LAHORE: Swords were drawn and the social media echoed with war cries after a PML-N provincial lawmaker on Thursday sounded the battle drums by likening her leader Maryam Nawaz Sharif to the hero of Turkish historical epic, Ertugrul.

The inspiration hardly came as a surprise since a large number of Pakistanis have been following the series being telecast these days. The drama, that has been accompanied by call for Muslim renaissance made at the time when plays by Urdu writers such as Nasim Hijazi have been shown on national television here, has received the blessings of the highest officials here including Prime Minister Imran Khan.

As it turned out the comparison of Maryam with Ertugrul was immediately countered by the PTI supporters who see the great qualities of the Turkish hero reflected in PM Khan.

One man conspicuously missing from this exciting race — or at least keeping a low profile — was Maryam’s uncle Shahbaz Sharif, who is known to be a promoter of all kinds of Turkish models in his own right.

“I am watching Ertugrul nowadays and I see Maryam Nawaz has similar leadership qualities as him. Her strong belief in God, her courage to not give up, her conviction to stand on her principles even when everyone is against her and her ability to differentiate between Right & Wrong #Ertugrul,” PML-N MPA Hina Parvez Butt said in a tweet that sparked a debate, among others, about which characters of the popular TV series had qualities similar to those of other members of the Sharif family.

Soon enough Ms Butt got the flak for “unnecessary” comparison, providing the critics of the Sharifs on social media with yet another opportunity to mock the family.

Maleeha Hashmi, a twitter user, asked Ms Butt to tell the people “which characters remind you of Captain Safdar, Hasan & Hussain Nawaz? More importantly, which ones do you think reflect well on Nawaz Sharif & Shahbaz Sharif?”

Nauman Aziz said: “Nawaz Sharif has same qualities like Ertgrul. But there is only one difference between them -- Nawaz Sharif destroyed the nation through his corruption. And Ertugrul made a nation through Jihad.”

Uzma Khan, a Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf supporter by all indications, tweeted that actually Prime Minister Imran Khan was Ertugrul and his comparison with the historical figure shown in the play would beat the Sharifs and the PML-N.

Responding to the criticism, Ms Butt said: “Some people got unnerved over my tweet about Maryam Bibi. I can understand their pain which will increase further when Maryam Nawaz will become prime minister of Pakistan.”

The Turkish play is set to break a world record of most new subscribers in a month on YouTube. After being aired on the state-run PTV, the serial’s YouTube channel crossed one million subscribers.

Veteran actor Reema Khan also jumped in the controversy over airing Ertugrul on PTV, and joined her former co-star Shaan in criticism of the PTI government’s decision to give preference to foreign content on the state TV.

“Shaan had voiced against airing foreign content on PTV. I second him as it is unfair to promote foreign content on the state TV, especially when our artists have no work,” Reema said in a Ramazan show she hosts on a private TV channel.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2020