Now since we all have pontificated, given our pompous moral judgments and lay drained and exhausted; it’s time to become the “sober analysts” and examine the Mahira and Ranbir controversy – a bit dispassionately. I will argue it was not really about conservatives and liberals, it was not about Islamists and modernists, and it was certainly not about nationalists and enemy agents.
It was something about “basic instincts”; it was something fundamental and primitive, something that controls our emotions from the days of Cane and Abel. It was that instinct that drove Cane to kill his brother, Abel.
It’s happening in our universities and educational institutions as well. What should be immoral is the young underage boys and girls smoking cigarettes and doing drugs at schools
To begin with, it was really funny to see this kind of reaction from people and media in Pakistan – and one can easily fail to understand what was all this actually about? If it was about her dress then have our media not shown or the people never watched Hum or Lux Style awards? Women in those long backless, strapless gowns?
Read more: Watch Hamza Ali Abbasi giving a shut up call to all…
Why do women watch it look for the latest trends? Have Pakistani people never seen the pictures of Mawra and Urwa or other female celebrities on Instagram taken in London in frocks and skirts? I wonder since when our media got this conservative? People might be conservative but media – oh no no no!
If this was about Mahira smoking a stick then that’s not something which girls don’t do in Pakistan… and if it’s about the mark on her back that looks like a hicky then Hamza Abbasi’s explanation for it being a scar from a cyst removal procedure should have been enough. But I am convinced, this isn’t about the way she dressed or smoked a cigarette or about her scar or love bite or whatever that is. To me, it looks like some female or male star or someone in a competing role or imagining herself or himself a competitor getting jealous of this poor soul.
What about all those countless men and women of the same country who loved watching her song ‘Zaalima’ from the film ‘Raees’? God! This is out of pure jealousy… I feel for Mahira
And that “she” or “he” has ample reasons: one can be jealous of Mahira getting popular in India, jealous of her being the lead actress opposite king of celluloid, Shah Rukh Khan, jealous of her unstoppable popularity as a successful artist in Pakistan, jealous of her getting the importance from Indian film fraternity, and jealous of her becoming the super Mahira Khan. Media has just taken out the frustration or they were directed to turn these pictures into a massive shameful controversy for the lady to make life tough for her in this country.
Read more: Hamza Ali Abbasi, and other actors rally behind Mahira Khan
But let’s forget about Mahira for a second; more importantly, the issue people saying is the “issue” isn’t really the issue here. What about those lehenga cholis and sarees with mini blouses that designers showcase in the bridal fashion weeks on Pakistan’s national television? What about those models wearing those outfits?
Media has just taken out the frustration or they were directed to turn these pictures into a massive shameful controversy for the lady to make life tough for her in this country
Those fashion shows are all about the skin show… nobody ever pointed a finger at the models nor at those designers designing those dresses? What about all those countless men and women of the same country who loved watching her song ‘Zaalima’ from the film ‘Raees’? God! This is out of pure jealousy… I feel for Mahira!
This isn’t about liberals or conservatives. This isn’t about morality… women in that ultra so-called conservative Arab world do shisha at homes with their brothers and fathers and if they don’t feel immoral about doing shisha with their daughters then Pakistan isn’t conservative enough to call a girl immoral just for smoking a cigarette.
Read more: Is Nauman Ali Khan a ‘womanizer’?
It’s happening in our universities and educational institutions as well. What should be immoral is the young underage boys and girls smoking cigarettes and doing drugs at schools…. that’s what should be immoral and what media should highlight, the way they tried to defame this poor girl. I rest my case.
Shiffa Yousafzai is a freelance writer; She is an International Alumni Ambassador for Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, where she studied Multimedia Journalism. Earlier, she graduated with business and marketing at Air University, Islamabad. She had been vice-president Air University Cultural Society; She is a singer and has performed in cultural events. Shiffa could be followed on twitter @Shiffa_ZY and on facebook @Shiffa Z. Yousafzai. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Global Village Space’s editorial policy.