The ‘Gulalai’ card

On April 19^th a tweet by Meesha Shafi became the headlines in Pakistani media wherein she had accused Ali Zafar of sexual harassment. In doing so she capitalised on the #MeToo movement that has taken the West by storm. Later on the same day and the next, three other females joined her in accusing Ali of similar conduct.

There is no doubt the #MeToo campaign is a need of our times and extremely popular across the globe. However, misuse of this term will not only make it lose its significance, it will also have an adverse effect on real life victims.

While people, who’ve been harassed by someone, will surely understand Meesha’s pain, the ones who have not faced such harassment will struggle to feel her distress. On the flip side, the ones who have been victims of false allegations and blackmailing will bear the brunt of any fabrications directed at them.

In this particular case, the countdown has begun. All our eyes — including those of multi-national companies — will be riveted on the related tweets as the events unfold. Any perceived misstep and his contract, worth millions, may get terminated. Some even say that Ali’s career is already over.

According to news reports, a legal notice has been sent to Meesha by Ali and she has 14 days during which to respond. She will either have to apologise publicly or the issue will be taken by the accused to a court of law. Meesha has already engaged the best lawyers in town — Barrister Ahmed Pansota and Nighat Dad. Besides, as more and more women are creating space for themselves in the public domain, it is something that our society must develop a clear understanding about how to handle it both legally and culturally.

There’s another aspect of the issue that has to be figured in and it involves malafide intent. Malicious accusations are rife in our society that are used to elicit desired results. In fact, it’s a fairly common practice and not as well highlighted as #MeToo. In Pakistan, especially youth coming from religious or culturally conservative families are exploited easily.

In one particular case, a young man had screenshots of his WhatsApp conversations sent to his family members by a girl. The screenshots involved conversations with lewd content. These were circulated in the media as well. His biggest problem at the time was, how to explain his position to everyone, especially his mother and maintain his dignity. The maximum he could do was to show his mother the whole conversation, which had similar ‘inappropriate’ messages by the girl as well. This sort of exploitation is to be discouraged!

I will, however, stick to the current case of Meesha and Ali and one issue I have with the alleged harassment is; why did Meesha not report the harassment to the authorities concerned at the time it took place? What happened at the particular moment in time when she went public with her accusations — what made her take the plunge? Looking through the law books I came across nearly 15 sections from the Pakistan Penal Code, Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act of 2016 and Harassment of Women at Workplace Act of 2010, that give protection to women from nearly all sorts of harassment. She could’ve easily thrown the book at Ali had she stepped up to the plate in real time and could expect quicker justice.

Her massive following on Twitter must not set the tone to malign Ali. How does her tweet even prove harassment? The civil society that has immense sympathy for Meesha is struggling to understand why someone from a privileged background, a daughter of Saba Hameed, did not report it to the police or even go to the chief justice who presides over a walk-in court on the weekends.

Now that the allegations have been made, the ball is in Ali’s court. While the legal notice has been sent out, the misuse of Twitter can be costly for Meesha as well since Ali has an option of filing a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency.

There is no doubt that Ali’s image has been brutally shattered. He is one of the few stars of Pakistan who are globally recognised. Even though defamation trial has to conclude in 90 days, in Pakistan it takes nine years. There might have been violation of Article 9 of the Constitution, right to life and dignity. Ali may even want to go to the High Court.

Having said that, I have zero sympathy for any harassers. My only concern is that this case has to be ably presented and decided, and a precedent must be set once and for all. There is a case in trial court where our client, Aisha, was sent obscene messages. It took her nearly two years to get her FIR registered. She is a widow of Turkish origin and belongs to the weakest segment of our society.

Meesha, unless she can get a case of sexual harassment filed, with supportive evidence in the form of WhatsApp messages and get a forensic report without the help of anyone half the cerebral calibre of Barrister Ahmed Pansota, will elicit doubts, disbelief and distrust from people. They will ask one simple question: where is your evidence Meesha? There could be some circumstantial evidence, for instance, did she call her mother or husband or a friend immediately after the harassment incident? Was there any contact after the incident? What was the time and place of the incident since a simple time check can prove Ali’s presence at the scene at the time? Were there any witnesses? There must be something if the event really took place. I hope she can prove her claim and come out a winner and if she can’t, I wish Ali can somehow repair his broken image.

The reason this case has to come to a logical conclusion through the court of law is because we do not want people to hijack the #MeToo movement. The #Metoo campaign can save a lot of victims of harassment, only if harassment is not played as the ‘Gulalai Card’.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2018.

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