Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) on Monday has issued a notice to Hum TV's drama 'Kitni Girhain Baaki Hain' for airing homosexual content in one of its episodes.
A notification issued by Pemra stated that the topic of homosexuality is against our social, ethical and societal norms and values due to which viewers lodged several complaints on Twitter asking PEMRA to take strict action against HUM TV.
ہم ٹی وی کے ڈرامہ "کتنی گرہیں باقی ہیں" میں "چیونگم" عنوان سے قسط میں ضابطۂ اخلاق کی خلاف ورزی پر پیمرا کا چینل کو 27فروری تک جوابدہی کا حکم pic.twitter.com/UT2j71WkoC
— Report PEMRA (@reportpemra) February 20, 2017
The notice stated that the episode, which aired on 29th January 2017, shows two female actors, Sania Saeed and Farah Shah linked in a romantic relationship -- a subject matter which was met with "extreme criticism" as it touches upon the taboo topic of homosexuality and was immediately deemed inappropriate.
The drama, being a telefilm, features a collection of missed love stories based on real life situations. The first season on aired in March 2011 and then followed by a second season in Oct 2016. However, the third season has caused quite an uproar among Pakistani viewers due to the objectionable content in 'Chewingum'.
The telefilm violated the PEMRA ordinance 2002, PEMRA amended Act 2007 and Electronic Media Ethical Code 2015.
The TV channel has been asked to clarify whether the drama has received foreign funding and what educational knowledge it is imparting on the viewers by airing such content and the purpose for highlighting this topic.
HUM TV has been given till 27th Feb 2017 to respond to the notice after which PEMRA will take action in its absence.
