Uncle Sargam lurches for remembrance


Maha Mussadaq June 18, 2010

ISLAMABAD: The pioneer of puppets shows on television in Pakistan, Farooq Qaiser, has been demanding recognition for his much acclaimed character Uncle Sargam, for quite some time now.

Qaiser claims that he wrote several letters to the government during Nawaz Sharif and Benazir’s government, but got no response. Later, it was Governor of Punjab Khalid Maqbool who sent instructions to acting chairman Capital Development Authority Kamran Qureshi to build statues of the characters.

“The idea was to relive the characters by giving a huge display to their statues at some public park, which did not happen,” said Farooq Qaiser.

The statues were made some four years ago and were seated on a bench near Qaiser’s residence.

“No measure has been taken for their maintenance. I have to check on my own if their paint is intact or whether somebody has damaged them.”

He added that Uncle Sargam got recognition in places such as India and America but it was sad to see how there was no heritage preservation measures taken ‘in our own country’.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19th, 2010.

COMMENTS (3)

Adeel | geotauaisay.com | 13 years ago | Reply Uncle Sargam and Co are back after decades of absence! Can you believe it! This brings back memories of the good old days when I was younger and the highlight of my day was sitting in front of the TV with my family laughing at Kaliyan. Well friends, I just wanted to let you all out there know that you can relive your younger moments again like I have because Dawn News have brought them back with Siasi Kaliyan Every Saturday at 8:05pm and Sunday at 12:05 pm. Judging from the first few episodes that have aired, they are back and better than ever!
Sara Shahab | 13 years ago | Reply I have always been a fan of Kaliyaan Cannot believe that Dawn News is bringing it back! This brings back memories of the good old days when I was younger and the highlight of my day was sitting in front of the TV with my family laughing at Kaliyaan. Well those good old days can be relived by us old timers again and now be shared with our children. I cannot wait for Saturdays and Sundays now
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