A lecturer from Lahore allegedly ended his life after false accusation
Me too is a movement that has enabled many, primarily women, around the globe to speak up about having suffered sexual harassment. With a lot of women coming out with stories of abuse and harassment the movement has helped shine a light on how massively prevalent it is for women to be sexually harassed. Due to a convergence of changing mindsets, generational shift, women taking their own lives into their hands, finding the courage to speak up and investigation into big names who were guilty of sexually harassing scores of women, the ‘Me Too’ movement has become a globally known albeit controversial subject.
Where there are so many people in power who have sexually mistreated women to maintain their power, influence or just for the sake of pervert reasons and have been exposed due to the ‘Me Too’ movement, there are some who have been mislabeled and even wrongfully accused. Like with any movement, some innocent people get swept up into chaos.
This lecturer from Lahore is also one such person who is alleged to have been wrongfully accused of sexual harassment
Mr. Afzal was a lecturer at the English department in MAO College Lahore. He was allegedly accused by a student of harassment. A note surfaced recently alleged to have been written by the lecturer where he shared that after the accusation leveled against him, there was an inquiry into his conduct and he was told that he was cleared of misconduct but, according to the note, it appears that development had not been made public yet. This accusation and the inquiry had led to his “reputation” at his college being sullied, allegedly. All this had caused him distress.
Mr Afzal, Lecturer at Govt MAO College Lahore has committed suicide after false harassment allegations. His wife left him and his reputation tarnished. This is why misuse of #MeToo is a problem. But you all are not ready for this discussion. pic.twitter.com/B1XXqS2F1r
— 𝘙𝘪𝘻𝘸𝘢𝘯 (@ChupShaa) October 18, 2019
In the alleged note which is addressed to an Enquiry Officer, the accused lecturer shared that his wife left him because she doubted his “character”
Based on the Enquiry Officer telling him that his accusation had turned out to be untrue, the accused lecturer goes on to demand that the false accuser be rusticated. He ends the application with a request to issue a character certificate for his mother.
In another note that has surfaced the lecturer from Lahore requested the police not to investigate the matter and that he “leave[s] this matter in the court of Allah”
Naturally, this news has shocked many people
So sad & traumatic incident! Another victim of #MeToo movement with false allegations from opportunistic & criminal mindsets. #Metoo is based on injustice & prejudice under falseflag slogans of antiman, anti-patriarchy & profeminist. It's not for providing justice to its victim pic.twitter.com/hzclKJTpqX
— Ehsan Achakzai (@e_achakzai) October 19, 2019
That really saddened me. I curse thz women who has NOTHING else to do but playing woman card & bashing men 24/7. 5 fingers are not equal & if U want to be respected by men at least show some character, sharam, haya&ghairat and give respect too them aswell
And to hell this #MeToo https://t.co/2HUgdq45lL— آبی کوثر (@Aabekosar) October 19, 2019
Many have started blaming the whole ‘Me Too’ movement based on just one incident of this lecturer from Lahore allegedly having been falsely accused
I have a huge respect for women, cos my mother raised me very well but Its so sad how this #MeToo has become a tool for some to propagate their agendas. Someone had to commit suicide to prove his innocence. Only if we use this for rightful purposes and not for propagating… pic.twitter.com/9uRUXfXlSp
— S. Ali Shah (@zaidiali9) October 19, 2019
Misuse of a campaign that is made to highlight the terror of sexual harassment is equally condemned and must be punished severely.
It's a very tragic day.
Women and men have stayed silent for too long and this only makes things worse. #MeToo pic.twitter.com/rAa9AdQPwA
— RushmeenTweets (@rushmeentweets) October 19, 2019
Thankfully, others are pointing out how a whole movement cannot be disregarded based on one incident
Just as not all men are savages or trash because the actions of one evil, negative man. Just as not all Muslims are terrorists based on some who may have been guilty of violence against innocent people of different faiths. Just as anyone who does anything evil does not represent their whole community, the ‘Me Too’ movement can’t be disregarded because of this one incident as it has served in helping so many victims of abuse find their voice and helped hold so many perverts accountable.
The misuse of #MeToo is unreal… those who are genuine suffer further as no one then believes them due to vile women like this!! https://t.co/y80yejLBGw
— 💞 (@B4M813) October 19, 2019
#MeToo is trending in Pakistan for the wrong reason. Apparently most Pakistani men with access to Internet hate #MeToo
— AB (@AabdulR) October 19, 2019
yes the girl should be punished for misusing #metoo and falsely accusing the lecturer , who commited suicide later to prove his innocence.
But lets not use this case to guilt trip women who are raising their legit voices against rampant harassment.
— anastipu (@teepusahab) October 19, 2019
People are demanding severe punishments for the person who falsely accused this lecturer from Lahore, if the incident does turn out to be true
#MeToo has been abused before, in some cases resulting in suicides. Those who abuse it must be criminally charged and prosecuted, so that the black sheep can be sifted from this otherwise great initiative.
— Taimoor Ashraf (@taimoorashraf) October 19, 2019
Some one needs to step in and draft a law for awarding penalty to the false accusers of harrasment.The suicide of the professor of MAO College Lahore has raised serious questions over the misuse of #MeToo pic.twitter.com/qyQMqzHDrO
— imad zafar (@rjimad) October 19, 2019
These conversations are new and difficult for everyone. Existing power structures haven’t allowed for victims of abuse of power to be able to topple the order in such a manner, therefore external “public courts of opinion” start determining the course of reputations of the accused as well as the accuser. Maybe we need to reevaluate how we react when such an incident happens instead of starting to take sides?
Editor’s note: It is extremely important that we don’t stop the very important conversations on sexual harassment that the ‘Me Too’ movement has allowed to happen. Women have historically been slut-shamed and victim blamed for speaking up about going through some form of harassment or sexual abuse. With the ‘Me Too’ movement, we should also develop a space of rehabilitation so that actual harassers can start accepting their mistakes to make this world a better place without becoming aggressively defensive. It is this practice that will allow for this to be a safer society for everyone to exist without fear.
Cover image via @PS11Larkano / Twitter