Ahsan Khan, the famed Pakistani drama actor, has criticised all the celebrities who are boycotting Lux Style Awards over nominating Ali Zafar for awards in the latest edition.
In a post on his Instagram account, Khan said that he would not criticise the LSA by jumping on the bandwagon.
“The platform has always supported our industry. They are the ones who gave me the best actor award when I worked in a play that highlighted the issue of child sexual abuse. They gave me a platform to talk about the lynching of Mishal Khan. And they gave me an opportunity to present a song about the harassment cause”, he wrote.
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In a thinly veiled reference to harassment allegations levelled by Meesha Shafi against Ali Zafr, he said that it was up to the courts, and not the people, to decide the veracity [of allegations].
“It is wrong to make a judgement on our own. It is not anyone’s place to do so but the judges. Let us trust our legal system and get off our high horses and stop condemning people based on accusations, conjecture and gossip”, he wrote.
In April 2018, singer Meesha Shafi in her post on Twitter had claimed that she had been subjected to sexual harassment “of a physical nature” by Ali Zafar on multiple occasions.
The singer-cum-actress used the hashtag #MeToo to link it with an international movement against sexual harassment and assault.
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Lux Style Awards were dragged into the controversy when they nominated Ali Zafar for their ‘Best Actor’ award. Since then, a number of celebrities have called for either withdrawal of Ali Zafar’s nomination or theirs, in an apparent show of solidarity with Shafi.
However, there have been voices from within the industry urging everyone to realise that the matter is still sub judice.
The LSA, in their recent statement, said that the jury, “appreciates the sensitivity of the subject and recognises the intensity of public sentiment. Nevertheless, it is also important to respect that Pakistan’s judicial system is deciding the case.”
