Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
A modern classic of Urdu literature by Shaukat Siddiqui, ''Khuda Ki Basti (God's Own Land)'', takes place during the 1950s in the slums of
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
and
Lahore
Lahore ( ; pnb, ; ur, ) is the second most populous city in Pakistan after Karachi and 26th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 13 million. It is the capital of the province of Punjab where it is the largest city ...
in a newly independent
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
. The story revolves around a poor, respectable family which has fallen on hard times. Corruption and degradation take over their lives. Jobless, and without any real hope of a better life, they find themselves in the clutches of unprincipled evil people who exploit them. It's the story of a young woman, Sultana, and her younger brother Annu. Their widowed mother is first pursued by a conniving man from the neighbourhood who apparently wants to marry her. But whose real intentions are to get access to her pretty young daughter, Sultana, for his sexual pleasure? After this man marries the mother, he arranges a medically facilitated murder of her. Then the vulnerable children are exploited in every way by the neighbourhood's shady characters. The tragic, deeply moving finale is inevitable.
Pakistan Television
Pakistan Television Corporation ( ur, ; reporting name: PTV) is the Pakistani state-owned broadcaster. Pakistan entered the television broadcasting age in 1964, with a pilot television station established at Lahore.
Background
Historical co ...
in 1969 and 1974. In 1974, Prime Minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar (or Zulfiqar) Ali Bhutto ( ur, , sd, ذوالفقار علي ڀٽو; 5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979), also known as Quaid-e-Awam ("the People's Leader"), was a Pakistani barrister, politician and statesman who served as the fourt ...
asked for the re-telecast of Khuda Ki Basti as it was Bhutto’s favorite TV serial for its appealing social message. But Pakistan Television had problems with it as the videotape recordings of Khuda Ki Basti on spool videotape in 1969 had long been erased due to video tape scarcity back then and re-recording of other programs on the same videotape. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto insisted that the serial must be re-telecast even if fresh recording is essential.
The 1974 version of re-recorded Khuda Ki Basti was 50-minute episodes that lasted 13 weeks and created the same social impact that the 1969 version did. TV directors Bakhtiyar Ahmed and Qasim Jalali did a fine job. After the 1974 version was filmed, the entire TV serial has been well maintained by Pakistan Television with a repeat telecast in 1990.
Thi novel was also dramatized by Rashid Sami (Kohinoor Studio). This was released on Geo TV.