Momina Mustehsan, Shireen Mazari clash over ‘Coke Studio’ rendition of ‘Ko Ko Korina’
It all started when Mazari took to the social networking site to share her opinion about Ahad Raza Mir and Mustehsan's version of the 1966 hit song.
"Horrendous!" she wrote. "Destroyed a great classic - why oh why, did Coke Studio allow such a massacre of this classic song?"
To this, the Awaari singer responded, "Apologies for hurting your sentiments. It is your right to judge us and express your outrage, just like it was our right to exercise our freedom of expression. As our Minister for Human Rights, you should appreciate Coke Studio for allowing us to express ourselves, especially if it was horrendous."
The PTI MNA, however, promptly replied to Mustehsan's tweet. "I gave my personal opinion which I am entitled to. Especially on a non -political issue having to do with music. To each his/her own! And why bring the ministry into it?!" she wrote.
"I respect that ma’am - I apologised and acknowledge that you had every right to judge and express outrage," the Afreen singer stated. "I was only answering your question of why Coke Studio allowed it. And as someone holding office, I’d hope you’d appreciate the allowance of freedom of expression- however bad it turned out."
And she didn't stop there.
"As someone holding office, I’d expect you to be more responsible with how you express yourself on public platforms. We look up to you, ma’am, as citizens of this country," added the singer.
Then Mustehsan, umm, quoted Spider-Man and added, "Uncle Ben from Spider-Man said 'with great power comes great responsibility'. Don’t let us down."
The Muntazir songstress further continued, "When you hold office, its not about politics or his/her own anymore - it’s about the country at large. You represent all of us now, not just yourself or PTI. In a time when we’re trying to curb cyber-bullying and hate speech, please don’t fuel it further."
Mazari definitely didn't hold back and responded, "Are you serious? Liking or disliking a song has nothing to do with anyone or any politics! It's a personal choice. I did not like the song. End of story."
However, film analyst Mahwash Ajaz pointed out that Mazari's comments had nothing to do with cyber-bullying. She wrote, "Momina, all due respect to you but Shireen Mazari is not cyber bullying you. You created something which is a work of art and art is always open to subjectivity. Some may love it (as they have) and some may hate it (as they have). This is not cyber bullying, dearest. Not even close."
To this, the 26-year-old crooner retorted, "I never said it was cyber bullying. I said we are in a time when we’re trying to curb it, along with hate speech, and it’s adding fuel to the fire. Expressing outrage is one one thing, questioning why it was allowed is another, especially coming from the minister for human rights."
Mazari finally shared a video of another version of the Ahmed Rushdi original by the Nescafe Basement famed musicians, Leo Twins. She captioned it, "Loved this! And again it's my personal choice! I have every right to like or dislike a piece of music!"
Coke Studio's Ko Ko Korina was criticised by Twitterati for 'destroying' a classic. The song also marked Mir's debut in the music show.
Seems like that didn't really work out in its favour.
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