In light of two recent incidents pertaining to the #MeToo movement, actor Mahira Khan took to Twitter recently and highlighted the real problem: the ambiguity created by confusing them with one another.
"It angers me that an innocent man would kill himself because of wrongly being accused and it boils my blood that another can roam around free after raping someone," tweeted the actor. "Whether you misuse the #MeToo movement or delay accountability on it, the result is the same - death."
It angers me that an innocent man would kill himself because of wrongly being accused and it boils my blood that another can raom around free after raping someone. Whether you misuse the #metoo movement or delay accountability on it, the result is the same -death.
— Mahira Khan (@TheMahiraKhan) October 22, 2019
Mahira pointed out that no matter what happens, at the end of the day, the victim will always be blamed and suffer, while the culprit roams free. With reference to both the incidents, she deduced that the problem is the way society sees the issue, more than the issue itself.
https://twitter.com/DrMuneerHassan/status/1185540590068555776?
One of the incidents she sighted is that of Afzal Mehmood, an English professor in Lahore who took his own life after being wrongly accused of sexual harassment. His wife separated from him and the college administration refused to issue a clearance certificate to him, even after the allegations had been proven false.
Read: Lahore professor dies by suicide amid harassment case
Following this, film-maker Jami came forward with his own #MeToo story on Sunday night. In a series of Tweets, the director recalled how he was raped by a Pakistani media bigwig and the trauma that followed.
Read: #MeToo: Film-maker Jami says he was raped by a Pakistani media 'giant'
Mahira shed light upon how these two examples are being misinterpreted, due to which someone's culprit might actually be justified.
Suggested that Afzal's incident was used to negate the movement altogether, more than focusing on holding the real culprits accountable. It was a shocker to many who believed that #MeToo has helped victims come forward and demand justice.
Dr Afzal’s suicide is a clear failure as a society and judiciary. Accused is free and ppl who denied the NOC are free, cuz we all r busy freaking out over the Girl. Yes she must be wrong but equally all r these men here on Dr Afzal’s list. How many of u went to beat them up? pic.twitter.com/jIfNyxICCK
— jami-ازار (@jamiazaad) October 23, 2019
Whereas, Jami's horrific account brought forward several other dogmas pertaining to gender roles, which do not allow certain individuals to feel sympathy towards men and prevents one from understanding that they can also become victims of sexual assault.
Have something to add to the story? Share in the comments below.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ