Our very own ‘#MeToo’ moment has finally arrived, as Meesha Shafi, a versatile artist with a huge fan following, has accused another fellow star, Ali Zafar, of sexual harassment. It is worthwhile to remember that the ‘#MeToo’ is a universal movement which went viral in October 2017 to demonstrate the prevalence of sexual assault and harassment against women at workplaces in the aftermath of public revelations of sexual-misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein, an American film producer. This led to the ‘Weinstein effect’, as many similar allegations by Hollywood actresses like Ashley Judd, Jennifer Lawrence and Uma Thurman against powerful men in the industry surfaced.
One must appreciate the courage of these women to speak about the ordeal they had gone through, mostly at the start of their respective careers, at the hands of the well-established producers, directors and co-actors. Indeed, such an awareness campaign has done a great service to the disempowered women in developing countries like Pakistan, whereby most of the women, out of the fear of being disgraced, keep mum about their own similar experiences at the workplaces. Pakistan, on its part, has kept in place the requisite laws, apart from having the provincial and federal ombudsman for protection against harassment of women at the workplace. However, there is much more that is to be done, especially with regards to the actual implementation of these laws.
The flipside is the possibility of the misuse of these laws, as has been a tendency on the part of certain individuals and segments of the society to exploit other such laws, including the blasphemy laws against the minorities — thus the dire need to fill in the lacunas and provide the requisite remedies in this regard.
One may also wonder that slogans like ‘Mera jism, meri marzi’ are antithesis of the universally accepted principles that the human/fundamental rights, including right to life and liberty, freedom of speech and religion and freedom of movement, etc. are subject to reasonable restrictions imposed by law, which include the observance of morality, decency and religious sensitivities of others. My freedom ends, where the freedoms of others start. Similarly, catch phrases like ‘Khana khud garm kar-lo’ themselves repudiate the equality these rights groups are struggling so hard for, apart from doing more damage to the feminist movement.
Our courts had also taken this movement in their stride when recently women’s quota for pilots in Pakistan International Airline was upheld, irrespective of the dexterity and skills required for this sensitive post. Here one must also remember the recent faux pas by the federal ombudsman for protection against harassment of women at workplace, Ms Kashmala Tariq, and the way she bullied a TV journalist who asked the pertinent but harsh questions from her. We also see, in our daily lives, how such women misuse their otherwise vulnerable position in a society like ours to browbeat and harass the opposite gender. However, men dare not talk about it, lest they become a victim of their own audacity — read stupidity.
Coming back to our very own ‘MeToo’ moment, if the allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Zafar are right, Ms Shafi should have had a recourse to the respective forum under the civil and criminal laws, especially to knock at the door of the provincial or federal ombudsman mentioned above, rather than taking to Twitter to vent her feelings. She would have found a willing helper in the shape of federal ombudsman, Ms Kashmala Tariq, who has also been allegedly associated in the past with the namesake of Ali Zafar.
If the allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Zafar are right, Ms Shafi should have had a recourse to the respective forum under civil and criminal law rather than taking to Twitter to vent her feelings
Mr Zafar, on his part, also possesses both criminal and civil remedies to penalise Ms Shafi and/or to seek damages respectively for the alleged defamation he claims to have suffered from latter’s allegations. However, one must not forget the fate of the civil suits filed by the ex-Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary and the Chief Minister Punjab against the supremo of PTI, Mr Imran Khan — they would still be pending in the year 2020. Thus the need to reform our judicial system, to discourage the ordinary citizens as well as the celebrities like Ms Shafi and Mr Zafar to use extra-judicial methods to solve their legal problems.
Talking of the ‘justice’ in Pakistan, it is in the over-drive mode nowadays, with the chief justice of Pakistan paying whirlwind tours to the provincial capitals in order find a quick solution to the woes of the ordinary citizens, just like the common-law judges used to do in the old Britain.
Be it the non-availability of clean drinking water, hospitals or the lack of waste and sewerage disposal — the top judge has vowed to cast his spell over everything by using his ‘justice’ wand. How convenient, one must dare to say; rather than indulging in the institutional reforms that the justice system in Pakistan requires.
In the meanwhile, NAB is tightening its screws against the delinquents, especially those having held various political and bureaucratic offices, under the allegations of misuse of power and indulging in corruption and corrupt practices. With the political fate of Nawaz Sharif being sealed, his personal fate hangs in the balance, as the trial against him and his daughter enters the last stages. Internationally, there is a possibility of Pakistan being placed on the watch list of money laundering.
With the tenure of the incumbent government coming to an end, and the caretaker setup being installed, the political uncertainty is increasing day by day. In such a scenario of doom and gloom, the last thing we wanted was a scandal involving our beloved celebrities, who have been a pride of Pakistan worldwide. The resulting fissures amongst the youth of Pakistan in a divisive milieu created by the animosity of PTI and PML-N have further deepened. Nevertheless, a well-thought-out judicial rather than ‘Twitter’ solution is the order of the day.
The writer is a constitutional and commercial lawyer and can be reached at [email protected] and @naumanqaiser
Published in Daily Times, April 23rd 2018.