In her first national broadcast interview to Geo News’ Shahzeb Khanzada, Meesha Shafi responded to questions posed by Ali Zafar in previous interviews; her legal team issued a statement.
Since going public last April (2018) about Ali Zafar having allegedly sexually harassed her, followed by speaking about it to Instep in an interview, Meesha Shafi has let her legal team speak on her behalf.
But after Ali Zafar’s appearance on Geo News’s programme Naya Pakistan where he broke down quite literally while maintaining his innocence as well as appearance on another local TV show where he was joined by his wife Ayesha Fazli and where too he maintained innocence and vowed to go after social media trolls, Meesha Shafi finally spoke on national TV for the first time in almost a year.
In what was a poised interview, Meesha Shafi spoke to anchor/journalist Shahzeb Khanzada about questions Ali Zafar had raised earlier (more on that later) in his interviews.
In the meantime, Meesha Shafi’s legal team also issued a statement – prior to the interview - that stated, “Meesha Shafi filed a case for sexual harassment at the workplace against Ali Zafar before the relevant ombudsperson for sexual harassment at Lahore. The ombudsperson did not hear the case on merits and dismissed it on technical grounds stating that Meesha was not an employee.”
It was a point Shafi raised on the program about self-employed women and did so with great courage.
The statement further noted: “This order is currently challenged before the Lahore High Court, where emerging jurisprudence gives Meesha Shafi a high chance of success in having the case returned to the ombudsperson so it may finally be heard on merits, and for Ali Zafar be held accountable. No court nor forum has exonerated him.”
The statement went on to state that it was Ali Zafar who filed a defamation suit against her and Shafi cannot be held guilty as she is telling the truth.
Answering the one question people have been asking for some time, the statement noted, “When she [Meesha Shafi] is summoned by the court, she will attend the hearings, and has no obligation to attend proceedings unless she has been so summoned.”
“The attacks against Meesha and other women who have spoken up are being perpetrated for a singular purpose, and that is to silence everyone speaking about sexual harassment. Meesha is now more determined than ever to seek justice for herself through the legal system of this country, and will not be silenced no matter what Ali Zafar attempts to throw her way.
From day one, Meesha Shafi has sought accountability and justice, against all odds. Ali Zafar is finally starting to face some consequences of his actions. He can take responsibility for what he has done and make a public apology to Meesha and the other women and seek their forgiveness.”
– This is a developing story
