Two-time Oscar winning filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy recently came under fire after she took a stand against something she felt was harassment. Earlier this week she narrated the story of her sisters experience at Agha Khan University Hospital in Karachi wherein she was admitted in emergency. What essentially happened according to Sharmeen, was that the doctor who treated her sister tried to add her on Facebook by digging up personal information on her.
Sharmeen had describe the actions of the doctor who harassed her sister as unethical and clear violation of the patient’s trust
I don't quite understand how doctor tending 2 emergency patients thinks it's ok to take a female patient info & add her on FB! 2/2 unethical
— Sharmeen Obaid (@sharmeenochinoy) October 23, 2017
She subsequently went on to lodge a complaint with authorities and it was also reported that the doctor was fired from his position at the hospital
Unfortunately the doctor messed with the wrong women in the wrong family and I will definitely report him! Harassment has 2 stop!
— Sharmeen Obaid (@sharmeenochinoy) October 23, 2017
This sparked a huge debate on social media with many challenging Sharmeen’s definition of “harrasment”
35K followers, means 35000 people harassed me on Twitter.
Oscar Winner Sharmeen Obaid's logic. ?— Mariam's Madness (@mariamsmadness) October 27, 2017
I accidently tagged sharmeen obaid in a tweet . Will i be facing harassement charges now??
— Dawood Naeem (@dawoodghural) October 26, 2017
If to follow/sending request on social media is unethical,kindly leave social media @sharmeenochinoy &make Whatsapp group of urs frnd&famly
— Adnan khan (@AdnanArch) October 27, 2017
Sharmeen Obaid trivialises a serious issue to stay relevant to her paymasters abroad to get more $ to the accounts revealed in #PanamaPapers
— St. Aubrun (@st_aubrun) October 27, 2017
Even certain known personalities joined the bandwagon
After receiving many friend request from both thin & fat girls today, I fear I may have been raped. ? #Harassment
— Shehryar Taseer (@shehryar_taseer) October 27, 2017
Even before fame, had lots of women who added me on FB cuz they randomly met me, didnt go arnd pursuing "harassment" charges against them.
— Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) October 27, 2017
#ChachiBotoxMurdabaad @sharmeenochinoy DR. Should get his job back AKU hospital.
— Waqar Zaka (@ZakaWaqar) October 26, 2017
The hatred and harassment against Sharmeen has escalated to a whole new level
There are countless memes and jokes, along with Sharmeen’s photos with men she was taking photos with consent, circulating the Pakistani internet, calling out that it somehow negates her claims.
Pic1: How normal people see it
Pic2: How Sharmeen Obaid see it pic.twitter.com/XwoyCeJ6TI— Fake Account (@Aakbar84) October 27, 2017
An event by the name of “Send Friend Requests To Sharmeen’ has been started on Facebook by students of Lahore University.
The event page is encouraging people to bombard Sharmeen with friend requests as a sign of solidarity with the AKU doctor
The description of the event contains a sarcastic declaration ending with a profanity against the Oscar winning filmmaker.
People also shared screen shots of Facebook inbox messages that they apparently sent to Sharmeen on a Facebook profile that they think belongs to her
At this point we cannot validate the authenticity of these messages.
Many trolls are bombarding AKU, the hospital where Sharmeen’s sister’s harasser was employed, by giving it lower ratings on Google Reviews
This escalation of events against a woman who called out what she felt was making her uncomfortable is alarming. Whether or not this is an organized group of internet trolls is not yet determined.
What are your thoughts on the whole situation? Please let us know in the comment section below.