While Pakistan is known for the diversity of beliefs, cultures and languages, the Pakistani TV, however, has portrayed an artificially homogenous picture of the social order. And even when the digital media acknowledges diversity by presenting religious and cultural minorities, it resorts to portraying them in a negative light where TV dramas and talk shows are laden with pejorative terms to describe Hindus, Christians, Jews, Ahmadis and others.

I remember the heydays of Pakistan TV that once produced Haseena Moin’s hit plays such as Ankahi and Uncle Urfi, and Amjad Islam Amjad’s Waris. While these TV plays set new standards for performance and production excellence, and were instant hits across Pakistan, they were also very selective in the types of characters they portrayed. Haseena Moin’s characters depicted the UP nastaleeq types from Karachi, and Amjad Islam Amjad’s characters depicted Punjabis settled in and around Lahore.

Missing from these plays were many others characters one usually sees on the streets of Lahore and Karachi. Haseena’s plays didn’t show Sindhis, Pathans, or Zoroastrians in Karachi and Amjad Islam Amjad didn’t write a single Shia character in his plays. How is it possible that in decades of telecasting, not a single Pakistani TV play has ever shown a shot of a neighbourhood in which the Shias’ ceremonial flag is visible? If you were to walk through Bhati, Mochi, and Lohari in old Lahore, you cannot help but notice the Shia properties adorned with the distinguishing black ceremonial flags (alum).

While much is being celebrated about the newly liberated media in Pakistan, it appears that self-censorship is still the name of the game when it comes to depicting minorities. In Pakistan, TV channels are reluctant to invite Ahmadis even to those talk shows that focus on violence against Ahmadis. At the same time, some religious communities continue to be portrayed in pejorative terms where talk show hosts and guests routinely speak of the proverbial ‘Hindu Bunya’ and ‘Christian crusader’ while being oblivious to the fact that a very large number of Hindus and Christians are proud citizens of Pakistan.

The publically-owned as well as private TV channels in Pakistan usually air unsubstantiated allegations against various communities. Politicians and religious leaders of all stripes are routinely found blaming the ‘Jewish lobby’ for all things wrong with Pakistan. Earlier this week, a Punjab-based member of the provincial assembly, Samina Khawar Hayat, professed on a talk show that the Internet is a conspiracy by the ‘Jewish lobby’ to corrupt the morals of the Pakistani youth! Since 9/11, Pakistani media continues to repeat the false story (originally broadcasted by Hizbullah’s Al-Minar TV) about Jewish workers being absent from work in Manhattan on 9/11. Never did any anchor or the so-called intellectuals tried to trace the origins of this baseless falsehood.

While the media in Pakistan, and in most other Muslim majority countries, continues to either ignore religious minorities or depict them in a pejorative way, Muslims in North America have enjoyed mostly balanced coverage in the media. Despite the controversy about a retail chain pulling its ads from a show about Muslim families in the United States, All American Muslim continues to run on The Learning Channel. The controversy has even inspired a parody of the commercial that was supposed to be pulled from the show.

In Canada, despite their small numbers, Muslims have emerged as the second largest religious community. Muslim commentators are routinely invited to speak on national TV. Leading newspapers publish articles authored by Muslim writers on issues that concern Muslims. This is not to say that at times mainstream Canadian media is less than generous in its criticism of Muslims. The controversy about closing the cafeteria for Friday prayers at a school in Toronto is one such example where the Canadian media has made a mountain out of a molehill. However, serious concerns expressed in the media about the ‘honour killing’ of three young daughters by an Afghan family has been welcomed by the Canadian Muslims as well.

It is only in Canada where a sitcom about the trials and tribulations of a small Muslim community in a prairie town has been a success on primetime TV. Little Mosque on the Prairie runs on Canada’s CBC Network and is already in its fifth successful season. The show depicts Muslim families living in a small town trying to adjust to the Canadian way of life. While being amusing, the show is able to break several stereotypes, while maintaining a few. Consider that the local Imam in the show is a clean-shaven young man who speaks English without an accent while the antagonist in the show is a Punjabi-accented middle-aged man who is always trying to be more religious than the rest of the community.

Muslims are slowly becoming part of the mainstream Canadian fabric. Their presence in Canada is being celebrated as part of the diversity that touches every community. From public transit unions to public sector universities, Muslims are visible not only as part of the community, but they are seen in leadership roles as well.

The Faculty of Business at Brock University near Niagara Falls in Ontario chose to put the picture of a young Muslim student wearing Hijab on the cover of its brochures for the Master of Science in Management. Brock University is not alone in celebrating the diversity of it students. Several universities in Canada and the United States boast about the religious and cultural diversity thriving at their campuses.

While Canada is far from being perfect, it has matured enough as a society where a Hijab clad Muslim woman is now the face of the Faculty of Business at a large university. I wonder how long it will take Pakistan to mature as a society where Dr. Abdus Salaam’s photograph could be proudly displayed on the prospectus of Punjab University, where he once taught.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.