'Please Delete Them': Zara Noor Abbas Asks for Privacy for Her Daughter

Zara Noor Abbas has expressed her wish to maintain the privacy of her daughter, Noor-e-Jahan Siddiqui, by refraining from sharing her pictures publicly.

The actor also requested others to respect this decision and avoid uploading photos or videos of her child on social media.

Taking to Instagram, she wrote, “If I don’t show pictures of my daughter it means I would like to keep it private. Still, some people don’t have the audacity to respect this.” She urged individuals to remove any videos already shared online. Abbas and her husband, Asad Siddiqui, welcomed their daughter on March 27, 2024.

Abbas is not the only celebrity to request privacy for her child. Many well-known figures, both locally and internationally, have made similar appeals, often to no avail.

Indian actor Alia Bhatt was subjected to privacy invasion in 2023 when she was secretly photographed inside her home, and the pictures were later published by ETimes. Fellow actor Anushka Sharma also revealed that the same media outlet had previously shared unauthorized photos of her daughter, Vamika, despite repeated requests to refrain from doing so.

In Pakistan, Yasir Hussain and Iqra Aziz chose to keep their son Kabir’s face hidden when posting pictures of him. They only recently shared his photos publicly. Addressing this decision, Hussain shared on Instagram that while he would have loved to post his son’s picture, Kabir’s grandmother disapproved, humorously sharing the reason behind their secrecy.

Similarly, American supermodel Gigi Hadid has kept her daughter Khai’s face hidden, citing her desire for her child to have a life free from the pressures of media attention. Hadid has maintained this stance since her daughter’s birth.

Karachi-based makeup artist Natasha Ali Lakhani also ensures her daughter’s face is obscured in all shared pictures, often using stickers. In her words, “For all those that keep commenting on why I hide her face understand this, from nazar [evil eye], to security reasons to the fact that I am not comfortable sharing pictures of my child or any child on my very public 1 million plus social media platform,” she wrote on Instagram.

Such incidents are all too common. Last year, actors Aiman Khan and Muneeb Butt were secretly recorded on a flight with their children by a fan. The video sparked widespread debate online about consent, particularly concerning children who cannot provide their permission for such exposure.

From Zara Noor Abbas to Gigi Hadid, respecting celebrities’ decisions to keep their children’s lives private is essential, regardless of their reasons. Invading the privacy of underage children in pursuit of glimpses into their parents’ personal lives crosses a significant ethical line.

In an age dominated by media consumption and the influence of social media, it’s imperative to acknowledge the consequences of blurring the lines between public interest and personal boundaries.