Entertainment journalist, Mahwish Ajaz, has previously been quite the advocate to speak up for the powerful '#metoo' movement which has over recent years come up in the industry.When Meesha Shafi tweeted claims 2 years ago against Ali Zafar's alleged harassment, the country was taken by storm.
Over recent months it has been exposed that the evidence Meesha possessed waned as more and more information started to come out gradually. With her own manager claiming he saw no harassment, the plot thickened! The case went on till it got proven that Ali Zafar was cleared of all charges after 2 years of dealing with the controversy.
Mahwash Ajaz, a reputed journalist, was one of the people who spoke out against Zafar during the time of the controversy. Most recently, after learning about new developments and sufficient evidence, she took to twitter to rectify previous aggravations expressed before a verdict was issued.
In the lengthy thread, Mahwash alludes to her previous statements and posts facts and statements with precise detail and apt in description, backing up the knowledge being shared. The tweets consist of an apology to Ali Zafar, 'This is why I think (Ali Zafar) has been targeted maliciously, criminally and in a disgusting, defamatory way.'
Using information that is public knowledge, she went on to provide evidence for her statements attesting to Zafar's innocence in the matter.
"I was made to think I was speaking up for victims. I was, unwittingly, part of a disgusting criminal campaign against Ali Zafar."
Celebrities such as Ushna Shah and Armeena Khan have come out and defended Mahwash, and offered her their love and support after she disclosed being viciously targeted and bullied for rectifying and standing up for false allegations. The journalist has been at the tail end of a spew of hatred from friends and other members alike. She also claimed that whoever has stood up for the situation was not aware of the entire narrative. Links, articles, videos and other attachments validate and credit her statements on the matter at hand.
Many have come out and supported Mahwish Ajaz for her authenticity and bravery at retracting her previous statements. Twitter users also agree with the writer's calling out of prominent newspapers which wrote the story on Ali Zafar when the Meesha controversy was rife; questioning why was the news of Mahwish's apology and clearing of Zafar's name not in the top headlines then. Ajaz also publicly called out Hamna Raza, the ex editor of Dawn News, in her thread for the same reason.
In February, Mahwish had issued an apology after Ali Zafar's name was cleared and the evidence of his innocence began pouring in over the months to come. It was further revealed that a planned scheme took place to slander Ali Zafar before the release of his film, 'Teefa in Trouble', with fake social media accounts and witnesses hoping to tarnish the artist's name. A situation that has of late been compared to Amber Heard being exposed for her false allegations against Johnny Depp. Mahwish mentions this controversy in her thread as well as she took to social media to express her respect towards Ali Zafar and his wife, Ayesha Fazli, for having to endure this tumultuous situation for 2 years.
Mahwish has been a victim of ruthless cyber-bullying and social media trolling after coming out and compiling information for people to decide for themselves. Despite the huge reaction on social media, the crux of the matter remains, why was this not news?
Only after reading the pinned thread on Mahwash Ajaz's account, the twitterverse can decide the truth for themselves without attacking the journalist for her own beliefs.
