Exclusive: Why has Samaa taken KRQ’s Mukalma off air?

Samaa show ‘Mukalma,’ hosted by Ayesha Jahanzeb, controversial screenwriter Khalil ul Rehman Qamar and his co-writer Sahil Adeem faced backlash after an online clash on misogynistic views on women’s rights.

In one of the episodes that went viral, audience member Azba Abdullah, who is also an employee of Samaa, confronted Adeem about his claim that 95 percent of women in Pakistan are uneducated. The exchange escalated when she demanded an apology from him for calling girls “jahil.”

Adeem responded by citing religious text, leading to a heated argument in which Qamar jumped in, hijacking the debate by being disrespectful to Azba. The host eventually calmed the situation down and moved on to another guest.

Following this incident, rumors circulated that Samaa TV had fired Azba. The Current spoke exclusively to her to get her side of the story.

Here’s what she had to say about the incident:

“The show was not planned at all. I was on the show because it was running late, and many audience members had already left, so the office staff filled in.”

Azba went on to narrate that they were told that the show would be about women’s rights. “When Adeem called girls ‘Jahil,’ I simply asked him to apologize to all women. In response, he started quoting Quranic verses, which was irrelevant to the discussion. This led to Khalil ul Rehman Qamar becoming disrespectful. The video that surfaced is heavily edited because Khalil ul Rehman Qamar used abusive language towards me, which was cut out. No action was taken against me; in fact, the issue reached higher management, and they decided to cancel the show. I have not been pressured or terminated; these rumors are baseless,” she added.

Read this also: Will Khalil ur Rehman Qamar ever learn to respect women?

Azba revealed that Qamar, a misogynist known for being disrespectful to women, behaved so badly that Samaa TV had to take ‘Mukalma’ off-air.

The Current also spoke exclusively with Samaa Digital Head Asim Siddique to get an official statement about the incident and the show.

He said, “The Mukalma show has been canceled.”

When asked for the reasons, he mentioned two: misbehavior towards Azba and the numerous controversies.

Read this also: Was the ‘Khalil Ur Rehman Qamar viral clash’ set up by Samaa or the real thing?

He explained that the purpose of the show was to facilitate face-to-face debates, similar to how people post their stories on Instagram.

“However, people got so heated during these debates that they turned into controversies,” he added.

The team had planned many topics for future discussions, such as religion and education, which could have led to even more controversies, Asim pointed out.

“That’s why we decided to cancel the show.”