Daily Times

LAHORE: Renowned activist and documentary maker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy has been clouded with controversy after she Tweeted about her sister’s ‘encounter’ with an Agha Khan University (AKU) doctor who sent her a friend request on Facebook moments after examining her.

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy labelled the incident as “harassment” and stated that she would be taking action and lodging a complaint against the
doctor.

The incident resulted in the doctor being suspended although AKU authorities have so far refused to deny or confirm this.

Quite a ruckus has been developing around Sharmeen’s series of Tweets on social media in Pakistan, with some supporting her stance regarding the doctor’s said behaviour meanwhile others are bashing the two-time Oscar winner for her Tweets and calling her out and some have even gone as far as offering the accused doctor a new job.

To address the controversy that has surrounded her recent Tweets, Sharmeen released a note on Twitter earlier today.

The two-time Oscar winner in the note admits that she used “poorly chosen” words in her Tweets and that regretfully, her Tweets and the debate surrounding them have diverted from her actual point, the issue that she was raising regarding harassment of women and the abuse occurring between a
doctor-patient relationship.

She also clarifies that the doctor in question added her sister as a friend on Facebook and even made comments on her photos, this behaviour is regarded as the violation of the professional code of conduct. She also said that AKUH is carrying its own investigation into that matter as well. She reiterated that she will not stay silent on issues of harassment and went on to write that we must support women when they speak out against harassment instead of drowning their voices.

Published in Daily Times, November 1^st 2017.