Zee Zindagi Served Legal Noticing for Airing Hum Tv’s Dastaan

Zee’s Zindagi channel is under fire for airing Pakistani drama serial Dastaan. As per Times of India, supposedly there are viewers who have claimed that the megahit drama serial by HUM Tv ‘Dastaan’ promoted Pakistan’s narrative of the partition.

It further stated that Broadcast Content Complaints Council (BCCC), headed by Justice Mukul Mudgal, has issued a notice to Zindagi and summoned its executives for a hearing on May 22, though a Zee official said they had not received the notice so far.

Times of India further reported that there are sources saying that the Information & Broadcast Ministry has not taken any action so far but has forwarded the complaints it received to the BCCC. Keeping in view the “sensitivity” of the matter, BCCC has asked the channel to respond to the complaints. The channel could be asked to modify the content or desist from re-telecast.

Dastaan was aired by Pakistan’s leading entertainment channel ‘HUM Tv’.
Dastaan is a love story in the backdrop of Partition based on author Razia Butt’s book Bano.
Dastaan was being aired on Zindagi channel after the name was changed to Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam. Dastaan stars Pakistani heartthrob Fawad Khan along with pretty Mehreen Raheel and soft spoken morning show host Sanam Baloch.

Dastaan has been co mpleely aired and finished its 23-episode run in April. Describing Dastaan as a “beautiful, timeless” love story, a Zindagi channel executive said that the response to the serial was very encouraging. “The soap could be set against the backdrop of any country that underwent the harsh reality of partition. The show was telecast as Dastan in Pakistan and we have made necessary changes to telecast it for the Indian audience. We have followed all broadcast guidelines,” he said.

The main criticism from viewers has been that the content is inflammatory because it shows partition only from Pakistan’s point of view and therefore paints Indians as villains.

The complaints were varied in nature: one claimed that a few episodes highlighted Indian Muslim League and Mohammad Ali Jinnah as heroes fighting the Congress against discrimination of Muslims in the country.
The main villian of the story is a Sikh who abducts a Muslim girl, and then repeatedly rapes her, forces her to convert and bear a child out of wedlock.

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