On Sunday night, Pakistani celebrities celebrated actor Fahad Mirza’s 40th birthday amid surge in Covid-19 infections. Many fans called them out for being careless and not following any SOPs.
Mirza’s birthday was followed by a qawwali night which was attended by several actors including Mansha Pasha, Tapu Javeri, Frieha Altaf, Sarwat Gilani, Faryal Makhdoom, Asim Jofa and many more.
One fan took to social media and wrote, “It’s a shame how celebrities rather than using their influence to portray a positive message are repeatedly violating all rules and laws of the state! What a shame! No one is held accountable for their actions!”
Another fan wrote, “While of course, the criminal tone-deaf elite of this country going live when many cities have reached their capacity to battle Covid.”
However, Frieha Altaf spoke to a publication about backlash against Mirza’s birthday celebration. She said, “First of all, it was a very small gathering and it was on an open rooftop it was also Fahad's 40th birthday. All SOPs were followed, there were masks, temperature checks at the gate and I believe most of the guests already vaccinated or had antibodies.”
She went on, “The only time anyone took off the mask was to take a picture. I think when people see pictures and videos they end up assuming the worst.”
Altaf added, “I think, be it public figures, celebrities, politicians, the general public - it’s everyone’s responsibility to be responsible about the pandemic and if you see my posts on Twitter, you will constantly see me talking about asking people to get vaccinated to stay safe because we all realise that we have to follow these measures to keep our country safe and to keep working and provide for our families and get rid of the pandemic.”
Frieha further added, “It’s been very stressful and very hard on everyone and we know what’s happening in India and so we need to be extra careful.”
Altaf thinks that people just need a reason to call others out, “I feel that people on social media just pick up on things they don’t check on things they don’t know the whole story and they assume and make assumptions and start trolling and throwing hate around on celebrities.”
She concluded, “It’s always the case because the tweet or story is so short, so how are you going to know the whole story I urge everyone to please look at things carefully before passing judgment, stay safe, and follow the SOPs.”
