Meesha Shafi speaks up in first television interview
I was asked, what if there is an apology
(Web Desk) - Meesha Shafi on Monday opened up a pandora box of what went behind closed doors leading up to the day when she finally decided to speak up and be vocal about her experience.
In an interview with a local media channel, Meesha Shafi divulged details about the sequence of events that ultimately led to her decision of being vocal about the alleged harassment that she faced.
Meesha revealed that she always wanted to keep the issue behind closed doors and not make a public spectacle out of it as in the back of her mind she had respect for Ali Zafar’s wife.
‘I tried to contact and communicate privately through representatives in an effort to resolve the issue and not make it public not just for me, but for Ali Zafar’s wife as well, as I had respect for her at the back of my mind.’
As to why she tweeted, was a promise that she made to herself to never again be in position where she had to share space with Ali in a setting where she was vulnerable. When that happened she conveyed to Ali through representatives to back off from the project so that things do not come into public eye.
‘Initially In the four months leading up to my speaking up I blocked it out and moved on, having said that I made a promise to myself that after what I have experienced first-hand I will never again let myself be in such a vulnerable situation,’ she added.
Things changed when I had to work on project with Ali Zafar. I had to work with him in a project where we had to share space in a very time intensive and highly interactive setting for weeks.
Misha claimed to try every option before publicly speaking out, ‘Obviously the private efforts are not known to the public,’ she added.
To the question why she spoke up, Meehsa said
‘I spoke up when I finally thought, for once to think about myself,’ she added.
I was deeply associated with this project way before Ali Zafar and I found out about his doing the project at the last moment which was the tipping point.
Meesha said that she conveyed her message to Ali through representatives that she didn’t want any sort of controversy and requested through them to ask Ali to step down from the project. I asked the PR people to gauge the situation as I cannot work with him.
Meesha further disclosed that when she met with the reprentatives to send the message she was also asked whether she would accept an apology.
‘I was asked, what if there is an apology, to which I replied that I could consider it,’
But the reply was same, he backtracked and I was asked to come and meet him at his house.
