'Why do Pakistani dramas show men slapping their wives at the drop of a hat?' asks Sharmila Faruqui

Politician Sharmila Faruqui has aired her reservations about the unimpeded violence against women in Pakistan’s television serials.

Referring to the last episode of Khuda or Mohabbat 3, which saw another easily avoidable blow to a woman’s face, Faruqui wrote in her Instagram stories, “Why slap your wife at the drop of a hat?”

Sharing a still from the moment in the show, Faruqui penned a note in an Instagram post: “Why can’t our dramas show a husband having a normal conversation with his wife? Why do our women have to be resorted to violence and physical abuse at the drop of a hat?”

Farqui went on to reinstate how the behaviours normalised on television can eventually be adapted by impressionable minds in society. “What you show in these dramas is what most of our people will emulate,” she added.

To add context to her complaints, Faruqui relayed how the last episode of the mentioned serial saw actor Sohail Sameer’s character Nazim shah slapping Sunita Marshall’s Sahiba (his wife), “while questioning her about her visit to the Mazaar with Mahi.”

She then concluded asking, “This could have been a very normal conversation between the couple but unfortunately our writers revel in the fact that once a man is angry he will resort to violence towards the women in his life. Can we show some decent men who believe in respecting a woman?”

Khuda or Mohabbat 3 has been written by Hashim Nadeem, directed by Wajahat Hussain and produced by Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi. It stars Iqra Aziz, Feroze Khan, and features Sameer, Marshall, Zain Baig, Junaid Khan, Tooba Siddiqui, Momina Iqbal, Asma Abbas, Usman Peerzada, Rubina Ashraf, Javed Sheikh, Hina Khawaja, Meher Bano, Sohail Sameer as well as Noor-ul-Hassan.

Before the latest installment of the show began airing, Aziz had compared its director to Bollywood’s Sanjay Leela Bhansali. “Wajahat Hussain, you [are the] Sanjay Leela Bhansali of Pakistan,” she had written in an appreciation post for the team of the show. “The best part about you as a director is that you’re fantastic at creating moments. You know what you want and you know how to make it happen,” she added. The actor went on to “wish this project creates a benchmark for all projects in the future.”

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