"I was hard on Ali, it was a trauma."
Ali Zafar’s mother Dr Kanwal Ameen detailed the impact Meesha Shafi’s sexual harassment claims had on her son.
In 2018, Meesha claimed that Ali had sexually harassed her. Ali denied the accusations and said he would take the matter to court.
On Hafiz Ahmed’s podcast, Dr Ameen said:
“It was traumatic. Not only for him but for everyone related to him, and it was a great deal to go through all that.
“Being a working lady and a professor, I had to take my class the next day and I was like how am I going to take my class and what will my female students think about me?
“Ali dealt with it bravely, there was emotional damage, financial damage and reputation damage, as a mother when your child gets hurt you cannot tolerate it.
“My children are not saints, they are human. I am the kind of mother who doesn’t hide her child’s flaws.
“I was hard on Ali, it was a trauma. I let him deal with it.”
Dr Ameen praised her daughter-in-law and saluted her for sticking by Ali in his hardest time.
At the time the accusations were made, Meesha had stated:
“My conscience does not allow me to be silent anymore.
“If this can happen to someone like me, an established artist, then it can happen to any young woman and that concerns me gravely.”
Meesha claimed Ali Zafar had sexually harassed her on several occasions and said it was a highly traumatic experience.
She continued: “Ali is someone I have known for many years and someone who I have shared the stage with. I feel betrayed by his behaviour and attitude.”
Ali released a statement in reply to the allegations and said:
“I categorically deny all claims of harassment lodged against me by Ms Shafi.
“I intend to take this through the courts of law. I have nothing to hide. Silence is not an option.”
At the time of the accusations, Meesha’s ex-manager Fahad Rehman had said that she was a temperamental individual.
Speaking of his encounter with her, Fahad commented:
“I have had the misfortune of working with Meesha.
“Other than her terrible temper and tantrums, on one occasion I was blackmailed by her five minutes before a show.
“She asked for me to give up my share of the commission my agency was making otherwise she would not perform.
“After returning from the trip back to Pakistan and firing her as a client, I was made aware that Meesha was telling friends and colleagues that I stole her performance fee.
“Now, I don’t know what happened between Ali and her, but what I do know is that she can blackmail and malign one’s reputation.”
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