Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Pakistan television show dubbed 'the Islamic Price is Right' gives away orphaned babies in battle to win Ramadan ratings

Aamir Liaquat Hussain, the host of talk show 'Amaan Ramazan', has given away two abandoned babies so far during the holy month

Rob Williams
Thursday 25 July 2013 16:00 BST
Comments
Aamir Liaquat Hussain, the host of talk show “Amaan Ramazan”, has given away two abandoned babies so far during the holy month.
Aamir Liaquat Hussain, the host of talk show “Amaan Ramazan”, has given away two abandoned babies so far during the holy month.

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A prime-time Pakistan television show has given away two orphaned babies to childless couples in a bid to take the top slot in the Ramadan ratings war.

Aamir Liaquat Hussain, the host of talk show “Amaan Ramazan”, has given away two abandoned babies so far during the holy month.

"This is a beautiful girl who was thrown on pile of garbage by somebody," the controversial presenter says as he shows one of the babies to the camera before adding: "See how beautiful and innocent she is?"

According to The Telegraph, a head of the Chhipa Welfare Association, a Pakistan based NGO, then handed one of the baby to the couple.

Riaz-ud-din and his wife were one of the couples who received a baby.

Riaz-ud-din said: "These 14 years were full of hardships, people asked to go for second marriage but I remained patient and also asked my wife to be patient." According to 'The News' the couple named the child Fatima.

According to The Telegraph, Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa, the man who handed the babies over, said: "Often we just find the bodies so our message that we make is to tell people to bring their babies to us, don’t just leave them."

"Amaan Ramazan", which is produced by Geo News, is one of the most popular television programmes in Pakistan - despite the show often being accused of promoting extremist causes.

The show, which has adopted a lighter tone for Ramadan, boasts of 'soul-stirring experiences' and has been dubbed 'the Islamic Price is Right'.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in