Ali Noor’s fauxpology

Ali Noor is indirectly blaming his ‘death’ on the victim who accused him, thereby reducing her narrative to nought

I was nine-years-old when I first fell in love with Noori’s debut album Suno Ke Main Hoon Jawan. Having grown up listening to singer Ali Noor’s voice as a form of escapism, I was in absolute shock when I first read about journalist Ayesha Binte Rashid’s sexual harassment allegation against him.

The news sent shockwaves across the country as fans found themselves torn between two possible choices: supporting the brave voice of the victim versus believing the idealistic narrative of their childhood star who was ‘stuck’ in this god-awful situation.

While Rashid’s allegation came with screenshots of her conversation with the singer, Noor put his devotees in a quandary by first accepting his fault and referring to his ‘guilt’ by thanking Rashid for the “wake up call” through messages sent to her from Noor’s wife’s phone; then to writing letters to his dead grandmother, and finally to recanting his apology and denying all allegations.

Narrative paradigm

In the years since the #MeToo movement came to the forefront, powerful men around the world have scrambled for defence as they watched their careers implode. In Pakistan, however, the movement has seen little success as spectators are often choked with multiple narratives.

According to communication scholar Walter Fisher, people are narrative junkies. He believes human beings are natural storytellers, which is why a good story is more convincing than a good argument. Therefore, the Ayesha Binte Rashid-Ali Noor charade fits right in.

To an average Pakistani who has been socialised into muting women’s voices when they speak up about tabooed topics, hearing about Noor’s mental health struggles makes reaching a verdict easy. He is now seen as a troubled soul who might have crossed a line or two in his past but is now ashamed of his actions – thereby deserving of forgiveness.

It is also difficult for an average Pakistani to look at things from a structural lens and separate the power imbalance between the harasser and the victim. In this case, most are still wondering why an ordinary journalist is not accepting the very public apology of a star such as Noor.

Ali Noor’s wild card

While netizens were still struggling to deal with the exposé, Noor tried to control the narrative by putting his celebrated eccentricities to use.

On February 22, 2022, two days after his public apology, Noor posted the promotion photo of his video on his Instagram story – a gravestone with his name on it – with the phrase, “We will change the world, we have sworn in our hearts,” engraved above his name. Below Noor’s name was his date of birth and his father’s name.

Source: Facebook/Ali Noor

In another Instagram story, Noor wrote,

“To the few left that still love me… remember I am no sexual abuser. Also, remember… every human being matters. Wishing a better life for everybody.”

Although many oblivious fans think this is a reference to his new single, a debate about him playing the mental health card has sprung up since. Anyone familiar with psychology can argue that the timing of Noor’s video promotion with the use of the tombstone photo is a manipulation technique foreshadowing suicide due to extreme mental anguish.

While his second story is fairly straightforward – for those who don’t want to let go of Noor’s righteous image, it is indirectly placing the blame of his ‘death’ on the victim who accused him of sexual harassment, thereby reducing her narrative to nought because harassment obviously can’t ‘top’ death.

In the caption of yet another gravestone post on his Instagram feed, Noor has written “absolutely not sorry”. While Rashid has simultaneously posted new screenshots in which other victims who have been allegedly harassed by Noor have come forward with their stories.

It is true, emotion sells – which is why Noor resorted to appealing to it after denying all allegations of sexual harassment against him. But as he steps into Ali Zafar’s shoes and strongly denies all allegations, might we suggest that he should stop fixating on the hashtag for a moment and focus on the mechanics of his apology instead.