Violence against women, especially in public spaces, is uncontrolled in this part of the world.
In the wake of the mass molestation of women in Bengaluru on New Year’s Eve, a performance by celebrated DJ and music producer David Guetta in the city was called-off. In a world where the emphasis is placed on telling women what to wear instead of asking men not to molest, a recent video of Atif Aslam saving a girl from being harassed went viral on social media this weekend.
The singer who was performing at the concert, held on Saturday 14, organised by IBA as part of their MUNIK (Model United Nations) in Karachi. Atif Aslam, Abida Parveen and Azim Azhar were among the performers.
Things had become so problematic that during Atif’s performance, when some women in the front row were being harassed, the singer stopped his concert mid-way, asked the girl to be ‘rescued’ and then told the boy to behave and respect women, otherwise he’ll walk out.
One of the attendees Osama narrated the entire incident on Twitter, adding that the singer not only ‘rescued’ the girl being harassed, but made sure that all the girls were safe before resuming the concert.
Mad respect for Atif Aslam last night, stopped in middle of a song & scolded guys who were harassing the girls in the front row.
— Osama. (@ashaqeens) January 15, 2017
Made sure all the girls were safe before resuming the concert.Also pointing to a harasser he said,”Insaan ka bacha banja ya mai bana dunga”
— Osama. (@ashaqeens) January 15, 2017
I admit i was wrong about Karachi eats only family policy,some men really are dogs & can’t behave in public. Should be kept in cages.
— Osama. (@ashaqeens) January 15, 2017
“Also pointing to a harasser he said, ‘Insaan ka bacha banja ya mai bana dunga’,” Osama tweeted.
Another attendee, Dua Rashid commented on Atif’s act and said, “Atif was performing after Abida left — this was around 1.15am — he was in the middle of a song when he suddenly stopped and so did the music; he bent down to talk to one of the boys in the front row, he still had the mic in his hand and we could all hear him.”
“He asked the boy something along the lines of, ‘Have you never seen a girl before?’ or ‘Do you have women at home?’ and then ordered security to come on stage. On his orders, two security guards immediately came on stage and were ordered by Atif to ‘rescue her [the girl],’ they pulled the girl up on stage and escorted her down the stairs.”
“Atif then addressed the boy again warning him not to engage in such mannerism. He then turned to the crowd and spoke about respecting girls and added that he’d end the concert if we didn’t comply with his instructions on respecting women.”
People at the event and social media lauded the singer’s courageous move.
