Daily Times

It all began when model Eman Suleman made the announcement on her Instagram account. The 27-year-old Pakistani model took a stand against an alleged sexual harasser, who was also a prominent nominee at the award function.

Eman Suleman is known for her opinionated posts on the social media- on 30^th March Eman released a short video saying:

“I was extremely honoured to be nominated for the Lux Style Awards. What I’m going to say next is probably going to result in a lot of eyerolls and vitriol. [But] I do not wish to be part of an accolade that is shared with an alleged harasser. I feel no joy. Maybe give the nomination to someone who feels happy about it. I don’t. I am basically done.”

Eman Suleman was the first one to condemn and boycott LSA, but not for too long. Saima Bargfrede and Clothing brand ‘Generation’ was next in line. The two entities stepped down from the nominations to boycott the award show.

Everyone did wonder why Meesha Shafi was still quiet over the matter. A couple of days later, the renowned singer Meesha Shafi finally broke the silence by counting herself out of the LSA nominations.

She thanked Eman Suleman, Saima Bargfrede and Generation for taking a stand for her:

“I want to thank Eman Suleman. What she, Generation and Saima Bargfrede have said and done is what I consider my award.

In a perfect world, I would love to see women retain their space in the industry while being safe, so that the cost of speaking up is minimized, or even done away with altogether.

A cost which is all too high at present. Our boycotts should not overshadow our achievements. With brave women like these, I feel optimistic about getting there one day.”

Meesha’s song ‘Mein’ was nominated in the category of best song for LSA.

“Mein’ is a song about finding our true self and being aligned with a higher purpose. Becoming our own hero and being enough. I wrote it at a particularly difficult time in my life. When I needed to be all those things” stated Meesha.

Meesha Shafi demanded: “‘Mein’ stands nominated for the best song at the Lux Style Awards 2019. The irony is not lost on me given the current circumstances and I would kindly request that my name and work be removed from the list of nominees.”

In April 2018, singer Meesha Shafi accused a fellow singer of sexual harassment.

“I have been subjected, on more than one occasion, to sexual harassment of physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar,” she wrote on Twitter.

“These incidences didn’t happen when I was young, or just entering the industry. This happened to me despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind. This happened to me as a mother of two children” stated the female singer.

“Ali is someone who I have known for many years and someone who I have shared stage with. I feel betrayed by his behavior and his attitude and I know that I am not alone.

Today I am breaking the culture of silence and I hope that by doing that I am setting an example for young women in my country to do the same. We only have our voices and the time has come to use them,” concluding bravely.

Next in line was the famous Pakistani director Jami, who didn’t just drop out from the award show, but also dumped away three LSA awards that he had been rewarded in the past, in retaliation to the Lux style award over nominating an accused sexual harasser on the LSA platform.

The director said: “Putting out our Lux Award is an extreme reaction to an extreme action. LSA should’ve been more careful and sensitive towards women and their massive harassment issues. This time I feel LSA completely missed the point by not taking our women’s point and stories seriously.”

Also adding, “Azadfilm Company and I will put all our Lux Style Awards outside my gate – it is trash for us now! We stand by our women, believe them and their stories.”

The next day, Jami posted pictures of his awards lying on the road. The director stated: “Lux Award —- yes here you go! We promised and let’s hope someone picks it. For us it’s done.”

Folk band, ‘The Sketches’, makeup artist Fatima Nasir also pulled out their names from the LSA nominations supporting the same cause.

Things are certainly heating up. With so many nominations walking out of the award show, would the Lux Style awards still continue this year?