Amidst the ongoing movement that is geared towards boycotting the Lux Style Awards for nominating Ali Zafar, alongside his own case with Meesha Shafi, the actor and singer in question has released an official statement.

Ali took to Twitter to not only share a brief note, but also a video where he talks about why he was in court, shedding light on further details.

Here is the tweet:

My statement and media talk outside session court in Lahore https://t.co/7E21xX7ViH #FaceTheCourtMeeshaShafi pic.twitter.com/5YqfV1ILH6

— Ali Zafar (@AliZafarsays) April 27, 2019

Ali highlights how Meesha’s case has been dismissed, alongside the appeal against the dismissal, while asserting that the reason why he’s in court isn’t due to the alleged harassment charges, but due to the case he has taken up against Meesha, suing her for defamation. Moreover, in this public statement, Ali claims that Meesha must pay for the damages that “naturally she is trying to run away from.”

Ali also talks about filing a case against all the accounts involved in running a campaign against him on social media. He believes he’s been quiet regarding the matter. However, now, in the face of a “big event,” he believes he must speak up.

While the written statement is brief, the media talk goes on for about four minutes. 

During this talk, Ali alleges that the innocent come to court, even when they aren’t called. Interesting. Ali then goes on to talk about cyberbullying – a crime he has allegedly dealt with on an apparently monumental scale. Meesha Shafi, of course, has also faced immense cyberbullying. I hope there’ll be some form of action against that, too.

Ali also goes on to express his disappointment over how someone can take to Twitter and allegedly defame a “begunah shareef aadmi” while planning their immigration to Canada.

He then went on to question whether Meesha wanted international recognition or wanted to be Malala. 

For those of you who may be unaware, let me walk you through Malala’s story: When she was around 12-years-old, she wrote a blog for BBC Urdu under a pseudonym on the Taliban occupation of Swat. Once she gained recognition, she was targeted in 2012 by a Taliban gunman in an assassination attempt. She survived a bullet to her head and went on to become an even more powerful activist.

Meesha’s story revolves around her coming forward with harassment allegations.

ANYWAY, you can watch the entire video here:

In the meantime, #FaceTheCourtMeeshaShafi is trending on Twitter.

People are saying a lot of nasty things under the hashtag, but perhaps Ali can help the FIA fully fathom whether or not this quantifies as cyberbullying.

Regardless of what may go down, the #MeToo movement and the need for justice to prevail will remain a constant. What do you all think? Let us know.

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