Bilal Maqsood earns praises from the internet after his childrens puppet show ‘Pakkay Dost’ announces they will include Pakistani sign language interpretation in their episodes.
In a heartening act to make entertainment channels inclusive for all children, Bilal Maqsood’s kids show ‘Pakkay Dost’ is now also available in the Pakistani Sign Language.
In a post on their Instagram account, the childrens puppet channel announced they had partnered with ConnectHear to include sign language interpreters in their episodes, making an important example of how deaf children deserve to have an enriching experience just like everyone else.
“Every child deserves to laugh, learn, and feel included,” the post read. “With the support of ConnectHear, Pakkay Dost now speaks a language of the heart!”
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In the comments section, social media users lauded the former Strings singer for introducing such an amazing initiative, which would hopefully lead to more television channels working to make their content for all differently-abled people.
Pakkay Dost is a children’s puppet show that features engaging storytelling with meaningful life lessons taught in the Urdu Language. Since its launch back in 2023, the Instagram channel has now over 16.2k followers, and several celebrities like Mahira Khan, Syra Yousaf and Iqra Aziz have guest starred on the episodes.
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Speaking to Dawn, the ‘Mera Bichara Yaar’ recalled how he came up with the idea for the puppet channel when he noticed how his son was only listening to English programmes.
“When my son Mikaeel was born, I realised that there was no Urdu content that he could watch. While I was growing up, I would watch programmes by Sohail Rana and listen to those songs. Now, all my son was watching was content in English.
“Time and again, I would discuss with my wife and with Faisal Kapadia, my partner in Strings, that we needed to do something for children. But Strings kept us busy, we were releasing albums, doing concerts around the world and we just never had the time.”
