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Maya Khan show: Burney brothers split over Hindu boy’s televised conversion
Ansar and Sarim have also fought over running the trust.
Sunil works at the Ansar Burney Trust, a human rights organisation/
KARACHI:
The conversion to Islam of a Hindu boy working with the Ansar Burney Trust has split the Burney brothers with one defending it and the other calling it a ‘drama’.
On Wednesday, chat show host Maya Khan opened the doors to another controversy by televising live Sunil’s conversion in the prime-time Ramazan slot.
Sunil works at the Ansar Burney Trust, a human rights organisation whose chairman, Ansar, was recently in the headlines for the case of the Pakistani sailors taken hostage by Somali pirates.
Ansar skewered the conversion, called it a ‘drama’, and announced that he would sue Maya Khan. He publicly lashed out at his younger brother Sarim on Twitter, saying that he had dismissed Sarim three months ago from the trust on corruption charges.
“If we [want] to save our country, we shall have to fight against corruption, and I started it from my own office at Karachi,” said Ansar tweeting about his brother Sarim. Talking to the Indian media, Ansar said that “[Sunil] was offered incentives, and though keen, he had no idea as to what was happening.”
Sarim was the vice chairman at the Ansar Burney Trust, which was started in 1980 as the Prisoners Aid Society. He dismissed the corruption allegations, saying that Ansar had always handled the funds and the accounts. “Ansar should know about corruption as he was directly involved with the monetary affairs of the organisation,” Sarim told The Express Tribune. He maintained that he had separated their work for the past three months and formed his own trust, Sarim Burney Welfare Trust. “This did not please Ansar as he always wants to be in the limelight,” alleged Sarim.
Sarim maintained that Ansar had settled in London 22 years ago and he had been running the organisation and “keeping his name alive”. Today Sarim has removed the signboards with Ansar’s name, and replaced it with his own at their office in Arambagh.
Sarim backed the conversion. “I have seen the boy fast when he had not embraced Islam. He did it of his own free will. Being miles away, how can Ansar say that it was forced?” Sarim also claimed that Sunil worked for the Sarim Burney Welfare Trust and not the Ansar Burney Welfare Trust.
Ansar has served as the federal human rights minister, and the UN’s expert adviser on human rights. He is currently in London and could not be immediately reached for comment.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th, 2012.
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Reader Comments (36)
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Who to support, I think ansarRecommend
What a matter to be fighting onRecommend
I have had the pleasure of meeting Ansar Burney at his office in Karachi as well as in Muzaffarabad where he was working with the victims of the earthquake and all I can say is that I was very impressed by this gentleman. After following his work for years, I can confirm that he is a man of integrity and principles and I sincerely hope that he continues with his work for decades to come. Our nation needs him and people like him.
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my support is for Bro Sarim
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Scripted just like her previous shows.
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Who to support? One is living in London. The other is changing sign boards. Ansars useless honesty wont save a country with his words. Got to get your feet dirty and join the frontline.
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It seems that Ansar is trying to please some of bosses outside Pakistan.
I will believe Sarim as Ansar even does not live in Pakistan
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Hypocrisy, how would we like it if a Muslim became a Hindu on national television on Diwali.Recommend
Maya is illusion is Sanskrit. There is a branch in Hinduism which consideres the world we see just as an illusion and not real. It is to desist people from cultivating many human weakness such as attachment, greed, jealousy, anger etc. Anybody follows wealth or woman is considered as someone who is following illusion which will eventually lead him to his own end. If anybody believes this show is religious is just under the spell of Maya.
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If she needs that much publicity why cant she follow veena malik… she intrudes in people’s personal lives, this tell about much about her brought up… Maya Khan you should be in rehab..you are a danger to the soceity
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I don’t know about these two guys,, but i don’t trust Maya Khan at all…her all shows are scripted and purely based on drama to earn fake publicity…
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Since I don’t know for sure whether it was a drama or not so I won’t take any sides. Pakistanis should learn to be unbiased when giving judgement regarding different situations. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions without proper evidence.
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It is so simple
RecommendRemove the sentence for those
who go other way around
( I mean death for MURTAD)
then see the directions for conversions
I never watch Maya khan. She is drama queen who wants attention. She does on purpose so she can get high rating.
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While I would support anyone’s willful conversion to Islam, I really hate Maya Khan and her dramas. Here in the UAE we have a few non-muslims converting to Islam every week after Friday prayers and people convert after understanding the truth and out of their free will. But people in Pakistan have made religion a money making machine.
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fight fight fight. im with sarim. hes a gem.
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This incident really shows how pakistan is moving on its path
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Anser Burney trying to please Indians ?
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Why is this news Express Tribune?
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I do not know that who is rigt- Ansar or Sarim, but I know one thing surely that Mayas khan is only interested in cheap publicity.Recommend
Will any Pakistani channels ever show the terrorists laying their arms and become peace activists? Will you please show the Mullahs preaching universal brotherhood? In history we used to read about conversions, now you show us this stuff every other day. Do you still expect us to respect you way of life?
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Ansar Burney is my hero :) who says he doesn’t live in Pakistan? Lol I’ve seen him so many times in Islamabad.
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If there was a conversion from Muslim to Hindu on Indian TV there would be blood in the streets. Religion will not take you anywhere but down. Recommend
we can allow vulgarity and obscenity in the name of Freedom of speech , but one does not reserve the right to change his religion on TV, what insensibility Recommend
For all i know, here in UK everyone thinks of Ansar Burney as a CONMAN! (Period)
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Will Maya show this Saudi girl who converted to Christianity?
Saudi court to look into alleged apostasy case
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Just a question: will we allow Hindus in the city to kill Sunil because he has changed his religion? If yes, it’s in line with our understanding of our religion. If no, then why no?
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Good luck to the idea of broadcasting to India!
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Maya Khan again.Why can’t she stop making all lsuch stuff intruding into people’s privacy and private matters.What she is doing is cheap publicity.
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This woman deserved disqualification from the Pakistani media forever for her antics. No, she is given an even better opportunity by ARY after they picked this fast piece of baggage. Shame on ARY to ply around with religion just for the sake of ratings. These so-called journalists can achieve any unimaginable low if we let them get away every time. Where is PEMRA?
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@SAB, I am not surprised because those same people are striving for shariah in UK.
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Ansar Barni is right! Maya Khan should be sued and sacked from ARY!!!!
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To SAB: I’m from UK myself and everyone I know here adores Ansar Burney. Please dont speak for me or the hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis here.
On this issue, I completely agree with Mr. Burney. It’s a shame what these TV personalities are doing now a days for ratings.
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Again Maya Khan ! ! ! We all are sick n tired of her dramas. Every now n then she is doing some drama on TV to gain popularity. She has developed dirty habit of intrusion into private lives of others. All the time trying to gain cheap popularity. First was doing dramas on SAMA TV nd now ARV. Maya Khan , plz spareee usss. . . . .
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what was the need to show the conversion on a TV show?? we all know the greatness of Islam and need not such acts to be prouud of it .. one should ask the producers/director what was reason for the televisied conversion?
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Maya Khan i basically a Drama Queen of present era. She has gained quite experiance and now is time to switch over to TV serials. Moreso, she has the tendency to poke her nose in private affairs of other people also. Maya! we all are fed up from your dramas now. Jsttt leaveeee . . . .
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