We worked in partnership with Pakistani broadcasters, a team of Pakistani writers, actors and producers, the British High Commission and the BBC Urdu Service to produce radio drama and discussion programmes that raised awareness and stimulated dialogue around gender issues in Pakistan.
Start date: 2005
End date: 2006
Media types: radio, internet
Issue: governance and human rights
Country: Pakistan
Passport to love
What is being shown in the drama is happening all around us
Tayyab Khodai, United Arab Emirates
Priya Ka Passport ('Passport to love') was an Urdu-language pilot radio drama set in a fictional community in Pakistan. The community had connections, via family and friends, to communities in Britain.
The 12-part drama aimed to stimulate discussion and debate around gender issues, including:
- Forced marriage
- How much power rests in young people's hands
- Rape
- The acceptance of victims of sexual abuse
- Women's rights
"What is being shown in the drama is happening all around us. My own life is like that. I am from Pakistan, now living in Dubai. Whenever I go back to Pakistan, my family insists that I should get married, but I want to marry a girl I know."
Tayyab Khodai, United Arab Emirates, email to BBC Urdu website March 2006
Each 15-minute episode was written and performed by Pakistani writers and actors.
Priya Ka Passport was broadcast daily by the BBC Urdu Service, FM radio broadcasters in Pakistan and the UK's BBC Asian Network.
Radio phone-in programmes
Take the case of rape as it is shown in the drama; when the other family comes to know about it, they should have tolerated it open-mindedly, but they taunted and teased her instead."
Woman listener, Faisalabad
Radio phone-in programmes linked to the pilot drama were broadcast to allow listeners to express their views and to encourage debate.
"Take the case of rape as it is shown in the drama; when the other family comes to know about it, they should have tolerated it open-mindedly, but they taunted and teased her instead."
Woman listener, Faisalabad
One radio phone-in programme was broadcast on the BBC Urdu Service. Others were produced by FM stations re-broadcasting the drama in Pakistan.
FM 104 ran a daily phone-in programme immediately after the broadcast of each episode of the pilot drama.
Listeners actively participated in the discussion, arguing forcefully about the behaviour and courses of action open to different characters, and criticising some for hypocrisy.
In addition, they added their own life experiences and testimonies to the shared discussion.
FM 103, which has the widest coverage and represents stations in Karachi, Multan, Faisalabad and Balakot, reported that their audiences demonstrated an 'overwhelming interest' and participated in discussion of the pilot drama on air.
"The issues raised in the drama are those faced by every other household. Mis-matched marriages and marriages between individuals from two different countries and cultures is a story in every household."
Shahida Akram, listener from United Arab Emirates
Public radio debate
A high-profile public radio debate - held simultaneously in Lahore and London - was broadcast by the BBC Urdu Service when the pilot drama came to an end. More
Extending reach onlineDedicated 'Piyar Ka Passport' microsites were built and hosted in collaboration with BBC World Service in Urdu and English. More
Promotional campaign
An extensive marketing campaign, using television, newspapers and radio, was used to promote the pilot radio drama, discussion programmes and debate in Pakistan.
Research and impact
Quantitative and qualitative research was carried out before the pilot drama was developed, and after it was broadcast in Pakistan to measure impact. More
Working in partnershipWe worked in close partnership with BBC Urdu Service through out the production of Priya Ka Passport.
The BBC Urdu Service is a respected international broadcaster in Pakistan with a distinguished reputation for its coverage of news and current affairs and political analysis.
In July 2005, the BBC Urdu Service has a radio audience of over 9.4 million weekly listeners (10.2% of population), while the BBCUrdu.com website generated 17 million page views per month.
We also worked in partnership with four Pakistani FM radio stations: 103 FM, 104 FM, 105 FM and 107 FM, which provided near national coverage (every province except Baluchistan) and reached both rural and urban audiences.
Priya Ka Passport was recorded at the Lahore studios of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) by a team of Pakistani writers, actors and producers, working in close collaboration with staff from the BBC World Service Trust and BBC Urdu Service.
The project benefited from the expertise of staff at the British High Commission, Islamabad. They tackle issues around forced marriages that affect British citizens of Pakistani origin.
They have close links to a network of organisations in Pakistan that work directly with young people, predominantly girls and young women, whose lives are affected by forced marriage and endangered by the threat of honour violence.
Reaching the diaspora
The drama was also broadcast weekly in the UK, from mid-April 2006, by the BBC Asian Network.
Based in the Midlands, the BBC Asian Network is a popular source of news and entertainment for British Asians, including Urdu speakers of Pakistani origin.
Broadcast in a 'languages' slot attracting 200,000 to 250,000 listeners, feedback from the station indicates the programmes attracted a large following.
