She has been vehemently criticized by the orthodox community for vulgarity on the show and Mufti Abdul Kawi went on to snub her as “baigharat” (immoral) on a talk show on television. “You tell me is you conscience clear that you didn”t bring a bad name to Pakistan and Islam and that you behaved inappropriate to our religious and cultural values,” Maulana Qavi asked her on the show.
However, not the one to take down criticisms so easily, Veena Malik took the mullahs to task and even said that if she were in the wrong, so was Abdul Kawi because Islam doesn’t permit a man to cast a second look at a woman who isn’t his relative.
“One can be punished for looking at a woman a second time, you should be punished,” Malik told the Mufti on Express News’ Frontline show.
Malik defines her experience in the show as a “beautiful, terrible, exciting, emotional, sad” journey and said, “I belong to the entertainment industry and I went with my agenda. I wanted to show the world that there are other types of Pakistanis too, not just those who are in the news for terror acts.”
She defended her behavior and clothes saying, “It isn’t a religious show either. The format of the show is to get people from various walks of life under one roof… I was contacted for my bravery. I wasn’t even representing office-going women of Pakistan. I was a Pakistani from the entertainment industry. I wore only clothes that I have worn in Pakistan before. I was representing myself… and I am like this only.”
Malik said the Pakistani media had been unfair to her by not highlighting the positives such as when she was complimented by Salman Khan and not coming to her rescue when she was abused on Bigg Boss. However, Veena received widespread support from Pakistani liberals and civil society activists on social networking websites like Twitter and others.
