‘I felt silenced’: Meesha Shafi and Pakistan’s backlash against #MeToo | Women

When I spoke to singer and actor Meesha Shafi in July this year, it had been six years since our first meeting. Then, Meesha had been in Karachi for a taping of Pepsi’s Battle of the Bands, where she performed and was one of the judges, and we met once she had wrapped up filming. A few months earlier, Meesha made headlines when she alleged that one of the music industry’s biggest stars, Ali Zafar, had sexually harassed her — allegations that he has always denied. She faced considerable…