LAHORE – Meesha Shafi had earlier alleged that on multiple occasions shehas been sexually harassed by none other than the most famous singer/actor,Ali Zafar. People were left shocked without any further details of how andwhen the occurrences took place.
Meesha Shafi finally tells more.
While talking to Instep, Meesha said, “The first time it happened, I didn’treact and just left,” Meesha recalls “I told my husband but also asked himto not react; I’m a public figure and so is he (Ali Zafar). My thoughtprocess was who I am and who he is and what that’s going to lead to. Beingready to talk was far off because it had just happened. I buried it.”
It happened for the second time late last year or last quarter of lastyear. The second time it happened in a jam room when they were not alone.
“I got booked for a concert,” “It is my bread and butter, it was workcoming my way,” she says about why she agreed to be around him again.
“I was jamming with my band in Lahore and the organisers insisted that hewas trying to get in touch. It started turning into a thing, and I wasbeing seen as difficult or a diva, I got such feelers. I was avoiding him.I was asked to jam, figure out songs, scale and it happened while we werejamming.”
“I have run into him, our pictures have been taken, at social gatheringsetc because it’s easier to tell yourself to move on in whatever way youcan, you try.”
About what made her finally speak up she said,“The first and foremostreason is that I’m ready. I have started talking to people and divulging myexperience. I’m finding it hard on my conscious to stay silent any longerthan this because I’m seeing such brave girls and women speaking up – notjust around the world – but here as well.
“I have to say, by the way, I salute these girls,” she continues, “It’s noteasy. They are not public figures and I think it can be harder for me, in away, but it’s hard for everyone. The more I think about it, the more Irealise that if I don’t go public, nothing will change. It was eating awayat me.”
“I am telling my children how important it is to speak up, so it wasgetting difficult for me to stay silent knowing that it was not accidentalor subtle.”
She clears it out that she is not making a big deal out of a hug or ahandshake that went on for too long. “Women who feel that that’sinappropriate and speak-up and feel harassed, that is absolutely theirright and not to take away anything from them in any way but it was morethan that and that people need to know.”
She concludes with a powerful statement, “It is liberating, it’s empoweringand it’s not the end of the world. I only felt hesitant as long as I hadn’ttold anyone. The more people I tell, the more power I feel. I do. That hasbeen my direct experience in the case. I’ve done the thing I feared andI’ve taken the leap of faith. And you know what, it’s okay.”