Did Pakistani drama’s have enough with cousin marriages? Not for a long time it seems. Last night twitter users came across the promo for the latest epsiode of the Hum show “Juda Huay Kuch iss tarhan” where two foster siblings who were nursed as babies by the same woman were married and now they are expecting a baby together.
Twitter users had to react with laughter and also criticize the downfall Pakistani dramas have taken where talking about women’s rights wasn’t allowed, shows about child abuse were given notices for promoting “vulgarity” but cousin marriages were still a popular topic to make multiple series about.
There’s so much to write about. So many issues. So many creative writers/artists you could collaborate with to come up with something decent. So many stories you can draw inspiration from.
But nahi. Gotta write about behen bhai shacking it up
— Trent Crimm, The Independent🐾👻 (@Lanaschild_) September 13, 2021
One user had to say that this was the Game of Thrones remake Pakistan had always asked for and now got it
Maha and Asad are Targaryens. Hence Proved https://t.co/Rr3jOSHDQd pic.twitter.com/HI0Q16fPgn
— J110 (@jawismm) September 13, 2021
Another user was critical about how teaching children about consent and the reproduction system was considered against Islamic values, and popular apps like Tiktok were banned for promoting vulgarity, but promoting shows where foster siblings were married wasn’t a big problem
so the reproduction chapter in biology is inappropriate….. & this??? is??? normal?? https://t.co/lbwsL3dSs0
— femme fatale (@SW4G1ST4N) September 13, 2021
The family losing Molvi sb enjoying
their fkng minds: family drama: pic.twitter.com/ef9ZAjjE2E— فریحہ ✪ (@fay_alif) September 13, 2021
Holy shit the prequel to “Game of Thrones: Cersei and Jamie” looks amazing pic.twitter.com/Au1on0kb2i
— Arhum (@arhuml92) September 13, 2021
Other than this, users were questioning that was incest still such a popular trope that drama’s were using in their shows? Incest marriages as activist Ammar Rashid points out are still highly common in Pakistan, and can result in children with cognitive difficulties, heart defects, impaired hearing or any other genetically inherited diseases
Pakistani rates of cousin marriage are literally the highest in the world. This a public health & child development crisis that isn’t even acknowledged, much less the focus of public awareness efforts. https://t.co/D6rucWcQ5r pic.twitter.com/rqBCQTgpXj
— Ammar Rashid (@AmmarRashidT) August 17, 2021
Although some people who had watched the drama did come in to clarify that the revelation about the boy and girl being cousins was in fact a lie, and this was a plot to break up the marriage in order to make the girl marry her maternal cousin. Like…no that’s still not it
guys they’re not actually siblings the maid is lying because she’s paid by the the girls aunt who actually wants the girl to marry her own son; girl’s paternal cousin, after she divorces the maternal cousin that she’s having a baby with.
— – (@maulana_banana) September 13, 2021
The problem still remains that this was a cousin marriage that is being promoted still in 2021 and it’s high time our entertainers and producers let this trope die and allow other stories to take the platform! We have so many filmmakers, story tellers and other creative people in this industry who would have much more diverse and unique stories to promote which are better than cousin marriages.
