Newlyweds Sarah Khan and Falak Shabir have been on a social media roll sharing gorgeous pictures and videos from their wedding.
A new video shared by the couple shows the bride ask her groom to think again just before she walks to stage for their nikkah.
“Mein keh rahe hoon souch lein abhi bhi,” an ecstatic Sarah is seen saying in the video.
Responding to Sarah, Falak says: “Ab time guzar gaya sochnay ka, ab qabool hai qabool hai bolnay ka time aagaya hai.”
“Bohat darr lag raha hai Falak,” continues Sarah.
“Mat darein aap, main aapkay saath hoon“, says Falak in response.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CC6jlNsFMJ8/
Meanwhile, Falak while speaking to a local media outlet, revealed that he proposed to Sarah after their second meeting.
“It was at the 2019 Hum TV Bridal Couture Week where Sarah was a showstopper that we met properly,” said Shabbir. “Previously we had only met as acquaintances, but that day I was drinking tea at the hotel when Sarah and Noor were passing by. I asked them to join me and we had tea together. That was probably the first time we spoke to each other in detail.”
Their second meeting was at a restaurant in Lahore right after the show where the two talked a lot and when Falak was dropping Sarah home after dinner, he proposed to her.
“I didn’t say I love you or anything, I just directly said I want to do a nikkah with you, marry you, tell me how it can happen,” says Shabir.
Sharing further details, he said that Sarah told him to meet her father.
“She told me to meet her father. I went to her house from Karachi to Lahore. The first time I met her father, we spoke for about two hours. Sarah had told me, if Baba leaves in 15 minutes, it’s a no.”
Sarah and Falak tied the knot on July 16 in an intimate wedding ceremony. Sarah looked like a vision in a rose pink outfit by Nilofar Shahid.
Throwing light on the highly controversial Indian (and Pakistani) wedding and matchmaking culture, a new Netflix original reality series has stirred a debate online and received mixed reviews about the toxicity ingrained in the country’s age-old process of finding a life partner. The show is currently trending at number four on Netflix Pakistan.
The eight-part series Indian Matchmaking premiered on Netflix on Thursday and is currently among its top-ranked India shows. It features Sima Taparia, a real-life matchmaker from Mumbai, who offers her services to families within India and abroad. As the show gains traction, the one question which is crossing everyone’s mind is ‘Who really in Sima Taparia’?
In a recent interview, Taparia, who hails from a small town of Gulbarga in Karnataka, opened up about herself and revealed that she always wanted to be famous.
“I always had great ambition and wanted to make something of myself so people far and wide would know my name,” she says.
However, her marriage was arranged when she was just 19 and because her in-laws were from an orthodox family of Marwaris, she never really got a chance to work on her dreams.
But as fate would have had it, the small-town girl has become a sensation ever since her series streamed on Netflix.
On how she ended up in this business, Taparia said that she considers herself a natural born matchmaker.
“I am an extrovert and so I am very social and I love meeting new people, talking to them and finding out little details that I lock away in my brain,” says the 57-year-old.
“When people come to me saying they have a son, daughter, nephew, niece or a grandchild who is looking to get married, I immediately start thinking of all the people I know of who could be a good match,” she explains, adding that she is always mentally matching people. “I have found matches for people when I was on vacation in Zermatt and in Interlaken and even when we were in the Canadian Rockies, I was on duty matching people up. Hell, I have even matched people up while waiting at the luggage carousel at Mumbai airport.”
Ever since Taparia set up her matchmaking bureau ‘Suitable Rishta’, based out of her apartment in the midtown Mumbai neighbourhood of Worli, she has brought hundreds of couples together in India as well as in diaspora communities around the world.
Taparia follows a tried and tested approach that she has found success with. “I go and meet the boy and the family, see what their home is like, where they work, where they have been to school,” she explains. It’s not just the information the family provides but unsaid details she has learned to pick up over the years.
“This helps me assess their lifestyles so I can recommend a match that is on an even keel. This is where Tinder, Bumble and Shaadi.com can’t compete. I get to the bottom of things, finding out all the inside stories, the family’s values and other such details you would never get from looking at a person’s online profile,” says Taparia.
She further shared that she only works with “high-profile clients”.
“In India when I meet clients they usually have a working wedding budget in mind. So based on that golden number, I quote my price that I charge as a lump sum,” said the match-maker.
Following the series’ success, Taparia’s phone has not stopped ringing.
“Now young people who have seen the series have been getting in touch with me from all around the world and people in India are asking their parents to get in touch with me to find them partners like Nadia and Aparna,” she says.
Netflix’s ‘Indian Matchmaking’ divides the internet
Meanwhile, the show has the internet divided. The show has become a subject of memes and jokes, and criticism, on how individuals and their parents are picky and have a long list of demands that centre around factors like caste, height or skin colour.
The show “makes very clear how regressive Indian communities can be. Where sexism, casteism, and classism are a prevalent part of the process of finding a life partner,” wrote Twitter user Maunika Gowardhan.
Thousands of Twitter and Instagram posts echo that view. “The show is simply holding a mirror to the ugly society we are a part of,” Vishaka George, another Twitter user, wrote.
Created by Oscar-nominated director Smriti Mundhra, the show focuses on matchmaker Taparia’s visits to the homes of families who need her assistance. After hearing their demands, she presents résumés of prospective matches and then arranges meetings between them.
“The two families have their reputation and many millions of dollars at stake. So the parents guide their children,” Taparia says at one point in the show, referring to some of her wealthier clients.
In the first episode titled Slim, Trim and Educated, an Indian mother tells Taparia her son is getting a lot of marriage proposals but in most cases, the prospective bride’s education or height was not ideal.
Just as Taparia says: “So you want a smart, outgoing, height …” the mother interjects, “I won’t even consider (a girl) below 5 feet 3 inches.”
Some have praised the show for its honesty and treating its subjects respectfully.
“The hate against it is, frankly, baffling … Indian Matchmaking is well on its way to becoming a cultural phenomenon,” a column in the Mint newspaper said.
Omair Rana, who was accused of sexual harassment by some students of Lahore Grammar School (LGS) 1A1 Ghalib Market Branch, has rejected all such allegations and has said that he will be filing a complaint with the Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) against those who have wrongfully accused him. Female students of LGS 1A1 had alleged that Rana would pass inappropriate jokes and comments and make them feel uncomfortable. They also said that he flirted with young girls and exchanged inappropriate texts.
The actor, in a Twitter update added that “sexual harassment is a heinous crime and should be treated with the seriousness that it deserves”.
On June 28, dozens of girls came forward with accounts of harassment and inappropriate behaviour by teachers at LGS 1A1 Ghalib Market Branch. The management of the school, including female teachers, also came under fire for brushing the matter under the carpet for years. Among those teachers accused of covering up was Omair’s wife Maira Omair Rana, who was later suspended for abetting in the acts. It is pertinent to mention here that most of the girls studying at the school were minors at the time.
Such incidents had reportedly been going on for the past four or five years and the victims had been reporting the matter to the admin and their teachers. However, they took no action and resorted to victim-blaming. Strict action was only taken after the girls shared their ordeal on social media and the matter became public.
According to details, students have come forward and shared their experiences of being harassed by three teachers namely Aitezaz Rehman Sheikh, Umer Shareef and Zahid Iqbal Warraich. All three teachers were fired soon after the allegations surfaced.
Following the uproar on social media, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari had said that she has taken serious notice of the allegations. The Punjab government had also said that they will hand exemplary punishments to the perpetrators and make an example of them.
Meanwhile, Chairman Senate Committee on Human Rights and PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar said that the HR Committee has taken notice of the matter and will be discussing it on July 22. Sharing details, he said that concerned parents will be allowed to join the meeting.
Senate HR committee has taken notice of incidents of sexual harassment at LGS. To b taken up on the 22nd. Parents who r concerned with the way investigations have progressed so far, may attend. pic.twitter.com/xzd22UA4v6
— Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar (@mustafa_nawazk) July 20, 2020
Senate Human Rights Committee has taken the notice of sexual harassment incidents at the Lahore Grammar School and will hold a meeting in this regard on July 22.
Senate Human Rights Committee Chairperson and PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar shared details of the meeting and said that “parents of the students who were concerned with the way investigations have progressed so far” can also attend the meeting.
Senate HR committee has taken notice of incidents of sexual harassment at LGS. To b taken up on the 22nd. Parents who r concerned with the way investigations have progressed so far, may attend. pic.twitter.com/xzd22UA4v6
— Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar (@mustafa_nawazk) July 20, 2020
The agenda of the meeting will be to brief the Senate body on the incidents and the actions taken after the allegations by the Punjab Education secretary, LGS principal, and Lahore DPO.
Speaking to The Current about the matter Senator Khokhar said, “[These incidents are] deeply disturbing. One wonders where we are headed as a society with crimes of sexual assault and harassment on the rise.”
He added: “[We are] waiting to hear from the authorities and the outcome of their investigations so far, whether cases have been registered against offenders and whether any action has been taken by the education ministry or school for incidents like this not to happen again.”
On June 28, dozens of girls came forward with accounts of harassment and inappropriate behaviour by teachers at LGS 1A1 Ghalib Market Branch. The management of the school, including female teachers, also came under fire for brushing the matter under the carpet for years. It is pertinent to mention here that most of the girls studying at the school were minors at the time.
Such incidents had reportedly been going on for the past four or five years and the victims had been reporting the matter to the admin and their teachers. However, they took no action and resorted to victim-blaming. Strict action was only taken after the girls shared their ordeal on social media and the matter became public.
According to details, students have come forward and shared their experiences of being harassed by three teachers namely Aitezaz Rehman Sheikh, Umer Shareef and Zahid Iqbal Warraich. All three teachers were fired soon after the allegations surfaced.
Following the uproar on social media, Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari had said that she has taken serious notice of the allegations. The Punjab government had also said that they will hand exemplary punishments to the perpetrators and make an example of them.
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) have announced to hold an ‘All Parties Conference’ (APC) after Eidul Azha in order to discuss strategies to “get rid of this government”.
Addressing a joint press conference, PPP’s Qamar Zaman Kaira and PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal said that a coordination committee meeting will be held this week to discuss the APC agenda.
The presser was held after a meeting between PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and a three-member PML-N delegation at Bilawal House, Lahore. The PML-N delegation included Iqbal, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Ayaz Sadiq, while PPP’s Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor and Hasan Murtaza also attended the meeting.
Addressing reporters, Kaira said that opposition parties will “complete our homework” before Eidul Azha and discuss strategies to oust the government in the APC.
“The opposition feels that Pakistan will face several external and internal dangers [if] this government remains in power,” Iqbal said. “[Considering] what is happening in our region, we need internal unity but this government only has a vengeful agenda with which it is disintegrating the country.
“In this situation, the country’s two biggest opposition parties agree that to get rid of this incompetent government will be representative of this country’s 220 million people.”
Ahsan also criticised the government for trying to introduce a law that is “twice as bad” as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in order to put an end to terror financing and comply with Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) guidelines. The law, he said, would allow authorities to arrest a suspect for 90 days without getting a remand and the detention can be extended without allowing the suspect to obtain a bail.
“FATF members are not telling Pakistan to turn the country into a fascist state through legislation [to stop terror financing],” the PML-N MNA said and added that the move was “defaming FATF, the international community and the United Nations”. He said that while the opposition was in favour of compliance with FATF guidelines, it would not allow the government to curb individual rights and freedom.
He accused the government of making people’s lives difficult by pushing them into poverty, throttling the media and isolating the country in the international community.
In response to a question regarding Maryam Nawaz’s participation in the upcoming meetings, Iqbal said that “no one has played as huge a role in public mobilisation than” the former premier’s daughter. He added that she will play her role when it came to public mobilisation.
Separately, Ahsan Iqbal, in a conversation with The Current, said that the APC would provide opposition parties a chance to present a unified stance on how to bring change in the government, which the entire opposition believes has thoroughly been exposed for its “incompetence and making irreparable damage to country’s economy and governance”.
“A joint opposition coordination committee comprising of senior leaders from all parties has been formed to work out options for the APC to be meaningful,” he said.
The All Pakistan Private Schools and Colleges Association (APPSCA) has announced the reopening of private schools from August 15 across the country rejecting the Federal Government’s decision to reopen them in September.
In a press conference, the association said that students had to go through an educational loss because schools have been shut down for the past six to eight months.
The APPSCA president, Hidayat Khan, added that the virus has slowed down and that cases are also decreasing.
He added that the association had tried to negotiate with the government but they did not listen. Khan warned that if the government does not listen to them, they will march to protest against the government. He also strongly criticised the federal government and called it incompetent.
“We will open schools in line with the SOPs. Madrassas have been opened, and they have even conducted examinations,” he added.
Journalist Matiullah Jan, who is a vocal critic of the government among other quarters, has gone missing from Islamabad, his family said on Tuesday, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
According to Jan’s wife, Kaneez Sughra, who was speaking to Independent Urdu, his car was found with keys still inside.
Jan was due to appear in the Supreme Court (SC) this week after it took suo motu notice of a contemptuous tweet by the journalist.
Amnesty International South Asia called for authorities to “establish [Jan’s] whereabouts immediately”.
We are extremely concerned for the fate and wellbeing of @matiullahjan919. He has been the subject of physical attacks and harassment for his journalism. The authorities must establish his whereabouts immediately. #ReleaseMatiullah
— Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office (@amnestysasia) July 21, 2020
In a tweet, the organisation said it was “extremely concerned for the fate and wellbeing” of the journalist, who it said has been the subject of “physical attacks and harassment for his journalism”.
Meanwhile, a CCTV footage showed Jan’s car being intercepted. It also showed a scuffle breaking out between the journalist and the reportedly armed men who took him away.
He can also be shown throwing his phone away, which a woman was seen handing over to one of the unidentified men.
Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz, later in the day, said the government was aware of the abduction and efforts were underway for the journalist’s safe return. The development was also confirmed by Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari, who said that she was in contact with the capital city’s police in this regard.
Chief justice of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), on the other hand, has reportedly taken notice of the abduction and directed authorities to present Jan before the court on Wednesday.
Following are some snippets that stood out from Urdu newspapers on July 21, 2020, which The Current takes no responsibility for.
Foreign Ministry’s approval of $25,000 for bathroomdecor
It has been reported by Daily Jang that the Foreign Ministry has approved $25,000 for the decor of bathroom of Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN). An amount of $50,000 has already been spent on the renovation of the official’s residence.
‘Judges ko phone kr k marzi k faislay lenay walay‘
Daily Jang has quoted Federal Minister for Communication Murad Saeed as saying,“Judges ko phone kr k marzi k faislay lenay walay humein jamhooriyat ka dars de rahay hain.”
‘Peeth mein chura ghonpnay wala Shehbaz’
According to Daily Jang, Punjab Information Minister Fayazul Hasan Chohan has said, “Barray bhai aur bhateeji ki peeth mein chura ghonpney walay Shehbaz Sharif pr Bilawal aitebaar krnay se hichkacha rahay hain.”
His statement came as PML-N President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Sunday spoke to each other over the phone and discussed the prevailing political situation and the possibility of holding an All Parties Conference (APC) after Eid.
Local politician and PML(N) leader, Arbab Khizer Hayat has apologised for Gul Panra’s viral music video, shot at a state-owned residence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In a detailed clarification, Hayat said that he took Panra to the official residence as a family member where she recorded a Tik Tok dance video and aired it on social media, sparking controversy.
“On July 17, 2020, I went to District Landi Kotal to visit different historic sites in the area along with my family members,” said Hayat in his clarification statement. “Among the family members, I also had singer Gul Panra who joined us for the journey and we visited Michni Fort.”
He added that while visiting the area, he contacted Assistant Commissioner Khyber, Muhammad Imran and requested permission to have refreshments at his official residence. After refreshments, the family members began visiting the premises and inadvertently entered the residence from a back door, where the singer recorded a dance video, which later went viral.
Hayat said all that had happened without his knowledge and permission, so he sought apology from the quarters concerned for the singer’s mistake.
After the video went viral on social media, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan had ordered a probe into to the matter.
According to reports, the KP chief ordered an investigation into Panra’s video after it was reported that part of the TikTok video was shot at the Deputy Commissioner Khyber District’s bungalow in Landikotal. CM Khan also questioned who allowed the singer to enter the state-owned property. He asserted that action will be taken against those who allowed Panra access to the government building.
The committee formed to investigate the issue was led by the provincial home secretary and had been ordered to submit the report within 24 hours.
Earlier, the singer also shared pictures from her trip to Landikotal.
Panra shot to fame after she sang Man Aamadeh Am with Atif Aslam in Coke Studio Season 8. Some of her most popular Coke Studio songs include the rendition of Nazia Hasan’s Hawa Hawa and Rasha Mama.
This is not the first time a TikTok video has shown an internet celebrity walking around an official building. Prior to Panra, Pashtun singer Sofia Kaif was seen walking around what reports claim is the official residence of CM Mahmood Khan. Before Sofia, who had reportedly been invited as a singer to the ceremony at the CM House, Hareem Shah, had also been spotted walking around the Foreign Ministry’s office in a TikTok video.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has issued a “final warning to Tik Tok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application.”
Press Release: Number of complaints had been received from different segments of the society against immoral, obscene & vulgar content on social media applications particularly Tik Tok and Bigo, & their extremely negative effects on the society in general & youth in particular. pic.twitter.com/Zow1EuLj4N
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has issued a final warning to popular Chinese social networking app TikTok over obscene and immoral content as it banned live streaming application Bigo over similar concerns raised by the general public.
TikTok allows users to make video clips, lip sync to songs and create short videos, and has time and again been criticised over the quality of content amid unparallel popularity among Pakistanis.
Last week, a civil miscellaneous application was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) demanding an immediate ban on TikTok, Dawn reported.
The petitioner said the app was a “great mischief of modern times” and had become a source of spreading pornography for the sake of fame and ratings on social media.
According to a statement released by the PTA late on Monday night, complaints were received from different segments of society against immoral, obscene and vulgar content on social media applications particularly TikTok and Bigo.
On complaints of immoral, obscene and vulgar content, streaming app Bigo has been blocked in Pakistan. TikTok has also been served with final warning on same grounds.
“PTA had issued necessary notices to the aforementioned social media companies under law to moderate the socialisation and content within legal and moral limits, in accordance with the laws of the country,” the statement said.
The PTA said the response of these companies was “not satisfactory”.
“Therefore, in exercise of its powers under PECA, the PTA has decided to immediately block Bigo and issue a final warning to TikTok to put in place a comprehensive mechanism to control obscenity, vulgarity and immorality through its social media application,” the statement said.
