Author: Agencies
Publication: Expressindia.com
Date: February 10, 2009
URL: http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Dont-attack-us-please-UK-ads-to-say-on-Pak-TV/421654/
The British government will air ads on Pakistani
television urging terrorists to not attack Britain.
Prominent British Muslims will star in the
British Foreign Office-funded £400,000 (approximately Rs 2.9 crore)-campaign
that is set to break on Pakistani television next Monday, 'The Guardian' reported
on Tuesday.
The three-month public relations offensive,
called 'I Am the West', will also include high-profile events in regions such
as Peshawar and Mirpur, 'The Guardian' said. Seven in ten British Pakistanis
are Mirpuris.
According to 'The Guardian', the first three
ads in the project will feature British Communities Minister Sadiq Khan, UK
manager of Islamic Relief Jehangir Malik, former England Under-19 captain
and promising Worcestershire allrounder Moeen Ali, and the Lord Mayor of Birmingham,
Chaudry Abdul Rashid, a Mirpuri.
The campaign, the paper said, will be targeted
at '15-25-year-old males who are less than well-educated and worldly wise,
but potentially susceptible to extremist doctrines'. Nine 30-second commercials,
supported by ads on radio, will be aired on PTV, Geo TV and Khyber among other
channels. If the Pakistani campaign is successful, it will be extended in
Egypt, Yemen and Indonesia.
The central theme of the campaign, 'The Guardian'
said, "is to assert that there is no contradiction in being a Muslim
and being British." It has four key aims, the daily reported: 'to ensure
Pakistanis realise the west is not anti-Islamic, that British society is not
anti-Islam, to demonstrate the extent to which Muslims are integrated into
British society and to stimulate and facilitate constructive debate on the
compatibility of liberal and Muslim values'.
