Sahir Lodhi is at it again. Stirring up controversy for how he treats contestants on his show. This wouldn’t be the first time, but this time some Netizens are demanding that Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority get involved.
In a recent episode of his game show, two contestants were competing in the semi-finals for a poetry stand-off. When one of the contestants iterated a verse by John Elia, Sahir Lodhi raised a question about the poetry.
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Even the judges voiced doubts about whether the stanza was correct and indeed the work of Urdu poet John Elia. However, rather than Google-ing it and clearing the air, they spent well over a minute trying to strong-arm the contestant, asking him;
“What does that even mean?”
An effort was not made to determine the accuracy but Sahir Lodhi was rather rude towards the young man.
One Twitter user even called this ill-treatment, bullying. While physical bullying often catches the eye of the public, verbal bullying is often wept aside. Gaslighting and having people doubt the accuracy of something they know is right, is just one example.
PEMRA should take action against it @reportpemra – it’s bullying pic.twitter.com/cT4csSqi9L
— Shiraz Hassan (@ShirazHassan) April 30, 2021
Bullying is crime. Even hamari universities me kai teachers b es sy "mrhzooz" hoty hain.
I guess Urdu isn't contestants mother tongue but he's right. Even judges aren't aware of the verses.
— ilyasabasi🌍 (@ilyasabbasi) April 30, 2021
Netizens are not standing for this behavior.
Host and judges should be ashamed and penalised
— Arif Shamim (@ashamim123) April 30, 2021
Judges check krien 🤷
— . (@farhanamin811) April 30, 2021
Plenty asserted how the contestant was in the right.
— Fahad Desmukh (@desmukh) April 30, 2021
Correct shair:
Gaahe gaahe bs ab yehi ho kya,
Tum say mil kar boht khushi ho kya,(Slees urdu of 2nd line; tum say mil kar boht khushi honi chahiye kia mujhe). Sawaliya guftagu hai.
— Owais Abbasi (@Owaisiiii) April 30, 2021
یہ بچہ ٹھیک پڑھ رھا ھےhttps://t.co/xtbk0QgwEF
— Shafik Faruki (@ShaFari65) April 30, 2021
Listen directly from jon elia voice.
https://t.co/imh7Qm7Tye— Muhammad Anwar Fareid Gondal (@AnwarFareid) April 30, 2021
— Sammar Baloch (@BalochSammar) April 30, 2021
This is right sherr.. this shuttle man thinks himself if some type of god
— Rubab (@Rubab) April 30, 2021
https://twitter.com/AliMirTo/status/1388059907073757185
Then there were those trying to fight fire with fire.
Valid point I was also wondering why judges are not speaking us and just try to make Zehar Lodhi happy.
— Waseem Abbasi (@Wabbasi007) April 30, 2021
Saahir jese ch***ya is mehfil mai bethay hotay to kuch baeed nahi k keh bhi detay Jon sahab ap nay ghalat parha kiun k humain samajh nai aaya
— Owais Abbasi (@Owaisiiii) April 30, 2021
Lilliputians chalay gaye minion ko chor gaye
— TerracottaWarrior (@SyedKhawarmehdi) April 30, 2021
Sahir Lodhi is a turd.
— A.D (@AdeelShk) April 30, 2021
Twitter even got PEMRA involved. Can PEMRA do anything about a rude host? Well when PEMRA does not allow anyone to ridicule or humiliate others in the garb of satire, then it’s likely not acceptable if it isn’t a satire.
Public complaints against content should normally get PEMRA to take action. However, that is for the watchdog to decide.
https://twitter.com/ZiggyDust2020/status/1388001790239678466
Others called out the judges lack of knowledge to have settled the issue.
Even the judges don't know.. jesa anchor wese judges
— Usman Paracha (@usman_pracha) April 30, 2021
https://twitter.com/_Wajahat/status/1388015149601071104
The easiest route when you’re in the wrong is a heartfelt apology and efforts to do better. So will this matter be wrapped up with an apology?
@sahirlodhi Apologize to the participants and urdu literaries on screen, you stupid thing
— Samosa (@Samosafied) April 30, 2021
Now he will come up with an apologetic video 🤦
— Aadeel Bilal Qazi (@ADEELBILAL) April 30, 2021
Others don’t get what the big deal is. Some even called getting PEMRA involved was excessive.
You don't like Sahid lodhi. I also dislike him. But here he politely asked whether this makes sense gramatically or not? Where is bullying in it?
— Abdul Nasir (@nasircpo) April 30, 2021
Lol. Why should PEMRA take action against it? It's not bullying. He said it's upto judges.
— A. (@atiquemangla1) April 30, 2021
This aint bullying, yes SL can be corrected but this is not any bullying
— Aisha Randhawa (@HariMirchein) April 30, 2021
While being rude isn’t a crime, this was a semi-final in a competition. This whole ordeal did affect the contestant’s performance review even though he was not in the wrong.
Only some 8% of Pakistanis are native Urdu speakers. Yet people are ridiculed for having an accent or an unimpressive vocabulary in the language. How about we appreciate those that make an effort to keep the language alive by promoting art and literature such as in poetry competitions.
Let us know what you think in the comment section.