Natasha Kundi On high recommendation of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Turkey’s Historic drama Diriliş: Ertuğul is being aired on PTV (Pakistan Television) dubbed in Urdu.
This is to make Pakistani audience aware of the glorious Ottoman Empire and how it once ruled over more than half of the world.
Most Pakistanis are loving the show as it’s a new thing for them.
We have also seen the Ertuğrul cast enjoying this newfound fame amongst Pakistani audience.
Unfortunately, some Turkish actresses have been subjected to abuse and moral policing by Pakistani trolls.
They can not tolerate the fact that these actresses are real life, modern women who are entitled to live life as they please.
Esra Bilgic, the Turkish actress who plays role of Halima Sultan (wife of Ertugrul), has mostly been bombarded with hateful comments.
Pakistanis have short memory because she was once praised for standing with Pakistan when Priyanka Chopra tweeted ‘Jai Hind’ at a sensitive time. A war was about to break between India and Pakistan and Chopra’s tweet openly encouraged it.
This is not the first time we have seen this kind of pattern.
I remember when Pakistani drama Humsafar was being aired, Mahira Khan received a lot of backlash for not being a real-life Khirad.
Someone floated Sanam Saeed’s private photos on social media when Zindaga Gulzar Hai was being aired. She was expected to be Kashaf in real life and this hasn’t stopped since then.
In pre social media days, we saw female celebrities like Anita Ayub and Komal Rizvi being subjected to similar hate. The media constantly harassed them for their bold choices.
People should learn how to differentiate between characters and real, private lives of actors.
In recent times, Ayeza Khan is still receiving negative comments for playing Mehwish in the ‘controversial’ drama Mere Paas Tum Ho. Mehwish leaves her loving husband for a rich man. Although this wasn’t an unknown subject, Khan being a famous actress, received a lot of hate.
I would have thought Pakistani people have no awareness of the outside world, but this happens to female Pakistani actresses all the time.
Growing up on PTV, I recall how we saw PTV at its peak. It was a golden era.
I also recall a drama based on the life of a famous warrior, Tipu Sultan, in the year 1997. If I jog my memory, I cannot recall a single drama based on Islamic history made since then.
Since the launch of private channels in the last 20 years, a whole generation has grown up seeing nothing but political talk shows, news about ‘War on Terror’ and dramas based on oppressed, helpless women.
I don’t blame this generation for being so toxic on social media. We have raised an entire generation by feeding them nothing but hate.
We have also seen people like actor-film maker Shaan Shahid, politician Sharmila Faruqi, and lawyer-activist Jibran Nasir criticising the airing of ‘international content’ like Ertugrul, but have our drama and film makers made anything that can reach the level of Ertugrul? No.
Coming back to the subject of Turkish actresses being harassed by Pakistani trolls, it’s appalling that they have not done any research on Turkey and how it has shaped into a modern country over the last one century.
Turkey is a vast, diverse country with people from many backgrounds. It’s a secular and a free country where people don’t police women’s choice of dressing.
Turkish people love Pakistan for days when it stood with Turkey in troublesome times. Making oneself aware of such a historic friendship is important to avoid harassment of this calibre.
