LAHORE: Lawyer and owner of Lahore’s leading bookstore The Last Word, Aysha Raja in an explosive op-ed has alleged that she was sexually harassed at Ali Zafar’s father-in-law, Ali Sibtain Fazli’s firm and that Fazli did nothing to help her or support her.
In her op-ed published in local English daily, Daily Times, Raja wrote, “I myself spent half my 20’s in employment in London and the other half in Lahore. Of the three positions I held in Lahore, I was sexually harassed at two. In London, not once. My career as a lawyer in Lahore was severely disrupted when I was forced out of my place of employment after relentless sexual harassment. My then boss Ali Sibtain Fazli failed to take any steps to protect me from the unwanted attention of an associate at the firm, and after a particularly harrowing incident, my husband intervened, telling Mr Fazli how he let me down and escorted me out of the office, never to return. I have never spoken to that associate again, and it makes me furious to this day that my career suffered for his misbehaviour.”
“I forgave Mr Fazli (which in retrospect he never actually sought), under the assumption that the incident had left an impact. His recent decision to represent Ali Zafar — his son in law- in a defamation case against Meesha makes me suspect I was mistaken in my assumption,” she added.
Earlier this month, Pakistani singer-actor Meesha Shafi accused singer Ali Zafar of sexually harassing her “on multiple occasions.” The revelation sparked a sort of #MeToo movement in Pakistan as a debate on sexual harassment stirred up.
On April 19, Ali Zafar issued a statement to refute the allegations of sexual harassment levelled against him.
He said, “I categorically deny any and all claims of harassment lodged against me by Ms Shafi.”
Furthermore, Zafar also sent a Rs10million defamation notice to Shafi, through his lawyer Fazli, asking her to retract her accusations and publicly apologise or prove the charges in a court of law.
