When a reporter asked a group of teenage girls about the weather in northern areas, which was pretty cold, the girl replied: “We are proud of you”. The video went viral within seconds and the girl became the latest victim of social media bullying.
Standing up for her, Ushna Shah, the Oye! Kuch Kar Guzar actor, slammed those who made fun of the teenager.
“Soon after I saw the video of the girl speaking English in the wrong context, I read an article somewhere which said she wanted to kill herself. That terrified me to no end,” Ushna said in a video posted on her Facebook page.
“People have gone to such an extent of making fun of the little girl that she wants to end her life because of cyber bullying? What people failed to understand was the issue this video exposed,” added Ushna.
This woman has been making the internet a safer place for Pakistani women
“We, as a nation, are so inferior that we believe those who can speak faultless English are above the ones who can’t.”
Highlighting the importance of Urdu, Ushna said our language and culture was enough, and we don't need any other language to define us.
“The ones who should be embarrassed are the ones who cannot speak or read our mother tongue, Urdu, properly,” she said.
Sharing her personal experience, the actor said: “When I came back from Canada, I could not read Urdu. I was unable to read the script. My mother was so embarrassed of me. [But] I learned it in a week or two.”
Virtual harassment has real consequences
The only illiterate person in Pakistan is the one who cannot speak, read or write Urdu properly, concluded Ushna.
Watch the video here:
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