The ‘woman card’

As yet another case of domestic violence comes in to the limelight

Recently, the media focused on the accusations made by Fatima Sohail against her husband Mohsin Abbas Haider. The saga came into the public view on June 20 when Fatima stunned everyone with a Facebook post accusing her husband of abuse.  She wrote in a detailed post that chronicled the abuse she faced.

Soon after, Fatima lodged an FIR against her husband. The FIR included charges of threats to kill as well as breach of trust. She also accused Haider of beating, abusing, and assaulting her since the start of their marriage.

Reacting to Fatima’s claims, Mohsin Abbas predictably denied all. He went on to say that Fatima was trying to play the “woman card” and that his wife’s accusations were all a part of a conspiracy against him being carried out by his enemies in the showbiz industry.

Soon after the FIR was lodged. Mohsin Abbas was granted interim bail by a sessions court. Haider, in the court, expressed his wish to be included in the investigation but said he feared that he would be arrested.

The TV channel on which Mohsin Abbas hosted a comedy show in the meantime announced that they had fired the actor over allegations of cheating and domestic violence and distanced themselves from him until he cleared his name and proved his innocence in the court.

After the FIR was lodged, some showbiz celebrities have also come forward to second Fatima Sohail’s claims as according to them they had witnessed his angry behavior towards his wife. Some even claimed they were witnesses to the abuse, including actors Gohar Rasheed and Dua Malik.

Film director Jami Moor criticised these friends for waiting for the right time to join the “easiest bandwagon”, even when they knew Mohsin Abbas was beating her up. He said they did this to look smart and act like activists. The director has been known for his bold statements and even ditched his LSA trophy to stand in support for survivors of abuse and harassment.

As Pakistanis, we have to understand why this case is important? To begin with, this is not an isolated affair. Domestic abuse is widely prevalent in Pakistan, as is the case in many countries across the world. What is significant to note is that in this particular case, the police took notice and took the accused to task. In most cases it is ignored by our guardians of the law.

It can be seen time and again that as a society, we continue to trivialise domestic violence. It only makes it to the news headlines when there is a celebrity involved or if there are many lurid or gory details.  Domestic violence is usually seen as a joke. Take for example a local TV show recently aired a sketch where a woman, with bruises all over her face is shown complaining about her husband who beat her after she went through his phone and found pictures with other women. The situation is written in a way that the husband justifies the violence by saying that he works for the entertainment industry and she was bound to find pictures with other women. And so, she got beaten up. The crowd cracks up.

The most problematic bit in this so-called comedy was was when the audience continues to laugh while the woman tries to share her ordeal. The hosts of the show keep cutting the woman off when she tries to express how her husband has been abusive, which the latter goes on to defend by saying he hits her out of love.

The clip, which went viral on social media has since then became a point of debate and people are calling out the producers for promoting such vile behavior. The producers should be sacked. PEMRA should take notice.

By and large, women are abused and attacked for the most trivial of issues and our society watches and looks the other way. We have to change this mindset. This isn’t about activism either. It is about the rights of an individual which need to be respected.

As one commentator put it: If the show was a satirical take on the recent Mohsin Abbas Haider and Sohail’s case, then it was in extremely bad taste. To make a mockery out of such a sensitive topic is shocking and there are no two ways about it.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29^th, 2019.

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