Ali Zafar sexual harassment controversy: Bandmates defend actor-singer against Meesha Shafi's allegations

The allegations of sexual harassment against popular Pakistani singer and actor Ali Zafar have taken the country by storm. A day after singer Meesha Shafi accused him of sexual misconduct, more women from Pakistan’s entertainment industry have come forward to allege that the actor misbehaved with them on various occasions. However, Shafi’s claims have now been denied by two women who say they were in the same room when the alleged incident happened. [caption id=“attachment_4441361” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Ali Zafar. Twitter[/caption] Aqsa Ali, a Pakistani model-singer took to Instagram to share Zafar’s side of the story. In a lengthy post, she defends Zafar by stating that she has been a part of his concert crew and has travelled with him to foreign locations as well. She adds that Zafar makes sure everyone is working in a comfortable environment. She expressed solidarity with the #MeToo movement but added, “Astonished that she (Shafi) would take a lie to this level which so many of us can prove wrong. I am a woman and I would never allow wrong to any woman. But come on , it’s a serious matter and we should be really clear on everything rather then putting accusations on people and then saying sorry you cannot question any woman it’s wrong [sic].”

Another band member, Kanza Munir, has come to Zafar’s aid. She, too, claims that she was present during the said occasion and terms Shafi’s statement “odd”. In an Instagram post, Munir elaborates, “I’ve been quietly observing the current situation because I am no judge of personal character be it Meesha Shafi or Ali Zafar. However, I stand witness to this particular ‘Jam’ late last year that Meesha mentions in her interview with The News. The whole house band along with myself and another fellow female vocalist were present during this session and whatever interaction took place between the two was in front of at least 10 other people. All I can say is that this particular statement that she makes here is rather odd. I have toured with the Ali Zafar band a lot of times and all my trips have been really pleasant and professional and we’ve spent hours jamming together.” After Shafi leveled allegations against Zafar, several other women came forward to speak up against the singer. Pakistani journalist Maham Javaid tweeted that Zafar had tried to kiss her cousin “many years ago”. Maham said they did not report the incident as they thought nobody would have believed their side of the story. Make-up artist Leena Ghani also shared her story on social media. She said while clicking a selfie with Zafar, she felt him touching her inappropriately. She said the fact that Ali thought he could get away with saying vulgar things to her still “disgusts me”. With inputs from PTI.