Category: World
Service
Date: 06.05.2005
Printable version
In a quick response to the wishes voiced by the BBC's audiences in Pakistan,
BBC Urdu has launched a new 12-part weekly series,
Moajza-e-Fun (Miracle of Arts), which explores the
state of performing arts in Pakistan.
Starting this week, the series is a direct answer to
the needs of the BBC Urdu listeners expressed during the service's month-long
campaign, BBC Sangat, which toured Pakistan earlier
this year.
Produced by BBC Urdu's Lahore-based journalist, Arif
Waqar, the series consists of seven-minute pieces.
It talks to leading Pakistani actors, directors, dancers
and artists to ascertain the place of a 'performer' in a society still
struggling to develop a sense of national cultural identity.
Radio Editor of BBC Urdu, Shahzeb Jillani, said: "We
met 10,000 listeners during our BBC Sangat campaign in Pakistan last
March, and culture was always among the topics they said they want us
to address.
"Pakistan is a country where cultural expression
is often seen as clashing with conservative Islam. For a lot of people,
Moajza-e-Fun will be more than just a cultural programme - it will be
a conversation about the place of art in their lives and in the system
of their beliefs."
Moajza-e-Fun will be aired during the BBC Urdu's dawn
transmission, Jahanuma, on Mondays and repeated in the BBC Urdu flagship
programme, Sairbeen, the same evening.
It can also be heard online at bbcurdu.com
Notes to Editors
BBC Urdu broadcasts three times a day.
Its flagship programme, Sairbeen, aired seven days
a week at 8.00pm Pakistan Standard Time, provides 60 minutes of news
and current affairs.
Jahanuma, which starts at 6.30am, is a 30-minute daily
breakfast programme which sets the day's news agenda.
At the end of the day there is Shabnama, a 30-minute
round-up of the main events, starting at 10.30pm.
In addition, BBC Urdu brings listeners weekly magazine
features on sports, science and economy that can also be accessed through
its popular online site bbcurdu.com.
BBC World Service broadcasts programmes around the
world in 43 languages and is available on radio and online.
It has a global audience of 146 million listeners.
BBC World Service is available globally on short wave;
on FM in 140 capital cities; and selected programmes are carried on
around 2,000 FM and MW radio stations around the world.
The BBC World Service websites receive around 280 million
page impressions every month.
