KARACHI: Singer Maha Ali Kazmi took to her Instagram stories and criticized actor and recent podcast host Ahmad Ali Butt. Kazmi interviewed Butt, who recently spoke with Ali Noor for an episode of his podcast. Kazmi, who previously made allegations against the Noori frontman during a Coke Studio audition, accusing him of “harassment and professional misconduct,” shared screenshots from 2013 of Butt speaking to Maha in a sexually explicit manner.
Kazmi, who also shared a screenshot of Butt and Noor in conversation on his IG story, additionally wrote: “Mr Ahmad Ali Butt decides a case and holds public opinion to the court on a matter pending in court. “Sindh Ombudsman for the Protection against Harassment of Women), which Mr. Ali Noor avoids defending for reasons best known to him.
She continued: “For the rest, I have a few questions: 1. On what basis did Mr. Ali Noor clear his name? Certificates of morality? 4. Is it fair to declare Mr. Ali Noor innocent in such a one-sided manner?
Kazmi added: “No self-respecting girl wants to go through the ordeal that I went through, and in our patriarchal society, it is not easy at all to face such predators. Women’s self-appointed judge(s) and theirs. »The character who tries to exonerate his ‘brother’ doesn’t have much credibility himself. I think it’s an unhealthy ‘bro code’ between misogynists to help each other hide their dirty deeds, shame on them.
In addition to the screenshots and this text, Kazmi also posted an explanation. “I want to make it clear that I generally respect the privacy of people who communicate with me. I would never make conversations public. However, I am publishing this particular conversation because it best illustrates my opinion that it is not Mr. Butt’s place to issue certificates of character when his character leaves much to be desired.
Moreover, The Express Tribune contacted Kazmi and Butt individually for their official statements. Kazmi responded and shared his detailed position on the issue. “My decision to end this conversation after all these years was prompted by a podcast hosted by Mr. Ahmad Ali Butt with the participation of Mr. Ali Noor. Mr. Ahmad Ali Butt is handling a case and conducting public opinion proceedings in a case referred to the Court (Sindh Ombudsman for the Protection against Harassment of Women). In the podcast, Mr. Butt appeared to agree with Mr. Noor that the allegations against him were unfounded and that he had long since cleared his name.
She continued: “If I had any purpose other than defending my reputation, I would have done that years ago. And since my previous incident with Mr. Noor, I have been subjected to a barrage of insults targeting my reputation, my character, my credibility, and my honesty. I went through hell after speaking about my experiences. So why should I risk going through this hell again? It’s easy to take these types of unsolicited messages lightly, and our society has normalized this. “There is no woman who has not received similar messages. And just because it’s ubiquitous, that doesn’t mean it’s okay.
Kazmi continued, “In some ways, it doesn’t hurt so much until you put yourself in the shoes of a young woman who enters the media industry with stars in her eyes and one quiet morning receives this news and his whole world falls apart.” This shakes his confidence. From now on, she no longer knows who to trust and as a result, all her relationships with her male colleagues have become unpleasant. I still remember how those messages made me feel. Here was what appeared to be a respected media industry veteran having some fun. At dawn, a significant influence slipped into my Messenger inbox and told me where he got his prejudices from. To him, it may have been an innocent and suggestive speech, but to me, it was a deeply disturbing experience. Despite these insulting messages, I even had to pretend he was being nonchalant. I’m making it seem like even though this behavior is extremely inappropriate, I’m going to ignore it and pretend his account has been hacked.
She added: “All these years I told myself to just try to ignore this kind of behavior because it is very common and may just be an occupational hazard. But when this interview came to light, it shocked me to my core that a man who was up to his neck in misogyny would have the audacity to exonerate another accused.