and true history in Pakistan and then perhaps we may see the tolerance being born and spread in Pakistan 🇵🇰🙏

Shehzad you're on the right side of History, enjoy your journey

One more thing that needs to be remembered also is that of course there will be jokes, here and there, ethnicities may come in the way, or genders, or races, but the fact that needs to be addressed is the targeted denigration of certain sects of the society. Yet one needs to be careful that this whole conversation can be very easily turned around by the same targeting institution by taking advantage of the victimhood card, like here in the USA any questions being raised over the highly confusing gender issue being cancelled.

Pakistanis still love this type of humour and they also love creating idols and putting them on a pedestal. You guys were on the right in this discourse and point of view and your reply relating the situation to Palestinians was excellent. Keep pushing 🙌

Good Explanation Bro ❤👏 Keep it up good work.

true, at least someone has pointed out that

full bright leftist ,just tell me the educational ,and economical background of moin akhtar ,u criticise a person without mentioning his perspective ,just to prove that u have master degree and u know everything ..

Let's let Anwar Maqsood, who is perfectly able to defend his intention or not. And no one is infallible though it's better to criticize those that are alive to defend themself. All should also strive to be tolerant.

Well done shehzad, you are absolutely right

Good to see hard conversations are being had, it is courageous and hop it continues. It would be better, in my opinion that it be organic, having seen all those high ideals like freedom of religion and no racism, and freedom of speech are selective and therefore hollow.

Moin akhtar sahib is my all tim favourite but now i agreed wid u shahzad that we make our favourities like a God ....we do mistakes n we have to talk on such topics ,we should learn from these mistakes.u r very bold to talk on such bold topics....

Your comment about Shakespeare isn't totally correct...

That woman was zia mohiuddin sahab wife and she herself is an actor, shame on you people who call vulgar, 18+ stand ups as culture

Bro., society has changed for worst. This is rampant everywhere, particularly in South Asia. The political class is not interested in pure comedy but are interested in their political dividend.

That is what I say to people and get criticized for... No one should be above criticism and criticism in no way means that you hate the person you are criticizing. Critical thinking has become a sin in this society. We really need to open up our minds.

Racism to be honest kuch lagta he nahi ha hamey but because of people like you, Muzammil shah and many more are literally changing people minds to the positive. ❤

Well done, Shahzad!