Pakistani celebrities did a motorway incident protest separate from everyone else, apparently
The motorway incident raised, yet again, questions about women’s safety and the treatment meted out by men. The frustration over the lack of action by those in authority and some really shocking comment by the CCPO Lahore led to a lot of people protesting against the inadequate protection of women. Well, so did these celebrities but people have questions for them.
A bunch of Pakistani celebrities gathered to protest the motorway incident yesterday, outside the Karachi Press Club
Among them was forever queen Mahira Khan who was seen talking to the media about misogyny in the society. The actress stated that the problem of rape stems from the mindset which is driven by the dominance of a certain gender .
She refrained from commenting on the issue of capital punishment, instead, she said, “woh law ka mamla hai, main yeh manti hun kay rapist ko jo saza di jaye puri tarha di jaye.”
Ayesha Omar was also among Pakistani celebrities protesting the motorway incident. She was holding a banner which read, “meray saath zulm, meri hee ghalti.”
Ali Rehman was also among those famous names who protested yesterday
Of course, the notorious Yasir Hussain also spoke to the media at this protest by Pakistani celebrities over the motorway incident
He said that instead of focusing on what a woman ‘could/should’ have done, we need to address the behavior and actions of men in our society.
Aijaz Aslam and Adnan Siddiqui were also a part of this protest
The duo was seen holding a poster that read, “Stop rape.”
Sarah Khan was also seen outside the Press Club
Shahzad Sheikh also came out in support of women
Sarwat Gillani and her husband, Fahad Mirza, also made their presence felt
Others at the protest included actresses Bushra Ansari, Tara Mehmood and Anoushay Abbasi, Gul-e-Rana and Mansha Pasha, designers Maheen Khan, Asim Jofa and Deepak Perwani, producers Shazia Wajahat and Wajahat Rauf and event manager and former model Frieha Altaf among others.
Some Pakistanis are questioning the VIP nature of Pakistani celebrities’ protest for the motorway incident and why they couldn’t just join the ones that were organized by regular folks
Without taking away from their efforts, am curious to know how Karachi celebrities missed the memo re Saturday's protest.
— Zebunnisa Burki (@zburki) September 14, 2020
Still don’t understand why Pakistani celebrities had to have their own protest in Karachi? Was the common people protest not good enough for them? #amotorwayRape
— Sehar Tariq (@sehartariq) September 15, 2020
It is to be noted that Meesha Shafi, Zara Noor Abbas, Saba Hamid, Frieha Altaf and Hajra Yamin were among some of the celebrities who attended the earlier protest that regular folks organized
The fact that the entertainment industry came out in support of the rape victims deserves appreciation. Efforts and steps like these will bring us closer to a society that equally respects and values all genders, because people in the entertainment industry have a huge platform and can exercise a strong influence.
These protests now also need to translate into curbing TV shows that promote misogyny and lack of platform to people who spew such views.
Cover image: @sarwatg via Instagram / @sarahkhanofficial via Instagram