Meesha Shafi vs Ali Zafar: Debunking The Conspiracy Theories

By
Araiz Shahid
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1
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Meesha Shafi Ali Zafar Meesha Shafi Ali Zafar
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Amid certainty of backlash and victim blaming, Meesha Shafi came out yesterday with a hard-hitting statement against Ali Zafar accusing him of sexually harassing her on more than one occasion.

Many commoners have come out in her support, sending out messages of solidarity to the the powerhouse entertainer. However, as expected there is also no dearth of those who are either out-rightly calling her a liar or blaming her for “bring it on herself.”

Read: Meesha Shafi Accused Ali Zafar Of Sexual Harassment & We Don’t Know If Any Man Is Worth Our Trust Anymore!

The victim bashing became all the more loud once Ali Zafar came out with a statement categorically denying any and every allegation made against him by Shafi, threatening to take her to court for defamation.

After going through the thousands of tweets that have come out on the scandal since last evening, as a man I felt obligated to speak out. Let me thus, debunk the conspiracy theories one at a time.

Ali Zafar is a Father, Husband and Son

Many feel that because Ali Zafar is a father, brother, husband and son, thus he can possibly not be a harasser.

Well, by that definition Meesha Shafi is also a mother, wife, sister and daughter. By the same definition EVERYONE is bound by all or most of these relationships. Every rapist and murderer also someone’s son or brother or (possibly) father or husband.

Thus, this logic is completely without substance and deserves no further comment.

Meesha Shafi Lied to Gain Twitter Followers

https://twitter.com/yasishzd/status/986927901886111744

Ah..this one is so pathetic that I seriously don’t even know how to respond! I mean…seriously, WTF?

Meesha Shafi Lied for Fame and Career Advancement

First of all, Meesha Shafi is a celebrated artist in her own respect and does not need “fame,” – she already has it, remember?

Secondly, if anything, coming out against a powerful man from the same industry will do her more harm than good. We have seen examples from the past where women – and even men – who have come out against powerful harassers have been sidelined by their own peers and have lost out on endorsements and other lucrative deals.

Read: 5 Measures Patari Music Must Take To Redeem Itself After The Debacle Of Khalid Bajwa

Confronting a powerful sexual harasser is especially difficult in the corporate and entertainment industries because both the survivor/victim and the harasser have very little understanding of rights and responsibilities that can help them or get them in trouble respectively. Similarly, because these industries are dominated primarily by men, there is very little hope for a woman to find empathy and support to confront sexual harassment.

In a nutshell, by accusing Ali Zafar, Meesha Shafi is actually at a much greater disadvantage than most would like to admit.

Look at the Clothes She Wears! She Asked to be Harassed!

This is the oldest accusation levied against women when they come out against sexual harassment. Somehow, there are always those elements who shift the focus from harassment to the clothes a woman chooses to wear.

Please remember, NO ONE EVER WANTS TO BE SEXUALLY VIOLATED! What they choose to wear NEVER has anything to do with the intention of the harasser. There is a huge body of evidence and multiple researches in which rapists, sexual harassers and their victims were interviewed and no connection whatsoever was found with what the victim wore.

Read: You’re A Certified Sexual Harasser If You Do These 5 Things

If what a person wears was the primary reason for sexual harassment and rape, then women who wear burqas, hijab or cover themselves with chaddar would not complain of harassment. If clothes were the biggest motivation, little children – including infants – would not be molested!

In sexual harassment or rape, only the harasser or rapist is to blame – NO ONE ELSE!

Why Didn’t Meesha Shafi Speak-up Before?

https://twitter.com/SarahLodhi3/status/986942590783279106

In a country where 80% of all children have experienced various levels of sexual abuse and a world where it is impossible to find a single woman who hasn’t faced some degree of harassment, how do people still have the audacity to ask such a question?

Even the most well-placed women do not come out against harassers because of the shame and stigma attached to the whole sordid episode. This is already being demonstrated on social media with people questioning Meesha Shafi’s integrity rather than lending her (at least) an empathetic ear.

Speaking up against a harasser should not be difficult but more than the harassers it is those who shame the victims who make it impossible for the harassed to speak-up!

Ali Zafar is Innocent Because Meesha Shafi Has No Evidence to Back Her Claim

More often than not those who have been sexually harassed have no evidence except their word.

Come to think of it, if someone felt you up or fondled you, what are the odds that you will have evidence to prove it?

This is also one of the biggest reasons why most victims choose to suffer in silence.

Why Didn’t Meesha Shafi Take Legal Action?

https://twitter.com/DrAyeshaNaveed/status/986974194113105920

This is quite closely linked to to the previous point: without evidence the courts do not entertain accusations.

Now, I certainly don’t blame the courts for this as punishments can possibly not be handed out on the basis of verbal claims.

Read: Will Little Asifa Get Justice When Indian Parliamentarians Themselves Are Booked For Rape?

However, when a victim decides to break his/her silence, they actually do the whole society a huge favour by opening up avenues for other survivors/victims to come out with their stories and there’s always a possibility that one or more of them might have some sort of proof or witnesses to back their claims.

If Ali Zafar is a Harasser, Why Did He Not Harass So Many Other Women?

https://twitter.com/latchingonto/status/987066107474382858

Does a murderer kill everyone whom s/he comes across? Does a rapist rape everyone whom s/he comes across? No? I rest my case!

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1 COMMENT

  1. I think they were in a relationship. .once things got bad between them meesha shafi had an emotional outburst on twitter. …He was not harassing her,lovemaking is exact name.
    Anyways just a thought..Allah knows better.

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