The babies were presented by Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa, who runs the Chhipa Welfare Association. Photo / Getty Images
The babies were presented by Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa, who runs the Chhipa Welfare Association. Photo / Getty Images
Pakistan's television wars have plumbed new depths in the battle for Ramadan ratings with the country's most controversial presenter giving away abandoned babies on his prime-time show.
Aamir Liaquat Hussain has presented two babies to childless couples so far during Islam's holy month. His show's heady mix of charity, pietyand kitsch has made it a hit with viewers but also attracted accusations that he is using religion to generate headlines.
In an episode broadcast last week, Hussain shocked the studio audience by promising the gift of a baby. He then introduced a shell-shocked couple who were handed the child by the head of a charity that rescues abandoned babies. The tearful wife described the child as a "gift of Ramadan" before her husband described their frustration at not being able to have children.
"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," he said. The spectacle was repeated for a second time this week. The babies were presented by Muhammad Ramzan Chhipa, who runs the Chhipa Welfare Association.
"We have lots of babies that are just abandoned, left in the garbage or other dirty places," he said.
"Often we just find the bodies so our message is to tell people to bring their babies to us, don't just leave them."
He declined to discuss how the couples were vetted but said they had previously approached his organisation to adopt children.
Pakistan's raucous talk shows have huge followings. Controversy is never far away. The battle for viewers is most intense during Ramadan. Last year Veena Malik - a model perhaps best known for posing nude in an Indian magazine - hosted a rival show, which featured an exorcism. Another programme showed the live conversion of a Hindu to Islam.
