LAHORE: The public proposal of Lahore University students had ripple effect on netizens of Pakistan as hoards of lambasted young students for ‘pre-marital love’.
The viral clip remained the talk of the town in which a young woman can be seen proposing to her lover, who [the boy] later accepted the gesture and hugged her.
Amid the severe criticism on social and mainstream media, several Pakistani showbiz personalities and politicians expressed displeasure over the expulsion of the young students.
The stars and statesmen voiced for varsity students as according to them the rustication is extreme punishment while harassment complaints were rarely taken notice of.
Ruling party leader and Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry, known for being outspoken, opposed the idea. Taking it to Twitter he wrote ‘every woman has the right to marry of her own will. Marriage by choice is one of the basic rights Islam gives to women.
مرضی سے شادی ہر لڑکی کا بنیادی حق ہے، اسلام عورتوں کو جو حقوق دیتا ہے مرضی کی شادی ان حقوق میں مرکزی حیثئیت رکھتی ہے یونیورسٹی انتظامیہ اپنے فیصلے پر نظرثانی کرے، لڑکیوں کو پراپرٹی سمجھنا اسلام کے خلاف ہے
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) March 15, 2021
Pakistan People’s Party leader Sharmila Faruqi also came forward for the young lovers. She took to the microblogging site and shared a post that stated Powerful! Expressive! Full of hope & love! More power to the youth!
Powerful! Expressive! Full of hope & love! More power to the youth! https://t.co/5X2HjkY6hQ
— Sharmila Sahibah faruqui S.I (@sharmilafaruqi) March 14, 2021
Singer and philanthropist Shahzad Roy captioned the post ‘Larki ko sar-e-aam dantnay marnay par koee mutawaja nahi hota, par pyaar say galay langana buhat bada jurm hai’.
Larki ko sar-e-aam dantnay marnay par koee mutawaja nahi hota, par pyaar say galay langana buhat bada jurm hai. pic.twitter.com/GduBytbNnO
— Shehzad Roy (@ShehzadRoy) March 13, 2021
Social activist and politician Jibran Nasir also opposed the extreme step. ‘A country where pedophiles are defended and protected in the name of child marriage and converting religion of little girls we are uncomfortable with two consenting adults expressing love for each other. We reduce our so called morals to a joke everyday’, he wrote in the angered post.
A country where pedophiles are defended and protected in the name of child marriage and converting religion of little girls we are uncomfortable with two consenting adults expressing love for each other. We reduce our so called morals to a joke everyday. #UniversityOfLahore
— M. Jibran Nasir 🇵🇸 (@MJibranNasir) March 12, 2021
Newlywed Bakhtawar Bhutto Zardari seems triggered with the idea of rustication as she termed the event as ridiculous.
Ridiculous. https://t.co/DxVGXVpdqq
— Bakhtawar B-Zardari (@BakhtawarBZ) March 13, 2021
Wife of cricket legend Shenira Akram also took to social site and wrote ‘Apply all the rules you want but you can’t expel love! It’s in our hearts, it’s the best part about being young and it what makes life worth living! You learn more about love than you can ever learn at an institution.’
Apply all the rules you want but you can’t expel love! It’s in our hearts, it’s the best part about being young and it what makes life worth living! You learn more about love than you can ever learn at an institution ❤️
— Shaniera Akram (@iamShaniera) March 13, 2021
