Mahira Khan emerges as voice of wisdom in Meesha-Ali harassment issue

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Web Desk
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Mahira Khan. Photo: File

Pakistani superstar Mahira Khan emerged as a voice of wisdom and sense as she spoke against those "desensitising the issue" of Meesha Shafi’s allegations of sexual harassment against Ali Zafar.

“The sick mentality of those commenting on an issue as serious as sexual harassment as casually as they are just shows where the root of this problem exists -- in our minds," the actor tweeted on Friday.

"We will continue to breed harassers for as long as we continue to desensitise this issue,” she added.

Mahira’s comments came a day after Shafi alleged Zafar sexually harassed her on more than one occasion. 

The first high profile "#MeToo" accusation in the country has mounted pressure on Zafar as other women have also come forward to accuse him of the same.

However, Twitter in Pakistan has been divided over the matter with some stating that Shafi levelled the allegations for “cheap publicity”.

Some went as far as making memes and jokes about Shafi's story -- a matter that actor and writer Osman Khalid Butt also tweeted against.

"A woman breaks her silence about abuse, withstands character assassination & further abuse on social media, her story turns into memes & tone-deaf jokes that trivialise the issue, she fears ostracisation - but suuuuure, she did it for the cheap publicity," he tweeted.

On Thursday, Shafi posted a lengthy message on Twitter accusing Zafar of sexually harassing her on "more than one occasion".

Zafar has denied the accusations and threatened legal action against the singer-cum-actor. Zafar has dominated music charts in Pakistan for nearly two decades and has also starred in a number of films, including Bollywood satire Tere bin Laden.