Not Just Funny: Political Satire Is Serious 

"For the Pakistan Super League to be a success it needs to invite sportsmen like Martin Crowe, Hansie Cronje, Raman Lamba, Malcolm Marshall and Simon O'Donnell,” explains the comedian impersonating Imran Khan in the late night TV show, Khabarnaak.

“But those players have passed away,” the host replies, shocked and bemused.

The actor, embodying Khan, shrugs his shoulders. “That's not my problem. Don't hold the League then.”

Elizabeth Bolton, a PhD scholar at the University of Austin, is compiling her final thesis on political satire. A few years ago, she was in Lahore, attending the scripting and taping of Khabarnaak. According to Bolton, news satire has gained momentum around the world. It is increasingly addressing political issues and is now an acceptable and alternative form of news telling.

But Khabarnaak, she says, is a little different from its local competitors. While, other shows in Pakistan only focus on mocking political leaders, Khabarnaak uses humor to present the other side of the story. For example, in one episode an international weapons dealer was shown defending the arms race, “If Yemen, Iraq, Ukraine and Syria had enough weapons, they would never have been trampled upon by global powers.”

Bolton says the Geo TV program borrows from the theories of Dustin H. Griffin, the author of ‘Satire: A Critical Reintroduction.’ Some of the conventions which Griffin identifies, she says are visible in Khabarnaak, such as using multiple voices to address difficult issues and allowing the audience to be a part of the conversation.

Moreover, Khabarnaak encourages actors to study the characters they are to impersonate in great detail. When Ali Mir, one of the comedians, was asked to play federal minister Khawaja Asif.  Mir spent long hours enunciating two words that underscored Asif’s persona. Those two words were, “Jo hay.” And he nailed it in the end.

Politicians aren’t the only ones on offer. Sketches of policemen, landlords, beggars, clowns and drug addicts are also regulars on the show, to be judged by a panel of comedians. Bolton say that the indictment, in Khabarnaak, is delivered with such verbal skill that it does not offend. 

At other times, Khabarnaak does a better job at explaining the follies of the politicians then they do themselves. For example, earlier when Imran Khan was being criticized for using derogatory words against cricket players from Africa. Our actor defended the statement as such, “Come on! You know nothing about geography. Darren Sammy is not from Africa.  He is from America.  West Indies is in America and Darren Sammy is from West Indies,” he told the audience.

Late night comedy programs are quickly becoming the staple of Pakistani television. People it seems are developing an appetite for political commentary in such shows. Hidden in the laughs are often important discourses that audiences would otherwise not have. When we had an actor play Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kashmir was simmering with violence. Our Modi had an interesting take on the issue, “You keep criticising me. But in Kashmir, Mehbooba Mufti rules. Can’t you see that it is her government restoring to violence?” A proposition, if used without humour, would not have gone down well.