In a shocking turn of events, a female journalist has accused Abdul Sattar Edhi’s son, Faisal Edhi of alleged harassment.
A former employee at The News, Urooj Zia took to Twitter and revealed that she was harassed by Faisal Edhi when she was 22-23 years old.
Famous TV Anchor Exposes Leading Comedian of Being an Alleged Harasser!
Read her complete story here!
*takes a deep breathe*
Since this is all coming out, #MeToo too many times than I can count, but this one is about Faisal Edhi, Abdus Sattar Edhi's son – the guy heading the Edhi Foundation now.
It happened when I was very young (22 or 23 years old, I think.)
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
I was the only woman in the Party's "Karachi Committee." Funds were always short in the Party. We were told that Faisal Edhi was a Leftie, and he wanted to support us. I was asked to go meet him; I agreed, since I worked close to their Tower center (I was a reporter at The News,
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
office on Chundrigar Road, about 5 minutes drive from the Edhi Center at Merrewether Tower.) Work started at about 7 p.m, because I was also a subeditor on the City desk. So I went to the Edhi Center at around 6 p.m to meet with Faisal Edhi on behalf of the Party.
Faisal was
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
civil during the meeting, we discussed how we could work together, etc, I was professional, he was too. When I was leaving, he asked me how I was going to get to work. I said that I'd probably take a taxi or a rickshaw, or I'd walk, it would take only about 15 mins.
He offered
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
to drop me off. I said, sure. Here was a guy who was much older than me, had behaved well, I didn't see a reason to refuse. He also asked for my number "for further discussion," and I gave it to him.
He rolled out his Suzuki dabba, I sat up front. We got to the office building,
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
I thanked him, and started to get off. He held out his hand. I shook it politely, at which point, he grabbed my hand tightly and tried to kind of pull me back into the van. I was already halfway out, and didn't realise what he was doing. When he pulled even harder, I suddenly
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
"came to," sort of, angrily took my arm back, and walked off. Sitting in the safety of my workplace (The News always felt like home), I gaslighted myself, told myself that maybe what I thought had happened hadn't happened, and maybe I was "misreading" the whole thing. Maybe I
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
was overreacting, maybe he was making sure that I got out safely. After all, he was Faisal Edhi, how could I even think that he would misbehave in this manner.
So I put the whole thing away, mentally berating myself for thinking such horrible things about "such a selfless,
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
noble person."
But that nightmare had just begun. Two days later, Faisal Edhi started messaging me in the middle of the night – about 2-3 a.m. Random messages, about completely random things. I used to get home from work around that time, super-tired, dealing with the
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
additional nightmare that "home life" was for me, desperate for some peace and "down time." I wouldn't reply to his messages. I also used to be broke AF (print journos get paid shit here; I'd get Rs30k per month), and didn't want to waste phone credit responding to random crap.
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
I still didn't realise that he was being inappropriate, by the way, because I had been conditioned into thinking that way.
A few days later, Faisal called me about 4 p.m, asking if I was angry at him. I was getting ready to leave for work at the time, also dealing with what I
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
phone credit to me; I thanked him and politely refused. He said, "But friends do these things for friends, it is no big deal. Aren't we friends?" I said that I was busy and didn't have time to talk, and politely disconnected the call – again: not because I thought he was being
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
inappropriate, but because I legit had to leave for work. My radar was very broken back then, thanks to my predator parents' conditioning.
That night, he called at 3 a.m. I didn't answer, because I was tired AF after a whole day of work stress and home stress.
He called again
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
the next day, about 4 p.m, and asked to meet. I told him the truth: I was very busy that week. He said that he was leaving for London that night, and "if we don't meet today, we won't be able to meet for a while, and Party work would be delayed." I said that Party work could wait
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
because I was legit busy with work that day, and politely disconnected the call.
Two nights later, he called at 2:30 a.m. I didn't answer. He texted that it was urgent and about the Party. Then he called again, and I answered. He said that he was in London, and was calling me
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
"all the way from there because you're a special girl, Urooj." AAAAAAAAALL my internal radars woke up in that moment. "WHAT did you just say?!" I asked incredulously. He repeated himself. I was aghast, terrified, numb, all of those cliches. He went on and on for a few minutes
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
in that same vein. I was gobsmacked, and not in a good way. He said that Party funding and assistance would be withdrawn if I didn't want to be "friends" with him. I hung up, retched violently, and went to the restroom and threw up.
This was a married man. With kids. Much
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
terrorise me by bombarding my phone with messages and calls until I got a new number for myself (an inconvenience and a half, because I had to call all my sources and contacts and update them with the new number.)
For years and years, I blamed myself for "maybe doing something
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
which had led to this." This garbage conditioning runs deep. Until the day I realised that *I* had done nothing wrong; *he* had. Still, I kept it to myself because of who he was. "Who would believe me," I thought. Folks will pile on me because he is "Edhi saheb's son."
No more.
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
which had led to this." This garbage conditioning runs deep. Until the day I realised that *I* had done nothing wrong; *he* had. Still, I kept it to myself because of who he was. "Who would believe me," I thought. Folks will pile on me because he is "Edhi saheb's son."
No more.
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
If there's backlash, there's backlash, so be it. I'm not afraid of predators and their enablers anymore. Fuck Faisal Edhi and predators like him. May they rot forever.
/END
— Urooj Zia (@Sewrigami) October 10, 2018
According to Urooj, Faisal Edhi forcefully tried to pull her back inside a van they were traveling in during a course of work.
What’s more, she blamed him for calling her non-stop after the incident and calling her a ‘special girl’
Faisal Edhi has responded to the matter and has given a statement to Pakistan Today:
“I do not even know this lady and I have no idea why she is leveling allegations against me.
I have no recollection of any such incident, I might have refused to give funds to someone and they might be trying to defame me in retaliation”
Board of Secondary Education’s Examiner Allegedly Exposed in Viral Video
With the powerful #Metoo movement taking the world by storm, various renowned personalities are being exposed as women coming forward and sharing their stories of abuse.
This week, famous TV anchor Rabia Anum hinted towards a leading comedian and social media celebrity of being a harasser. Spoke on behalf of several young girls who have accused the comedian of harassing them and then pressuring them to stay quiet.
People are now suspecting that she is talking about Junaid Akram, who is a leading standup comedian and has got a huge fan following on social media.
Earlier in a massive controversy, Pepsi Battle of the Bands judge Meesha Shafi also accused the singing sensation, Ali Zafar of sexual harassment.
Stay tuned to Brandsynario for more updates’
