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“The people criticizing Qandeel were the same people watching her videos”

By Instep Desk
Wed, 07, 16

Two time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was recently in London showcasing two of her celebrated documentaries, Song of Lahore and The Girl in the River, at the London Indian Film Festival.

In an interview with BBC Urdu, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy speaks about honor killings,

society’s double standards and Qandeel Baloch.

Two time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy was recently in London showcasing two of her celebrated documentaries, Song of Lahore and The Girl in the River, at the London Indian Film Festival. And while it was Song of Lahore, a heartwarming depiction of Sacchal Studios’ journey across the world, that won the Audience Choice Award at what is dubbed as Europe’s largest South Asian film festival, it is Sharmeen’s grueling take on honor killing survivor Saba Qaiser’s life that has become even more relatable with the recent turn of events.

The country recently lost its social media starlet Qandeel Baloch to honor killing and while her way of life did not have many admirers and attracted more criticism than appreciation, her death paved way for renewed activism among the younger population – she did not deserve to be murdered for living her life the way she wanted to. In a recent interview with BBC Urdu, the filmmaker pointed out our society’s double standards in regards to Qandeel’s untimely death.

“People who criticized Qandeel were the same people who watched her videos and enjoyed them. They didn’t seem to have any issues then. But the minute she stepped out and made that video with the Maulana is when everyone started criticizing her over her morality. Our society has double standards and is brimming with hypocrisy,” Obaid-Chinoy said. “If a son steps out and does something out of the norm, people say it’s ok; he is a son, but if a daughter does the same, it instantly becomes a matter of honour. Being born a girl is in itself a mistake in our society. And if that mindset doesn’t change, nothing will.”

The filmmaker also stressed on how it’s important to punish those who abuse women. “It’s not considered a big deal in our society to abuse women or even murder them. We need to create awareness and punish those men who do so. Until and unless these men don’t go to jail for a good 25 to 30 years, and a good 100 or so of them don’t, they will not understand the severity of the crime,” she emphasized. “We must also appreciate the efforts of our government. Given our societal structure, it’s not easy to take such steps, but the way the Punjab Protection Bill has been formed and how the state has intervened in Qandeel’s case must be lauded.”

While speaking on her Oscar-winning documentary, A Girl in the River, Obaid-Chinoy revealed that the team deliberately lent a filmic quality to the documentary for at the time of shooting, they did not know what the outcome of the case will be. “When we put the camera on Saba’s life, we didn’t know if she would pursue the case against her family and what the result of that case will be and that’s how we want it to remain. We edited it in a way so that the audience also remains engaged in finding out. It was a real depiction of events,” she added.