Amaan Ramazan; More of a fatuous entertainment show than a Religious one

There comes a time once every year when the female television show hosts bring out their dupattas, mulvis re-dye their beards and the finest shalwarein kameezein are brought out. If you are Pakistani, you must understand where I’m going with this although the title of the blog pretty much gives it away. Yes, I am talking about none other then the month of Ramazan when the Muslim in each of us awakens and our religious duties, previously being neglected, become extremely important to us. This awakening not only takes place among the general population of the country but also on television where ramazan transmissions take their toll and the before dancing-with-celebrities tv hosts, become all too spiritual and use words like “rehmatein” and “bartkatein” constantly while adjusting their dupattas which they didnt have to bother with before.

Among these transmissions one clearly stands out and the man hosting this show is, lets use a cliched phrase here, “the newest sensation gripping the nation”. Truly, Amir Liaquat, former minister and member of Mutahida Qaumi Movement(MQM), is the newest celeberity of Pakistan facing the right amount of criticism and the right amount of praise making him the most popular man on tv after Fawad Khans role as Ashar in the television show Humsafar. Now some may have noticed how the word ‘Doctor’ does not precede Amir Liaquats name here. For those very few who believe that it should, take a quick look at Amir Liaquats wikipedia page which is by far one of the most hilarious things I have come across due to one ‘green shoes’ issue, you will notice how in 2006 the higher education commission revealed Amir Liaquats degree as fake and that our dear host does not even posess a valid bachelors degree. Amir Liaquats true fame began when videos of him were released and which became viral within hours as the ‘religious scholar’ (cough) was seen using profanities and other such R-rated phrases.

This year Amir Liaquat has again come out during the month of ramazan, with his tv show titled ‘Amaan Ramazan’ with his cleverly shaven beard and strategically stitched clothes which let him run, walk and jump among the crowds of people fighting for the mans attention, in order to entertain or as he likes to call it ‘benefit’ the Pakistani population. Amir Liaquat has not only gained a huge audience but a large part of air-time with his huge set which accomodates around 200 to 300 people, maybe more. The man has reached our twitter accounts, our facebook statuses and general conversation thereby increasing his popularity by a hundred times.

In order to write this blog and unveil the secret behind the Amir Liaquats success, I set out to see what magic the man really carried by placing myself in front of a television screen after iftar and awaiting the torture that followed ahead. Surprisingly, none of the torture i had imagined ensued but rather some minutes of entertainment and a few laughs.The part of the show I bore witness to showed the man travelling through the audince which seemed to be hurtling itself onto the man who was being followed by an army of people carrying shopping bags containing gifts such as cell phones and clothes and God knows what else, which were to be distributed among the people. Amir Liaquat raises his hands as if to say ‘i come bearing gifts’ and begins asking simple Islamic questions. The person to answer correctly recieves the aforementioned gifts. Amir Liaquat brilliantly manages the crowd and keeps them captivated by calling peoples bluffs who try to get gifts twice, by making fun of a young boy but in the end gifting him the motorcycle he wants and by asking men what they will do with the lawn dress being given to them.