Mehwish Hayat has been consistently talking about the cross-border tension between India and Pakistan and representing Pakistan positively on international platforms for a while now. Her appearance on major international news channels like BBC and Sky News where she talked about Bollywood deliberately making Pakistan into terrorist mongering villain to further fuel the tensions between the two countries was a brave feat that was lauded by her countryfolks.
Not only that, Mehwish also joined in as an ambassador for the international charity organization Penny Appeal with whom she plans to raise funds for building five schools in rural Sindh. Needless to say, ever since receiving her Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Mehwish has devoted herself to doing charitable works for her country and this includes her speaking about pressing humanitarian issues as well.
However, yesterday Mehwish found herself in hot waters on social media when a video of her went viral where she refused to comment on the Kashmir issue at a recent event. From speaking boldly against Bollywood at an international platform to keeping silent about Kashmir’s issue at a local event, this drastic change in behavior surely came as a shock for everyone!
The video
The fifteen-second clip has captured an exchange between Mehwish Hayat and a journalist where the journalist is shown asking Mehwish to comment on the issues of orphans in lockdown in Kashmir. Mehwish is seen replying that she can’t speak about the issue as she has been told not to.
“Nahin, nahin, nahin. Mana kardiya hai mujhe Kashmir pe bolne pe.”
The clarification
The video went viral on social media with all sorts of people blasting Mehwish for staying silent on such an important issue. The part of her saying that she was asked to not comment on the issue of Kashmir is what rubbed people the wrong way. Such was the backlash that Mehwish took to her twitter and explained her side of the situation in a tweet.
“This was a charity event & was requested by the PR not to be political & not distract from the orphans I was there to help.” Wrote Mehwish in the tweet.
We think it is an issue being blown out of proportion. Questioning everything Mehwish has done in the past few months and all her goodwill simply because an event’s organizers had asked her to refrain from being political at a charity event simply just isn’t right. Actors and public figures are bound by many commitments and contracts when they appear at any event and to demand statements from them that could take away from the intention of the said event can not only lead them into trouble but also put a question mark on their credibility. This leaked video of a few seconds of refusal of Mehwish where she clearly looks uncomfortable being cornered into the situation is being used as a base for targetting her viciously and cooking up all sorts of theories as to who is the one behind her silence.
We hope this situation, and Mehwish is given a break. She might not have been able to speak about Kashmir at this particular event but it is an issue that no humanitarean has forgotten. We are sure that Mehwish’s intentions are in the right place and she too will address this issue in a more substantial and careful manner.
