Twitter comes to Ali, Saboor’s defence after critics take issue with couple’s PDA

Users urged people to direct their wrath towards more pressing issues such as domestic abuse, marital rape

Actors Saboor Aly and Ali Ansari, who tied the knot earlier in a series of star-studded ceremonies, recently drew the ire of certain Twitter users for posting loved-up pictures from their own wedding events. A user took to the bird app to share a picture of the couple from their Mehendi ceremony in which Saboor can be seen planting a kiss on Ali’s cheek. They tweeted alongside it, “[The] new generation wants to follow them, but this is not relationship goals, this is beghairti [shamelessness].” 

New generation wants to follow them but this is not a relationship goals, This is begairti😑: pic.twitter.com/foDieWex4k

— T U B A ☄ (@ViRgoGirL_T) January 12, 2022

While certain people agreed with the tweet, several users came to the celebrity couple’s defence.  

i just feel frustrated for the couple whose most wholesome moment is being ruined in the name of discourse?? hope they always stay happy and in love🧿🧿🧿 https://t.co/uVD9HlDcEj

— zainab (Taylor’s version) (@zaibannn) January 15, 2022

I think our young ones should actually see what genuinely happy brides look like. They should have examples of love and not just misery. https://t.co/NcqBWlmnhv

— catgirl tonya harding🍒 (@marxismybadboi) January 16, 2022

and people wonder why brown kids feel weird about affections and turn into emotionless individuals https://t.co/5J0ABzd2Pp

— maha 🌙 (@raaavvncresent) January 16, 2022

Only in Pakistan people will make you feel guilty about the most endearing things. https://t.co/2MB3KpdXJj

— Haseeb Arshad (@HaseebTweets) January 15, 2022

A kiss on the cheek isn’t remotely sexual. Are Pakistanis okay? Some of you will explode someday with all this sexual frustration you carry. https://t.co/pKMhbhO8qS

— Ayesha Gardezi (@primafacieaisha) January 15, 2022

Several users asked critics to divert their wrath towards more serious issues such as domestic abuse and marital rape, as opposed to public displays of affection. 

I don't get why showing affection in public is a big deal but K!lling women in the name of honour, abusing/harassing them isn't https://t.co/wkdBr6qN8F

— mehwish (@16_mehwish) January 15, 2022

Pakistani dramas openly promoting domestic abuse is not begairti but kissing your husband that too in a very decent way is begairti? Pakistanis are content seeing others in misery but lose their shi* when they see others happy. https://t.co/il6a8nc3I4

— نور (@shutupnoor_) January 16, 2022

Better than seeing men beating their wives in front of people and no one intervening to stop them, little kids getting harassed on the streets and being told “tum wahan gayi/gay kyun thi/thay,” men peeing or adjusting boners in public. Yall ALWAYS concentrating on the wrong thing https://t.co/Ns9Ee2au7V

— 🔅 (@pkpopculture) January 15, 2022

If husband and wife are showing love and affection to each other it is not called begairti “it’s love”. Try focusing more on global issues and where women are beaten up by their husbands and speak up about it rather than a couple just having the time of their life. https://t.co/UviIp9iJP1

— Selina Artuğ (@selaisadrama) January 16, 2022

A Pakistani woman can be bruised black and blue from her husband’s abuse and nobody will bat an eye, but a married couple showing affection is the downfall of society apparently 🙄 https://t.co/U6Jw0oZbAI

— pari (@paricherie) January 15, 2022

 

The tweets come during an ongoing discussion about the permissibility of public displays of affection in Pakistan, with the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) having recently imposed a blanket ban on any show of intimacy between married couples on television. 

Issued in October of 2021, a directive by PEMRA on scenes involving physical shows of affection between couples on screen left people questioning the body’s priorities. In an official document, PEMRA asserted that no “hug/caress scenes” should be aired since, according to the directive, they go against the teachings of Islam and do not depict a “true picture of Pakistani society.”