Qandeel Baloch stirs storm with selfies

KARACHI: So-called social media sensation Qandeel Baloch on Monday took internet by storm as she shared a couple of selfies of herself with Mufti Abdul Qawi before ridiculing the cleric on different TV channels.

A selfie shows Baloch posing with Mufti Abdul Qawi, sitting next to him. The second picture shows Qawi holding a cell phone to his ear and the woman wearing his hat, standing close to him.

Mufti Qawi told Geo News that during an earlier encounter Qandeel Baloch had expressed her desire to meet him in Karachi.

“She wanted to have a meeting in order to get rid of a magic spell. She put my hat on her head, and took a selfie while I was busy on phone,” he said.

“She asked me to arrange her meeting with Imran Khan as she wants to discuss the treatment meted out to her by some people during PTI rallies. Since I am the head of PTI’s religious wing, I agreed that I would talk to Imran Khan,” he said.

However, the woman gave a quite different account of the meeting she held with Mufti Qawi.

“Why would I ask for a meeting with him…in fact, he had told me during a TV program that he would like to lay his eyes on my face before witnessing the moon of Ramazan,” she said.

“He told me, forget about Imran Khan as he is 65 and too old for me… he said I am 50 years old and an age gap of 25 years between us is not a big deal,” Qandeel Baloch said, breaking out in laughter.

Pakistan’s media watchdog has frequently issued show-cause notices to TV channels and imposed hefty fines for what it said violation of the code of conduct.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) took two TV shows off the air last week. The regulator also censured some TV channels for indulging in the ratting race.