We are quite used to the stereotypical narrative that the best time to find success and wealth, especially love, is in your youth. Most of our dramas keep catering to the misogynist mindset that any woman who is 21 or older is too old to get married or live her life any more.
Very rarely do we see public figures debunk these misconceptions beautifully by teaching us that even in older age, you can keep on living your life and even find your soulmate. And there is no one who is aging with grace and celebrating life like Manzar Sehbai and Samina Ahmed are. The two thespians got married in 2020 when they were both in their seventies, and continue to prove that age is just a number.
Sehbai has moved social media to tears with the gorgeous birthday wish he sent his wife Samina, on his Instagram page and on Twitter, where he called her the most “courageous, loving and most caring of all the women I came across in my life.”
Happy birthday to my beloved wife. The woman i adore and love the most on this planet and beyond….She is simply unique in her own way….It has never been easy for her but she never ever gave up. She is the most courageous…loving and caring of all the women i came across in pic.twitter.com/NK7I0YiwGB
But this isn’t the only time Sehbai proved there is no one who loves his wife more than him. Countless times on social media he has championed Ahmed’s beauty and powerful career and we’re providing you with a tear-jerking journey of what a healthy relationship looks like.
Warning: keep tissues nearby.
Like this time when Sehbai praised Ahmed for her role as the nani in the critically acclaimed ‘Ms. Marvel’ series.
Or this sentimental moment when at a talk show with Neo News, Sehbai recalled the moment when they were planning to get married but the thought that struck them was “what will other people think?” To which Sehbai responded:
“I said whatever they want to say, they can go to hell. This is about me and you, we’re making this decision. People will keep talking as they will.”
Or basically every moment he has celebrated her life’s achievements like when Ahmed received the Lifetime Achievement Award and he said she “deserves much more than that.”
In an unfortunate incident, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Atif Munsif Khan, hailing from Basti Sher Khan, lost his life when a rival group opened fire on his vehicle near Havelian’s Langra village which caused the car’s fuel tank to explode.
Atif was the son of former provincial minister Munsif Khan Jadoon.
He was elected the Havelian tehsil nazim as an independent candidate in the 2022 municipal elections. After winning the election, he joined the Imran Khan-led PTI.
Nine others also died in the attack.
According to Dawn, the District Police Officer (DPO) refuted media reports claiming that the car had been targeted by a “rocket attack”.
Surprisingly, the DPO said that a first information report (FIR) has not yet been registered.
After the news, the PTI leaders extended condolences and demand an immediate inquiry into the matter.
تحریک انصاف کے رہنما و تحصیل ناظم حویلیاں عاطف منصف خان پر حملے کی شدید مذمت کرتاہوں۔واقعہ میں عاطف منصف خان اور ساتھیوں کی شہادت پر افسوس ہوا۔ شہداء کے درجات کی بلندی کیلئے دعاگو ہوں۔لواحقین کے غم میں برابر شریک ہے۔ سیاسی رہنما پر حملہ انتہائی افسوس ناک ہے۔
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan has written a letter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Umar Ata Bandial on Tuesday, claiming that the events of Saturday — when his house was raided by the Punjab Police while he was at Islamabad Judicial Complex for his court hearing in the Toshakhana case — were evidence that a plot to assassinate him was afoot.
“With no security provided to me and with one assassination plot already attempted against my life in Wazirabad, I have been placing my life at risk every time I have to make a court appearance,” wrote Khan.
Imran Khan, in his letter, stated that his life is risk so he has been consistently requesting for video link facility from courts for multiple court appearances.
اسلام آباد میں عدالتی پیشی کے دوران قتل اور اہلیہ کی تنہا موجودگی میں زمان پارک کی رہائشگاہ پر حملے کا معاملہ
“When we arrived in Islamabad and were moving towards the judicial complex, we were trapped on all sides by containers to block my arrival at the complex and before the magistrate to deliberately try and create a false situation of no show”.
“To provoke the mass of people gathered in support, the police and Rangers resorted to tear gas and baton charge against ordinary unarmed citizens and the PTI leadership accompanying me. What was worse was the police stationed on the roof of the complex started hurling stones into the crowds (videos are all available). When I was halfway through the gate of the complex the police attacked the workers around my car without any provocation.”
Khan added that while PTI lawyers were not allowed inside the complex and “beaten back from the door”, about 20 or more unknown (Namaloom) people — who were neither wearing any uniforms nor had any identity displayed — were allowed inside. “This was clearly done to allow them to assassinate me.”
“While I was facing all this in Islamabad, my house was assaulted in Zaman Park by the Punjab police in complete violation of the orders passed by the Honourable Lahore High Court.”
Khan talking about his wife, Bushra Bibi — a very private, non-political person — was alone in the house at that time with a couple of domestic staff members, wrote: “The breaking of my gate and illegal entry by a group of armed police was also a clear violation of the Islamic principle of sanctity of chadar and chardiwari.”
He concluded his letter with the request of a “proper investigation” be conducted into these events.
However, after blaming namaloom afrad [unknown people] Khan deleted a tweet from his Twitter account, where he had posted a video of a man alleged to be a PTI worker, whom he mistook for being one of the people present there to attack him.
The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) on Monday called for strict action against the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
According to an official statement, the decision was made during a six-hour meeting of the PDM, heads of coalition parties with Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif in the chair.
The meeting also decided to take action against those involved in maligning state institutions, including the armed forces and judiciary, through a “smear campaign”.
“The meeting strongly condemned attacks on police and Rangers, who were obeying court orders, and called it an enmity against the state,” the statement said.
“All evidences and proofs are available, under which stern action will be taken against those involved in the unrest,” it added.
PDM strongly condemned the attacks on the police and Rangers personnel who were complying with the court’s orders on the direction of the PTI chairman and termed it “unacceptable”.
Expressing solidarity with officers and jawans, the meeting resolved that strict action should be taken against the law-breaking elements as per the law. The session also termed the attacks on the law enforcers as enmity with the state which cannot be tolerated.
“The entire nation witnessed that the PTI is not a political party but a group of trained militants,” the declaration read, adding that given the evidence and proof, it has been decided to take action as per the law.
When Sar-e-Rah aired its fourth episode, the story shifted to the struggles of an intersex boy who struggled to get love and acceptance from his family, and was determined to work hard and make his father proud. A significant moment in this episode which had caused social media users to declare it as the best television series of the decade, was an interaction between father and son when he explained to his child that it was okay to embrace gender fluidity.
I wasn’t expecting this but what an INCREDIBLE message by Nabeel Zafar! He beautifully talked about gender differences to his son, something which should’ve been taught WAY before but we couldn’t, all because of extremist elements in the society.pic.twitter.com/kKCRTopdGB
However, fashion designer Maria B had criticized the episode for encouraging acceptance of the transgender community, and called the actors who had taken part in the show ‘sell outs’ who were contributing to the destruction of Pakistan.
In an interview with Maliha Rehman, actor Muneeb Butt addressed the criticism of the episode being ‘anti-Islamic’ by calling it wrong and entirely taken out of context.
“I was disappointed to listen to her accusation because we are not anti-Islamic, we are Muslim, as well as the writers who wrote this script. We have a problem that we are quick to label other people as having agendas, or we distribute certificates that they’re anti- Muslim or taking an anti-Islamic stance. We think that we’re right, and the other people around them are wrong…When I read this drama, I was analyzing that there is nothing insensitive being spoken, clashing with my Islamic beliefs, and I didn’t think it was contradicting any Islamic value.”
Butt addressed the scene which was slammed by B and other right wing critics as promoting ‘vulgarity’, by explaining that these critics had not taken into account the back story of these characters to understand the scene properly:
“You should listen to the context behind this clip. If you watch a clip and judge an entire drama from this, then you’re completely wrong. No one can predict an entire drama from just a clip, because you don’t remember what happened before it. Before this, the father had seen his son dancing like a woman and wearing makeup, and his mother was forcing him to do this. The dad simply asked him did he want to do all of this in the bathroom, to which the son responded yes he does. The father is silent for a minute, then again asks ‘Beta, if you like doing this then tell me. I won’t feel bad at all.’ Then the son says ‘Baba, I don’t want to do this.’ It’s after that the father gently explains to him that right now his son is young but when he grows up that’s when you will learn to understand the feelings inside your body. He wasn’t saying that it’s your choice if you want to become a girl or a boy. The father was trying to make his son understand that the feelings your body is trying to tell you, whether you’re a male or female, that is something you will decide on your own. Right now it’s not necessary for you to figure out these things, you have to focus on your studies. This is the entire context, and it was beautiful how the father was encouraging his son to keep moving forward and study hard.”
Given the entire context, Butt slammed critics for labeling him and the rest of the ‘Sar-e-Rah’ crew, saying it could have placed his life in danger.
While social media overflowed with different takes on Sarang’s character, Butt had chosen to remain silent and did not address the allegations on social media. Butt explained that he had planned to write a note as soon as episode 6 came out, when Sarang gives a speech at a convocation.
Butt revealed that the wife of a prominent actor had reached out to him when this episode had aired, and had sent him an audio note which said some things that proved she wasn’t happy with the drama.
“It was her right to say all of these things because we make shows for the public. It’s their right to tell us about their opinions about our dramas, but for that you need to watch the complete episode to understand the context rather than judging it from a small video clip.”
Yesterday, an Instagram post from a user named Ali Hamid has been going viral on social media because it accused actors Aiman Muneeb and Minal Khan of exploiting workers, delaying salaries and unprofessional behavior at their organization ‘Aiman Minal Closet’.
The user had written that he had worked at the organization for a year and during his time he witnessed how employees were exploited and over-worked, but were not provided with a salary:
“They never paid me on time. Despite being such big names. They never pay their employees and whenever you message Maaz (their brother) about salary, he’d say he’ll transfer it the next week but you never really get the salary.
They owe me my six months salary and there are many employees who didn’t get their salary but didn’t do anything out of respect.
They treat their employees like slaves and disrespect them all the time but never pay them. They’re earning millions from their brand but when it comes to paying their employees, they take a back seat.”
However, the organization has responded to the allegations by clarifying that Muneeb and Khan were not innvolved in the daily operations of the company:
“Aiman Khan and Minal Khan are NOT involved in the daily operations of the company, it’s owned by Maaz Khan; hence they cannot and should not be held responsible for any human resource related issue.”
Furthermore, the statement called the allegations an attempted “smear campaign” to malign the reputation of the actors, and will be dealt with through a legal procedure.
“The recent allegations by certain individuals who were ex-employees of the brand are trying to malign the reputation of Aiman Khan and Minal Khan via a planned smear campaign ; which will be responded legally.”
Dr M. Suresh Kumar who is currently serving as the Charge d’Affaires at the Indian Embassy in Islamabad, has arrived in Lahore for the first time since his appointment two years ago. Jang reported that the diplomat had breakfast with senior journalists, where he revealed an interesting tibit about food prices in the capital. He was recently purchasing groceries and was shocked to find out that the price of onions was Rs 300/kg, when in New Delhi it was Rs 20/kg.
Dr Kumar also addressed the matter of improving business ties between India and Pakistan, by saying that Pakistani businessmen are refused a business visa in India because of the fact that there are no business ties between the two countries. To which Pakistani businessmen asked how will business ties between both countries improve if they aren’t given a visa. To which Dr Kumar responded its like asking which came first- the chicken or the egg?
To answer another question, Dr Kumar said that Gujranwala is the city of wrestlers, and felt that there should be wrestlying and kabadi competitions between the two countries.
Dr Kumar also said that he will talk to the higher authorities in New Delhi to send an invitation to a delegation of journalists from Pakistan to visit India.
Jang also reported about a conversation with a senior official from the foreign office in New Delhi who remarked that after the restoration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran in the region, efforts should be made to improve the relation between Islamabad and New Delhi.
. We are all familiar with the stereotypical Pakistani lead couple, a toxic and underwhelming boy who is ‘edgy’ and ‘dark’ because of his traumatizing past, and the hoor-pari good girl who has never walked outside apnay ghar ki chaar dewariyan, and has apparently never interacted with a man in her life. They meet, stalk, harass, fall in love, shaadi, divorce, phir pyar and then happy ending.
But quiet rarely, Pakistani dramas take a step to break these stereotypes and introduce us to a couple where either both or one person is a middle-aged woman. It’s a rare stand against stereotypical depictions of women disappearing after they turn forty.
But it’s important now that women are reminded that their beauty and desirability doesn’t finish the moment they turn thirty. Life doesn’t end.
Thankfully, Pakistani dramas have slowly been catching up on breaking this stigma by giving us a few very poignant and well-written dramas that had cast a middle-aged woman in a romantic relationship as the central lead of their drama.
1 Dobara
Dobara was embraced with open arms by Pakistani audiences when it debuted. Hadiqa Kiana starred as Mehru Nisa, a woman in her forties with two grown children who was learning to re-live her life on her own terms after being forcibly married when she was sixteen years old and deprived of doing everything she had ever loved. Mehru Nisa’s relationship with Maahir, a man who was in his twenties, is the most heart warming aspect of this drama because of the way he helps her gain confidence in doing whatever she wanted to do, and also defends her from her family members who consistently bully her.
2 Jhoom
This upcoming drama features Zara Noor Abbas and Haroon Kadwani as lovers with a wide age gap between them. According to the trailer, the premise revolves around backlash from society who cannot accept an older woman marrying a younger man.
3 Samjhota
Shahista Lodhi’s on-air drama revolved around an old man’s marriage. After his wife passes away, he decides to marry Nargis. But his re-marriage at this age doesn’t bode well with his children, who refuse to treat Nargis with kindness.
Speaking on the importance of approaching this topic, Lodhi who starred as Nargis in the drama, said that she wanted to do this project because of how it reminds that the elderly that life doesn’t end when they grow old:
“It showed that at a certain age when we think our elderly mother and father are only around to take care of our children, but instead you’ll witness the love story between these two main characters in the drama. I thought this was such a great example being set. The other thing is in our society at a certain age our parents are left lonely while we get busy building our own lives. We seem to think that our parents can’t find a new partner after their own spouse and they don’t have a life of their own.”
4 Teri Raah Mein Rul Gayi
Samiya Mumtaz essays the role of a middle aged woman whose husband passed away a year after their marriage, leaving her in grief. Her brother-in-law stands up to society by providing for her every single need, and declares that he has fallen in love with her.
Fawad Khan has not acted in many films, but the few select projects he has starred in have become cult favorites among fans.
Khan, who had made a successful foray into Bollywood before tensions between India and Pakistan forced him to come back home, starred in three films, ‘Khoobsurat’, ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ and ‘Kapoor and Sons’.
Seven years later after ‘Ae Dil Hai Mushkil’ was released in cinemas across the sub-continent, it seems like no one has forgotten the charm and appeal Khan oozed, even though it was showcased only a limited number of times.
On Monday Twitter users were discussing the films in which an actor had a small role, but made a powerful impact. And rightfully, Fawad Khan was the one whom both Indian and Pakistani fans cannot forget.
Lest we forget, Khan was suppose to be the antagonist who was stealing Ranbir Kapoor’s love interest, Alizey (played by Anushka Sharma), but it looks like when the looks are a 10 then there’s no competition.
If it was anyone other than Fawad Khan in his role for ADHM, we would have hated him for sabotaging any chance that Ranbir had with Anushka. But we ended up loving Fawad more than Ranbir https://t.co/Wn9hlqWBGd
Caretaker Chief Minister (CM) of Punjab Mohsin Naqvi has said in a press conference that he has given a “free hand” to the police to establish the writ of the state in the province.
“We told the policemen this morning that you can do what you want to do to establish the writ of the government. If anyone challenges the police, they will break their hand,” warned Naqvi in the press conference.
Naqvi said he had given the provincial police chief full powers so that he could do what he deemed appropriate. “I won’t interfere,” he added.
He further said that no political party reacted the way Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) did during its protest. “In every condition, we have to establish the writ of the government.”
Criticising PTI Chairman Imran Khan’s conduct, Naqvi said that if he did not trust the police, the security that is provided could be withdrawn.
Naqvi added that police personnel could not offer protection to someone who verbally abuses them at night and expects the same force to safeguard them.
“I assured them that if anyone resorts to violence, they will get a stern reply. Political activity is your right but no one can react this aggressively,” he said while referring to the protesters.
He added that the “terrorism” PTI was doing is not something that political workers do.
“They are terrorists. A joint investigation team will be formed and a notification will be issued by evening,” said the CM. He also added that the caretaker government is writing a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan sharing details about what had been happening in the province.
