British Pakistanis protest against BBC's 'Secret Pakistan' by Murtaza Ali Shah

http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=78762&Cat=2

BBC blasted in protest against 'Secret Pakistan'




Murtaza Ali Shah
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
LONDON: A large number of British Pakistanis gathered outside the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Monday afternoon to condemn the broadcast of 'Secret Pakistan' -- a two parts series which alleged that Pakistan is involved in harbouring Taliban militants in Afghanistan and questioned Pakistan's commitment in the "war against terror".

Pakistan has officially protested the "bias" in the "Secret Pakistan" and hundreds of British Pakistanis have written to the BBC, accusing the public-funded broadcast organisation of being involving in propaganda against Pakistan and ignoring the sacrifices of Pakistanis in the "war against terror".

Organised by the British Pakistani Youth Council (BPYC), the demonstration was attended by mostly students and youth workers, who alleged the documentary was biased.

BPYC leader Kamran Ishtiaq said: "The documentary was a clever collection of vague excerpts of the interviews to maliciously portray a hard pressed country to create a picture whereby it is seen by the viewers of the documentary as the reason behind all the troubles in Afghanistan and the human losses. Attribution of British soldiers' casualties in Afghanistan to a country that had itself suffered thousands of lives of its own citizens in the war against terrorism.

Tariq Daar, community leader from Willesden Green Pakistan Association said British Pakistani taxpayers were appalled that their money was used by the BBC to malign Pakistan and its institutions. Lord Nazir Ahmed of Rotherham wrote to the BBC stating the "Secret Pakistan" has stirred "immense concern and disappointment in the British Pakistani community for what has been perceived by viewers of Pakistani descent as blatant discrimination towards Pakistan and her governing institutions."

The BBC confirmed last week that it had received more than 100 written complaints but in an astonishing move it disabled its complaints page as hundreds took to the the complaints page to protest the broadcast of the film. A spokesperson told The News that the page was brought down because the visitors were making complaint about the same topic, i.e. "Secret Pakistan".

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