A few days back, Pakistani singer Meesha Shafi accused
Ali Zafar of sexual harassment. The singer also revealed that it happened
during a jamming session.
While Ali Zafar has refuted all such accusations, his two
female band members, Kanza Munir and Aqsa Ali, have now come in his support.
They have revealed details of the jamming session in which Meesha was allegedly
harassed.
Aqsa Ali posted on her social media account and wrote,
“So as the stories taking turn every minute regard Ali Zafar, MeeshaShafi &#metoo movement, I think as a musician and
a woman I should talk about this issue as I was SHOCKED right now with
this article of Meesha. She said that her conscious doesn’t allow her to say
quiet so mine also doesn’t allow me. As I am the part of concert crew, I travel
intl and locally with Ali Zafar, and I have seen girls throwing themselves at
him and his gentlemanly response to that which is so rare of any rockstar.
balkay we all travel like friends and we work in a very comfy
environment.
Today finally Meesha tells us what she says
happened to her that Ali harassed her at a jam or did something wrong to
her and I cannot stay quiet. I was at this jam session becoz I sing in Ali’s
band and so was her manager and our entire band. I am astonished that she would
take a lie to this level which so many of us can prove wrong. We all have
pictures, we were there and event manager was there and it was a gr8 jam
session. 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 than
putting accusations on people and then saying sorry you cannot question any
woman it’s wrong.
Ali is a genuine person, who treats people around him nicely and has always
been a support system for everyone; Accusing some1 is easy but living with the
guilt is difficult. As a woman I felt sad with her rude behaviour towards
everyone including the band but more I feel bad that she’s causing disrespect
to this Intl movement of women and all of us female musicians and hard working women.”
While Kanza Munir also shared her views on the instance
and wrote, “I have been working with Ali Zafar on and off since the past 3
years or so and up until now 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. It would be great if this important movement isn’t taken for
granted or misused for personal reasons stealing limelight from real causes.
Rest, time will tell!!”
Image Source: instagram/kanzamunir & instagram/iamaqsaali