Anwar Maqsood apologizes for racist depiction of Sindhi culture

Pakistan’s highly lauded writer Anwer Maqsood recently landed himself in a thorny situation after he was seen on a recent episode of his web-series ‘Anwarnama’, making generalizations about Sindhi people that were termed as racist.

The episode titled ‘Aik Sindhi Ka Interview’ showed him interviewing a “common Sindhi man” who fit all spaces of negative stereotypes prevalent about the ethnicity.

The Sindhi man in the skit was portrayed as indolent and corrupt who did nothing for a living because of his ethnicity and was heavily under debt which he evaded paying back by faking his death.

The sweeping portrayal of the man and the Sindhi culture caused a weighty outrage against the comic writer with renowned personalities like comedian and rapper Ali Gul Pir and actor and musician Mooro stepping forward to call him out.

“Deeply offended by the racist video made by Anwar Maqsood and his team. Comedy and satire should always be about a certain mentality, not an ethinicity or community. Calling Sindhis lazy and corrupt is not funny, it's spreading hate and maligning [sic]” stated Ali’s tweet.

After the public upheaval, the contentious episode of Anwarnama was removed, and the writer’s formal admission of guilt came to the surface with him apologizing and claiming that he also belongs to the same ethnicity.

In his web-series, the writer "shares a collection of letters, writings, stories and his experiences pertaining to themes of society, culture, politics and personalities in an intimate setting".