The wife of Arsalan, the man who was seen beating and abusing his mother in the video, has responded to allegations of physical and verbal abuse.
Taking to social media, Arsalan’s wife posted a video and said that the allegations her sister-in-law and mother-in-law have made are false. She said that her husband has asthma and she is six months pregnant.
“My mother-in-law attacked my husband’s private parts which made him unconscious. She also attacked my private parts as she wanted to abort my child,” said the woman in the video.
She also alleged that her mother-in-law beat her daughter and that Zobia Meer did not share the complete video.
The woman further said that the mother and daughter broke their cars, hid their jewellery, ID cards and other papers.
“They broke things in my room and even hid my daughter’s milk,” she added.
According to the woman, Zobia is her husband’s half-sister and that the property that Zobia claimed they ran away with is in her husband’s name.
Late Tuesday night, a video of a man beating and abusing his mother went viral on social media. Rawalpindi police registered a case against the culprit after the social media users including journalists, celebrities and social activists condemned the incident and demanded justice from the authorities.
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.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday approved the relocation of Islamabad Zoo’s lone elephant Kaavan to Cambodia. The court had ordered Kaavan’s freedom in May and instructed wildlife officials to find him a “suitable sanctuary”.
According to AFP, Adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said authorities would “ensure that he lives a happy life”. He revealed that a team from Cambodia is coming over to take the 36-year-old elephant with them.
“We are bidding Kaavan farewell with a heavy heart. It is a sad decision,” he said.
Amin also shared that he had discussed Kaavan’s plight with Prime Minister Imran Khan and it had been decided that a safari zoo will be built in Islamabad.
Authorities told the court that an expert committee had recommended he be moved to a 25,000-acre wildlife sanctuary in Cambodia for retirement.
Kaavan was kept in chains at Islamabad Zoo and exhibited symptoms of mental illness, prompting global outrage over his treatment and a petition demanding his release that garnered over 400,000 signatures.
Though zoo officials have denied this and claimed that he was pining for a new mate after his partner died in 2012, Kaavan’s behaviour — including signs of distress such as bobbing his head repeatedly — demonstrated “a kind of mental illness”.
Activists also said Kaavan was not properly sheltered from Islamabad’s searing summer temperatures, which can rise above 40 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit).
Kaavan’s plight drew the attention of Cher, who spent years calling for his freedom.
She tweeted in May that the court’s decision to order his release was “one of the greatest moments of my life”.
THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MOMENTS OF MY LIFE. CANT STOP😭,🥰,BEING SICK 2 MY STOMACH.(Ate🎂in The night & Was SOOOO Sick,Still am.Can you O.D from too much🎂)⁉️ BUT🐘KAAVAN IS FREE🙏🏻 😭DOWN MY CHEEKS,BUT HES FREE,& @markcowne 🕊DID IT🙌🏻.GINA,👑JEN👑👏🏻
Arriving in Pakistan as a one-year-old in 1985 from Sri Lanka, Kaavan was temporarily held in chains in 2002 because zookeepers were concerned about increasingly violent tendencies. He was freed later that year after an outcry but it emerged in 2015 that he was once more being regularly chained for several hours each day.
The court’s May ruling also ordered dozens of other animals — including brown bears, lions and birds — to be relocated temporarily till the zoo improves its standards.
Ertuğrul fever in the country continues to run strong.
After Ertuğrul-inspired cakes, dresses and even snacks named after the TV show, we now have a drama serial inspired by the superhit Turkish historical series. Kawish Television Network (KTN), a private Sindhi TV channel, has released the teaser of their upcoming drama serial titled Raj Rani, which appears to be heavily inspired by the Turkish series.
The Turkish drama series has influenced Pakistan and its entertainment industry greatly . Taking inspiration from it, KTN entertainment has been producing a drama series titled Raj Rani, glorifying swords. https://t.co/F2a9sUYwtV
The short 30-second teaser shows an intense sword fight with an ancient fort in the background. It is interesting to see the inclusion of women in the sword fights, something that is unusual on Pakistani television.
While further details are not yet known about the series, watch the teaser below:
Set in 13th century Anatolia and based on the struggle of Ertuğrul Gazi, father of Osman I – the founder of the Ottoman dynasty, Diriliş: Ertuğrul has been trending in Pakistan ever since its first episode aired on PTV Home. Pakistanis are loving the drama series and it has become a sensation in the country. According to details, more than 58 million people viewed the first episode on PTV’s YouTube channel in two months, and the entire show has had more than 250 million views. PTV’s YouTube channel has also registered an exponential rise in its viewership with more than 6 million subscribers and episodes trending every day on the social media platform.
In an exclusive interview with The Current, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Faisal Javed Khan revealed that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had gifted the drama series to Pakistan as a goodwill gesture.
Falak Shabir and Sarah Khan have legit been giving us couple goals ever since they announced their engagement. The couple has gone above and beyond to express their love for each other.
Whether it was having a fairy tale proposal and engagement, complete with fireworks
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCwkLbTpqRy/
According to the couple’s wedding photographer, Abdul Samad Zia, Falak arranged everything for Sarah.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCwG8HGp3C8/
Or it was Falak serenading his bride on their wedding day
Or when Sarah changed her name on Instagram to Mrs Falak
And when the two enjoyed their own ‘shaadi ka khana‘
To express his love even more, Falak has gotten Sarah’s name tattoed on his arm. The singer shared a picture of his tattoo on social media with the caption “She is my Queen”.
Later, the couple’s wedding photographer also shared an image of the tattoo.
On the other hand, Sarah wrote ‘Falak ki Dulhan‘ with mehndi on her palm.
Here’s wishing the newly weds a very happy married life.
Sarah Khan and Falak Shabir’s marriage is the talk of the town and fans cannot help but gush over the newly weds whose loved-up videos are all over social media.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCuG9rSpuze/
While fans are well acquainted with Sarah and her work, particularly her role in Sabaat as Miraal, netizens have been asking who Falak is.
For the unacquainted, Falak is a renowned singer and songwriter, popularly referred to as the ‘King of Soul Style’ and ‘Mr Unplugged’. Falak has several superhit songs to his credit and has also been part of several international projects, including Bollywood.
Here are some of Falak’s most popular songs:
Tu Mera Dil
This song is the most popular on Falak’s YouTube channel with more than 36 million views. It was released in 2013.
Ijazat
Ijazat is one of Falak’s most popular songs, especially among those who were teenagers when the song released back in 2011.
Mera Mann
The song featured in the 2013 Bollywood film Nautanki Saala! starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Kunaal Roy Kapur,Pooja Salvi and Evelyn Sharma. The song has over 27 million views on YouTube.
Saajana
Composed and sung by Falak, Saajana featured in the 2013 Bollywood film I, Me aur Main starring John Abraham, Prachi Desai and Chitrangada Singh.
The first three weeks of June saw not only a rapid spread of the new coronavirus but deaths attributed to the COVID-19 also stood at around a daily average of 100.
While the country, since the last week of June, has witnessed a significant decrease in the number of coronavirus infections amid conflicting claims regarding what has led to the drop, Pakistan has an optimistic recovery rate as 67.5% of people who had contracted the virus have so far recovered.
While it is still unclear if the virus has already peaked in Pakistan or not, testing, active cases and the recovery rate are the major factors proving helpful in estimating not only the spread of the virus but also the pandemic situation.
So far, July hasn’t been as bad as last month as government statistics from the first two weeks show there has been an increase in COVID-19 recoveries while the number of new cases has also dropped significantly.
While the reason behind the sudden drop still remains unclear as government boasts of its successful strategy and experts attribute the decline to Pakistanis’ better immunity due to exposure to various vaccinations, it cannot be denied that the drop has been led to also because of lower testing as compared to the month of June.
People are realising that they would recover if they have mild symptoms and only need to isolate themselves without actually heading out to get tested, surveys suggest.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Heath Dr Zafar Mirza has also confirmed that not many people are voluntarily showing up to get tested anymore. “We are unable to conduct as many tests as we were earlier, despite having a daily capacity 60,000. Pakistan has set up more than 125 labs for COVID-19 testing but we need human resources to run those labs as the testing capacity needs to continuously be enhanced.”
Meanwhile, a majority of people are also making use of telehealth services by consulting their doctors over the phone or contacting the government’s coronavirus helpline (1166). According to a doctor working at a COVID-19 helpline centre, she alone receives around 40 calls a day for medical advice.
Despite having close to 183 million subscribers, Netflix never revealed how many people are watching their original series and movies. However, the streaming giant recently decided to release a list of its 10 most-watched original movies.
Chris Hemsworth and Randeep Hooda’s action thriller Extraction topped the list with 99 million views. It received the biggest audience of any Netflix original movie in its first four weeks. The film shows Hemsworth play a mercenary who must rescue an Indian drug lord’s kidnapped son.
It is followed by the horror, sci-fi thriller Bird Box (89 million) about a mother and her two children who make a desperate attempt to reach safety after a threatening unseen presence makes most of society commit suicide.
Spenser Confidential, an action-comedy is number three on the list with 85 million views. The film which has a rating of 6.2 on IMDb, is about a former cop Spenser who teams up with his roommate to take down the murderers of two Boston police officers.
6 Underground is number four followed by Jennifer Anniston and Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery at number five. Murder Mystery is about a New York cop and his wife who go on a vacation to revive the spark in their marriage, but end up getting framed for the death of an elderly billionaire.
It is interesting to note that the top four most-watched films are action or thrillers with top movie stars including Hemsworth, Bullock, Mark Wahlberg, and Ryan Reynolds. The list also includes three comedies.
Martin Scorsese’s lavish crime epicThe Irishman starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, was the sixth most-watched film, attracting 64 million views.
All 10 of the movies were released in the last three years, most of them in the past 12 months.
Meanwhile, as coronavirus continues to paralyse the world, Netflix, in a letter to shareholders, said that while its slate of original shows for this year is on track, it is focused on safely getting production back up and running.
“As the world slowly re-opens, our main business priority is to restart our productions safely and in a manner consistent with local health and safety standards to ensure that our members can enjoy a diverse range of high-quality new content,” executives said in the letter.
“There is no one-size-fits-all approach, and we’re adapting to local circumstances. Today, we’re slowly resuming productions in many parts of the world.”
Netflix is facing increased competition from tech giants such as Apple and Amazon, along with entertainment titans including Disney, NBCUniversal, and WarnerMedia.
Sarah Khan gave her fans a shock when she announced her engagement to singer Falak Shabir Wednesday evening. A few hours later, fans were in for another surprise after videos from their mehndi began to circulate on social media.
While fans were super excited for the new couple, they couldn’t help but poke fun at Usman Mukhtar with whom Sarah is sharing the screen in Sabaat. Usman plays Dr Harris Ahmed in the serial who is Miraal’s (Sarah’s character) love interest. Fans joked that whoever Usman shares the screen with ends up getting married.
Earlier, Usman had played Altamash, Naimal Khawar’s character Izza’s love interest in the drama serial Anaa. And while the drama was still on-air, Khawar got married to Hamza Ali Abbasi.
Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) MPA Rukhsana Kausar has tabled a resolution in the provincial house of Punjab seeking a ban on beard styling and action against men with fashionable beards as well as their barbers.
According to Kausar’s resolution, beard is the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and legislation to decide strict action against those who shape beards in fashionable styles is needed.
The resolution contends that any kind of styling of the beard is a “grave sin”, and it is an “insult to the beard”. The resolution calls for strict action against those “who make fun of beard”.
“When I see youngsters on the streets and in the markets with different designs of beard in the name of fashion, I feel hurt, because that is against the teachings of Islam,” she told a private media outlet.
Federal Minister for Science & Technology Fawad Chaudhry has also reacted to the resolution in the Punjab Assembly.
یہ خاتون سپر مسلمان بننے کی دوڑ میں سب کو پیچھے چھوڑ گئی ہیں، کیسا کیسا ہیرا بیٹھا ہے ایوانوں میں ان کے ہوتے ہوئے اسلام کو کسی بیرونی سازش سے کوئ خطرہ ہی نہیں۔۔ خود ہی کافی ہیں۔۔۔ pic.twitter.com/H9ZPFMZDnN
This is not the first time that beard designing has been a priority of the ruling elite as barbers have time and again been “strictly barred” from styling customers’ beards in different shapes or clipping them into designs in areas of rural Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.
KP police in Shabqadar tehsil of Charsadda had in 2019 detained at least four barbers for styling customers’ beards during an unofficial ban imposed by a local traders’ union that had termed such beards “un-Islamic”.
