Daily Times

Ali Zafar starrer Teefa in Trouble opened for business alongside growing protests against the star. Sexual harassment is dirty business, and our celebrities don’t like being held accountable for their conduct.

That it is women that are coming out in large numbers to protest this movie is a promising sign. It is their grit and spirit that is no longer allowing people to wish allegations away. There was a time when a woman talking about sexual harassment was met with nothing but ridicule — and to be fair we haven’t come that far along, but a palpable change is coming.

How do we identify change? When peaceful protests are met with grotesque behaviours, such as the treatment meted out to peaceful protests outside Karachi Nueplex, where the administration allegedly called the Rangers, who proceeded to reportedly detain, threaten and beat up protestors.

This incident comes a day protestors outside another show came face to face withBareeze’s Waleed Zaman, who was caught on video saying he supported the sexual harassment of women. Zaman later attempted to claim — in a now deleted post — that he was trying to defend his wife’s honour against the protestors. In reality, the protestors that Zaman faced were mostly women, who have been caught on video doing nothing but chanting as he walks by grinning and telling the world his views on harassment.

In the past, such indiscretions were treated as a “joke” and people soon forgot all about them. However, this time around, Zaman’s own peers are refusing to let this go, and neither are his customers. The protestors that stopped Feroze Khan are also refusing to let it go.

If you are in the business of selling your goods and services to women, you better learn to play by their rules — and unfortunately the rules include a no harassment policy. In the coming days, there is no reason for the protests to die down. It’s time to face the music or shut down the show.

Pretty soon, Teefa in Trouble is soon going to be the least of Ali Zafar’s troubles. The women have awakened, and they are not going to quiet down anytime soon.  *

Published in Daily Times, July 22^nd 2018.