Pakistan’s celebrities are as horrified as the rest of the country over an acid attack on a doctor at Quetta’s Civil Hospital that left her in severe burns on her face, chest, legs and other parts of her body.
Dr Mahnoor Nasir has been shifted to a private hospital in Karachi for treatment and her attacker, later identified by police as Humayun Shah, an employee at the hospital, was killed in an encounter with law enforcers while attempting to flee on a bus.
News of her attack has rocked the nation, not only because of the ferocity of it, but because it is far from the first case of a woman being attacked with acid.
“A woman went to WORK today. To SAVE LIVES. And someone threw acid on her face. I can’t. I genuinely cannot,” wrote Mahira Khan in an impassioned Instagram story.
“Dr Mahnoor Nasir [was] attacked inside a hospital. INSIDE A HOSPITAL. This is barbaric. This is evil. I am shaking with rage. This woman deserved safety. Instead she was nearly burned alive by a man who thought he had the right to destroy her,” she wrote.
“It’s time for not just the women but the MEN to speak up. To be louder. To be angrier!!!”
Singer Hadiqa Kiani said what happened to Dr Mahnoor Nasir should shake us all. “It is heartbreaking, horrifying and absolutely unacceptable,” she wrote, highlighting that Dr Nasir’s is not an isolated case.
“For too long, our women have faced violence, acid attacks, harassment and even death simply for existing, working and living with dignity. This must not be treated as another tragic headline,” she wrote.
Kiani implored society to find the courage to protect women before tragedy strikes.
Actor Mariyam Nafees shared a video of herself talking about multiple acts of violence against women in Pakistan.
“If she says no to a marriage proposal, we kill her. If she’s stranded in her car with her kids, we rape her. If she’s a girl, we kidnap her, sell her and rape her. If she gets married, for some reason or the other, we burn her or kill her. If she’s a doctor, we throw acid on her in broad daylight. If she was born, we throw her in a garbage bin or drown her in a drain. But we talk about clothes because that is the biggest issue of our society — this is, I don’t even know what to say anymore.”
Actor Saheefa Jabbar Khattak shared a note on Instagram about how morally policing women helps normalise hatred and contempt.
“When people constantly speak against women’s clothing, their choices, their rights or even their mere existence, they help create an environment where misogyny thrives. The same mindset that shames women for what they wear is part of the culture that enables violence against them, where it’s acid attacks, murdering a wife for refusing sex, or brutalising a woman because she gave birth to a daughter,” she wrote.
“These horrific acts do not emerge in a vacuum. They are rooted in the same belief that women should be controlled, judged and punished for simply existing on their own terms.”
Filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy shared a screenshot of a story about the attack and said achievement, service or dignity has never protected women from violence.
“The shame belongs to the attacker and to our society that still allows this to happen.”
Actor Amna Ilyas highlighted that in the wrong hands, acid is a weapon.
“A woman should be able to go to work without fearing violence. We need accountability, justice and stricter control over substances that can be used to destroy lives,” she said.
“Another woman, incident, noise, then silence. Get well soon doc! Being an achiever woman in this society, you certainly need a guard. Rip life for a woman,” wrote host Shaista Lodhi, highlighting that the cycle of violence against women always end with the outrage soon dying down and then silence.
Actor Sana Javed called hearing news of the attack “deeply unsettling”.
“There is something extremely wrong when someone can so easily obtain acid and use it to destroy another person’s life. This is no longer just about one incident, it’s about how little has changed,” she wrote in an Instagram story.
Several celebrities shared a video of how to provide first aid in case of an acid attack, much to their regret. Hina Altaf said she her heart broke at having to share it, while Yasir Hussain said he’d seen videos of natural disasters but seeing this one shocked him.
Actor Ayesha Omar shared a lengthy note on the attack, calling it a “psychological one”.
“It’s an attack on her freedom, her professionalism, her independence, her autonomy, her education, her mind, her soul and her spirit. It reminds us of how unsafe women are, not just on the streets but at their so-called safe workplaces and even inside their own homes,” she wrote.
“She goes our to save lives and her own is ruined. By an employee of the same hospital. I’m shaken and shattered…I’m full of anger and rage.”
She called for major “mental reforms” in the country and a deep dive into how to “start shfiting the misogynistic, violent mindset prevalent in Pakistan on a grassroot level” for all tiers of society.
“It’s not about law and order only. It’s about shifting the sick, twisted mindset, otherwise we are heading towards complete collapse and destruction.”
The attack on Dr Nasir is not the first act of violence against a Pakistani woman and it won’t be the last, not when acid is easily available, when men can’t take no for an answer, and when society continues to turn the other way when it comes to protecting women.
