Pakistani singer Ali Zafar denies sexual harassment allegations, says 'have nothing to hide'

Pakistani actor-singer Ali Zafar was in news yesterday as his colleague from the Pakistani music industry, Meesha Shafi accused him of sexual harassment. Ali Zafar has now responded to these allegations and denied all of them.

In his reply to the accusations, Zafar wrote, “I am deeply aware and in support of the global #Metoo movement and what it stands for. I am the father of a young girl and a young boy, a husband to a wife and son to a mother. I am a man that has stood up for myself, my family, my colleagues and friends countless times in the face of slander, defamation and general unkindness. I will do the same today. I have nothing to hide, silence is not an option.”

He added, “I categorically deny any and all claims of harassment lodged against me by Ms Shafi. I intend to take this through the courts of law and to address this professionally and seriously rather than to lodge any allegations here, contesting personal vendetta on social media and in turn disrespecting the movement, my family, the industry and fans. Ultimately, I am a strong believer that the truth, always prevails.”

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His full post:

Shafi, had on Thursday, claimed that Zafar had harassed her on several occasions. She wrote a long post on Twitter explaining how difficult it was for her to open up and speak about this. She mentioned that she did not believe it when it happened to her as they have both shared the stage on several occasions.

She wrote: “Sharing this because I believe that by speaking out about my own experience of sexual harassment, I will break the culture of silence that permeates through our society. It is not easy to speak out.. but it is harder to stay silent. My conscience will not allow it anymore #MeToo.”

She said, “I have been subjected to sexual harassment of a physical nature at the hands of a colleague from my industry: Ali Zafar. These incidences did not happen when I was young or just entering the industry. This happened to be despite the fact that I am an empowered, accomplished woman who is known for speaking her mind! This happened to me as a mother of two children.”

This comes at a time when the entire Hollywood industry came together to support #MeToo and Time's Up campaign that started to aid victims of abuse, sexual harassment and rape. Last year opened a can of worms for many producers, actors and other staff of Hollywood who was accused by their peers and subordinates of sexual assault and harassment. The biggest case was that of Harvey Weinstein who was accused by more than 80 women of harassing them over a period of time.