Pakistani singer-actor Meesha Shafi, who made her debut in the film industry with Mira Nair’s ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist’, has come forward and accused Ali Zafar of sexually harassing her, not just once but multiple times.
She claims that the actor-singer has harassed her several times when they have worked together.
(c) Twitter
With several sexual harassment cases flooding the social media, here comes another. The #MeToo has been trending and bringing several stories that can shake your soul and leave you panicking. Her post comes out in support of the movement that has created a revolution in the industry.
Taking to her Twitter, in loud and clear words she wrote, this didn’t happen when she was young or a newcomer, but this all happened when she was an accomplished woman. “Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo”
(c) Twitter
In the post she explains how she remained silent and suffered through it despite being a vocal and empowered woman, reminding us of the times many females have done the same. “As a woman, a public figure and a mother, I have always felt strongly about using my voice to encourage and support our youth who look up to me, especially the girls, who dream of carving their own path in Pakistan. …However, despite having a voice there are some issues that are difficult to speak about as a woman, especially sexual harassment.”
Meesha, whom we have also seen in Rakesh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’, continued, “I have been subjected, on more than one occasion, to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry – Ali Zafar. These incidences did not happen when I was young or just entering the industry. This happened to me despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children.”
Continuing and sharing about the horrific incident she wrote, “Ali is someone I have known for many years and someone I shared the stage with. I feel betrayed by his behaviour and his attitude and I know that I am not alone.”
Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo pic.twitter.com/iwex7e1NLZ
— Meesha Shafi (@itsmeeshashafi) April 19, 2018
Meesha’s post clearly says that she is sharing her story now so that more girls can come out and she can encourage them to follow their dreams.
Ali is a popular actor and we have seen him in Bollywood movies like ‘Dear Zindagi’, ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’, ‘Tere Bin Laden’ and ‘Chashme Baddoor’ among others. Ali’s music has also seen quite a lot of success in India.
Ali hasn’t responded yet and we are waiting to see what he has to say about Shafi’s accusations.