Regarding the JJ interview/article in Express Tribune

My comments regarding the article here: http://tribune.com.pk/story/578139/junaid-jamshed-and-the-maternal-instinct

So much is wrong in this article. Usually I wouldn't be bothered about the falling standards of journalism in our newspapers. But this is a new low. Such incompetent writing coupled with lackadaisical interviewing would seem to fit in a post on a fan club forum, but seems out of place in a national newspaper.

My biggest issue is how Junaid Jamshed (JJ) is presented as a reformed / born-again pious Muslim. To present him as a hero for abandoning singing/music does nothing more than further confuse young, impressionable minds. JJ was a celebrity and still is. The only difference I see is that his CDs and cassettes (at Rs. 80 and 35 respectively) were far more accessible to the common man than his Kurtas (which run into several thousands of Rupees). Music and poetry has been in the land that forms Pakistan as it stands today for hundreds of years. By presenting him as a better person now for abandoning music, we are only further confusing and contributing to the extremism in society and only furthering the agenda of the likes of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, LeJ, and JuD.

Other issues in the article include:

1. The title - Junaid Jamshed and the ‘maternal instinct’. Maternal instinct specifically mean feelings that a mother may have towards her offspring. It has no relevance here as nothing in the article talks about any motherly instincts of JJ. Yes, he has been working with a charity that has been focusing on maternal health - a far cry from 'maternal instincts.

2. "Sitting in Shahi Hasan’s studio, his fingers, a couple of times, delicately traced the contours of the guitar strings." Guitar strings don't have contours. You either touch a guitar string or you don't. A string is not big enough to have a contour (contour: n. the shape of the outside edge of something).

3. The song Us Rah Par's lyrics are quoted: "hum kyun chalain uss raah par jis raah par sub hee chalain. Kyun na chunain wo raasta jis par naheen koi gaya." There is nothing new about the path that Junaid has chosen. He isn't the first naat-khwaan, nasheed artist, or charity worker in Pakistan. He isn't even the biggest Ramadan quiz show host on TV. There can, ofcourse, only be one Aalim online. Moreover JJ says that, at the time of writing the lyrics above, Shoaib Mansoor "knew that something had changed in me.” This is really not true. One only needs to see Khuda Ke Liye and read up on Mr. Mansoor's interviews around the time the movie was released to understand which 'raasta' he would have liked for his protege.

4. [FROM THE ARTICLE: I lived that (Vital Signs era) part of my life to the fullest. But now that is the past,” he said, with a direct look, again defying the pre-conceived notion that he no longer talks to women directly or makes eye contact with the opposite sex]. Whose pre-conceived notion? Surely with regular appearances in the media, JJ is bound to be interacting with women. In any case, it would be downright rude of him to not look at the interviewer. Shouldn't the fact that he's being inteviewed by a female reporter mean that he is 'liberal' enough? Though I'm really not sure what the point is here - is the fact that he has a beard but can still answer questions to female interviews "with a direct look" supposed to be laudable?

Really shoddy journalism. The land of Bulleh Shah, Mian Muhammad Baksh and Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai derserves better. Thankfully we have people like Arieb Azhar who can still talk, and sing, about tolerance and humanity which is needed more in these times than Kurtas.