Last Thursday, Pakistan’s entertainment industry was rocked by Meesha Shafi’s allegations against Ali Zafar that he categorically denied in a Twitter post a few hours later. The scandal came to spark a national conversation about sexual misconduct and gave voice to others to come forward with their own stories and agendas that stemmed from the topic or the #MeToo campaign. While there were few who showed their support to Shafi, there were others in alliance with Ali and his claims.
Meesha has gone on record saying that the incident that caused such a national uproar took place at Ali’s residence, late last December when they were jamming before a concert. A number of women have come forward voicing support for the Channo singer, saying that they were present when Ali and Meesha were jamming and they saw nothing out of the ordinary or unfamiliar. They confessed that the two maintained a very professional relationship in the presence of nine of Ali’s band members and his manager, Taha Sadaqat. Meesha’s manager, Farhan was also present along with the event organiser.
Aqsa Ali, one of Ali’s band members, took to a post on her Instagram, saying, “As a musician and a woman I should talk about this issue as I was SHOCKED with this article of Meesha. She said that her conscious doesn’t allow her to stay quiet so mine also doesn’t allow me (to do the same).” She added that she has traveled with Zafar and seen girls “throw themselves” at him, but he has always made sure to be friendly and remain “gentlemanly” in his responses so as to not make anyone feel uncomfortable.
Aqsa further went on to claim, “Ali is a genuine person, who treats people around him nicely and has always been a support system for everyone; accusing someone is easy but living with the guilt is difficult. As a woman, I felt sad with her (Meesha’s) rude behaviour towards everyone including the band but more, I feel sad that she is causing disrespect to this international movement of women and all of female musicians and hardworking women.”
Another band member of Ali’s band, Kanza Munir also came forward via Instagram in Ali’s defence, claiming that she has been working on and off with Ali for the past three years or so, and uptil now, she has been quietly observing the current situation while standing witness to the particular jam late last year that Meesha mentioned in her interview with The News. Kanza added that there were over 10 people present at the jamming session during “whatever” interaction that took place between the two, and all that she can say is that “this particular statement” that Meesha made is rather odd. She explained, “I have toured with the Ali Zafar band a lot of times, and all my trips have been really pleasant and professional, and we’ve spent hours jamming together. It would be great if this important movement isn’t taken for granted or misused for personal reasons, stealing the limelight from real causes.”
Earlier, a Twitter user named Sofi accused Ali Zafar for misconduct during the Shaukat Khanum US tour, adding that the organisers were informed of the incident, but they still went ahead with the rest of the shows. However, Naila Khan who was a member of the organising committee tweeted, “It is a complete lie because the Washington DC event was the last one in the series. There was no event after that.”
In an interview, Meesha had stated that she shared the stage with Ali only because it was about business, and she didn’t wish for reasons like these to affect work. However, it was also brought to notice that Ali and Meesha were hired to perform separately, but their duet performance was optional, and the latter is what they willingly opted for.
Currently, Ali is preparing to sue Meesha for her accusations.