By now, everyone’s heard of the Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy controversy that’s swept the nation in a fiery debate.
Sharmeen tweeted about how she deemed a friend request sent to her sister to be an act of harassment
There are zero boundaries in #pakistan! Last night my sister went to AKU emergency & the doctor who tended to her tried 2 add her on FB 1/2
— Sharmeen Obaid (@sharmeenochinoy) October 23, 2017
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
The post was quoted by numerous personalities – mostly to be ridiculed. However, as it spread, news of the doctor in question being fired started making rounds as well
Consequently, the Internet lost its shit and started brutally trolling Sharmeen and her sister. Some of the nastiest comments started circulating the Internet. Sharmeen, her family, and her supporters became a target for Pakistanis everywhere.
Some people ridiculed the entire case.
How to trigger(harass) Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. pic.twitter.com/MUh7mioEnP
— Pakistani Sarcasm (@sarcamanistan) October 28, 2017
Some people didn’t know when to stop
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
Famous personalities weighed in against Sharmeen as well
And to no one’s surprise, Hamza Ali Abbasi had views he wanted to share
Sharmeen Obaid ppl look upto U, lets realize wht sexual harassment really means be4 getting a doc fired by a public fiasco for a fb request https://t.co/RUhNZvypck
— Hamza Ali Abbasi (@iamhamzaabbasi) October 27, 2017
People started reaching out to the hospital in question and protested in favor of the doctor
Go to this page message and record your protest. Its time we let them know what public thinks NOT sharmeen Obaid chinoy. pic.twitter.com/5gNjfqJ3UC
— Hina ?? (@HinaKharal) October 27, 2017
And others legitimately started planning to harass Sharmeen
There is a disgusting "event" on Facebook calling for people to flood Sharmeen Obaid with friend requests.
But Sharmeen can easily just remove the friending option on her profile, move on with her life, meanwhile you sit around wasting time on FB. pic.twitter.com/ORmbDydOwo
— Nuzhat S. Siddiqi (@guldaar) October 28, 2017
These are still some of the more filtered, decent tweets and posts that were found while looking for opinions and voices against Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy. Some posts bordered on being vile in terms of the language used. Pakistanis who had reservations against Sharmeen saw this as their opportunity to make their dislike more public. However, amidst all this, some Pakistani women actually stood up for Sharmeen and explained the concept of harassment to many who didn’t seem to understand it.
Pakistani actress, Ushna Shah, happened to be one of those women. She tweeted out her thoughts at first within the short range of a hundred and forty characters
reporting unprofessionalism which lead 2 HOSPITAL firing employee as per THEIR policy is the woman’s fault 4 not staying quiet? #aku
— Ushna Shah (@ushnashah) October 27, 2017
However, soon she realized that she needed to elaborate much more and fully explain her stance
When a woman goes to a male doctor, especially in Pakistan- she is blindly trusting and hoping against hope that when he…
Posted by Ushna Shah on Freitag, 27. Oktober 2017
The team at Digital Rights Foundation (DRF) also chose to voice their opinions and thoughts.
Activist and Lawyer, Shmyla Khan, who heads the Cyber Harassment Helpline at DRF tweeted out this short, yet impactful message.
Where are all these male sexual harassment experts when you actually need allies and support?
Must be a scheduling issue…— Shmyla Khan (@shmyla) October 27, 2017
However, Nighat Dad, who runs DRF, explained her stance much more extensively in a series of tweets
A woman goes into an emergency ward to a hospital in a condition & the male doctor who examines your body then sends you a fb friend request
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) October 27, 2017
She explained how the information about Sharmeen’s sister was obtained unethically
Please remember sent you a fb request after taking the information unethically from the hospital – Its wrong. Period
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) October 27, 2017
And took time out to explain what harassment truly means
Harassment is whn someone makes u uncomfortable. A doc who hv ur personal health details, sends fb request cn make any patient uncomfortable
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) October 27, 2017
She also clarified certain bits and pieces of news…
Also the doctor is suspended & it is between him & AKH- and they operate on an int standard where things like this are not acceptable-
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) October 27, 2017
…and shed some light on how hypocritical Pakistanis were apparently being
If a man had Said this had happened to his sister people would have applauded him because yes he is the flag bearer of family honor.
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) October 27, 2017
She lay emphasis on the idea of consent
Often when there is a debate around harassment we forget the important element and that is CONSENT.
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) October 27, 2017
And took time out to clear misconceptions her followers brought up
We can’t define harassment in defined box, context matters and every case is different from one another.
— Nighat Dad (@nighatdad) October 27, 2017
The Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy controversy is truly a convoluted one that has sparked a range of extreme emotions in Pakistanis. Sharmeen has stayed silent on the matter, but we hope to hear from her soon to see where things are headed for her, her family and the doctor in question.
Oh and those wondering that the doctor was sacked or suspended purely because of Sharmeen’s complaints, the hospital where he worked has this to say:
What do you have to say about this? Share your thoughts on the matter in the comments below.
Cover image via: dawn.com