Waqar Zaka helping blasphemy accused folks
Waqar always finds himself in controversial positions because of the daring steps he takes. Some people love him for it but others raise questions about his motives. As long as he keeps on helping facilitate conversations on topics that need more attention we think that’s a victory. Or is it?
Recently, Waqar Zaka shared his “biggest dare so far” revolving around a false blasphemy accusation
Three non-Muslim men, belonging to Dunga Bunga, a town of Bahawalnagar District, were falsely accused of blasphemy. and an FIR was registered against them for burning pages with Quranic verses on them. The news reached Waqar Zaka, who at that time was working on his project in Khatmandu. He put to rest all his commitments and immediately flew to Bahawalnagar.
Allah ka Sukar, we rescued (right to left) Vishal tariq , #bholaram , Adil Saleem Maseeh @ShaanTaseer where is #Pakistanforall? pic.twitter.com/JcJRhQkVOj
— Waqar Zaka (@ZakaWaqar) October 4, 2017
Being who he is, Waqar then proceeded to stream the blasphemy accused folks and his meeting with them live through his Facebook
Waqar took to his personal Facebook profile to go live and thus explain the whole ordeal to his audience. Bhola Ram, Vishaal Tariq, and Saleem Masih were allegedly seen burning pages with Quranic verses written on them by a lady health worker who reported them to the police.
He made sure to confirm that the FIR was closed and that the men were not to be kept in the police station and were allowed to go to their respective homes without any looming fear on their heads.
Waqar Zaka then interviewed the three individuals who stated that this was a mere misunderstanding and the police, despite the FIR, had dealt justly and had neither teased nor mistreated them in any way.
However, soon after Waqar’s video, a different side of the story came forward
Shaan Taseer took to his personal Facebook profile to state that Waqar Zaka had just stepped in with the mere purpose of taking credit for something he hadn’t even contributed towards. As per Taseer’s claims. he and the PFA had already handled the case, before Waqar Zaka’s intervention.
Shaan Taseer further stated that the PFA had negotiated with the community to quash the case and Waqar Zaka had tried to, simply, pull a publicity stunt by hailing himself as the protector of minorities. He then, sarcastically, offered the lifetime position of PFA’s principal advocate to him.
Then, in a separate post, Shaan Taseer explained that he and the PFA were the legal counsel of Bhola Ram case and that people defending the victims of religious persecution were not “circus clowns” and thus kept low profiles.
Here it is you #CircusClown pic.twitter.com/k9tcktwXdp
— Shaan Taseer (@ShaanTaseer) October 5, 2017
He also went on about how Waqar Zaka had trivialized a serious issue and put people’s lives in danger for his publicity stunt and thus he expected Waqar to apologize to his audience and make a donation to the PFA.
While speaking to MangoBaaz, Waqar Zaka explained that the accusation of pulling a publicity stunt over the blasphemy accused folks was baseless
He said that the purpose of going live on his personal profile, rather than filming a documentary or a monetized vlog, was to retain the authenticity and the clarity of this whole issue. He explained that he had spent his own money and time, flying from Nepal to Pakistan.
He further explained his side by sharing his conversation with the DPO Bahawalpur who handled the Bholaram case. According to them, Waqar Zaka was the first person to reach out to help. No other direct correspondences were made from anybody else.
A lot of people were thoroughly impressed by Waqar Zaka making efforts for the blasphemy accused
Some people were deeply moved by Waqar’s intervention in this case and proceeded to appreciate him.
That person in the middle has tears in his eyes, you're doing a great job brother
— shahzaib ahmed (@shahzaibahmed_) October 4, 2017
Waqar bhai awesome work and Allah pak give you ajar for this beautiful cause to help people who was not guilty.👍👍👍
— malikumargohar (@malikumargohar) October 4, 2017
However, others didn’t find it in themselves to believe Waqar’s claims
https://t.co/HuWdNbG48d
Mr. opportunist @ZakaWaqar, Knidly accept offer of @ShaanTaseer (the real activist).— Shahzad Manwa ㋹ (@ShahzadManwa) October 5, 2017
They believed the other side of the story more
He tries 2 drag ppls names thru mud 2 make himself feel good when karma catches up to him he says 'Boss mein ne aap ko bola Kya hai'
— Humayra (@_HumayraK) October 5, 2017
However, Waqar Zaka had a counter-statement for his critics on this matter
Waqar Zaka stated that if someone is doing something good, we must appreciate it rather than putting him down. He also stated that he hadn’t achieved anything out of this and asked if anybody else would actually take such a risk and go without any friend or backup.
The important bit in all of this is the fact that innocent lives were saved. It’s harrowing how easy it has become to level terrifyingly severe accusations against minorities.
What do you think about this entire scenario? Let us know in the comments.
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Cover image via @ZakaWaqar /Twitter