A facewash is killing no one: Zara Noor Abbas

The actor came under fire for calling out racism against African-Americans while endorsing fairness cream brands

The United States is under fire as protests against the killing of an African-American man erupt across the country. The video of the incident has rekindled the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement, which works against the violence and systemic racism against the community.

While the protests turned violent in major states, many celebrities across the world also took to social media to pledge their support. However, not all of them could play it safe:

After Bollywood actor Disha Patani got trolled for calling out racism while endorsing fairness creams, Pakistani actor Zara Noor Abbas was called out for the same.

The celebrity took to Instagram to share a video of a young school girl giving a speech on why black lives mattered and being an African-American, she burst into tears during her deliverance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CA4ovechb6H/

In the caption Abbas wrote, "Imagine. Our kids. People we know. Go through this. Every day of their life. Just because of their skin color. Then adds up their societal balance of class. Bank account. Assets. They have to fight for the basics such as breathing. Racism is a war. Not a threat to humanity. Its a war that we have to fight against so much so that we have to re-invent, re-grow, re-think every thought and idea about classism. Differences. Sexism. Everything.
NO ONE DESERVES THIS."

However, she came under fire for raising her voice against something she promotes in her own country through a fairness cream ad. But the Ehd-e-Wafa star does not think endorsing such products promotes hatred or violence against a community.

In the comments section of her post, a user quipped, "Really liked your fairness cream ad," following which the celebrity lost her cool.



"Good, because that does not promote killing. Does not promote racism. Stop making this out of context when its not the agenda. Your word doesn't matter here. What matters is human life and equality and this is what I am here for. A face wash is killing no one," justified Abbas.

But several continued to drag her, asking how it made sense to defend ads which made darker skin tones seem like a problem and advised people to "brighten their complexion" so they could be appealing.



Nevertheless, her Ehd-e-Wafa co-star Osman Khalid Butt had helped amplify her voice by agreeing with everything she said. He narrated an incident he witnessed in school reiterating how we are conditioned to judge and mock people with certain skin tones.



Butt commented, "I agree: racism is a war we each have to fight individually. What's particularly heartbreaking is that colorism, sectarianism & religious prejudice - these are all inculcated in us as children. I remember two instances when I was in school - one, where a dark-skinned class fellow was teased by our teacher (hence making it okay for class bullies to further mock him) - this was grade four. In grade five, one of our Christian classfellows offered me his bottle of water after recess, and I was immediately attacked by all my friends claiming I'd turn kaafir if I drank from his bottle. Where do we learn all of this hatred?"

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.