Pakistani court issues arrest warrant for ‘Hindi Medium’ star Saba Qamar

A local court in Pakistan on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against “Hindi Medium” star Saba Qamar in a case registered against her and others for shooting a “dance video” at a historic mosque in Lahore. Lahore’s magistrate court issued bailable warrants for Qamar and singer Bilal Saeed to avoid continuing court hearings. The court adjourned the hearing till October 6.

The Lahore Police last year registered a case against Qamar and Saeed under section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code for the alleged ‘desecration’ of the mosque Wazir Khan in the old city of Lahore. According to the FIR, both the artists had trampled on the sanctity of the mosque by making a dance video and this act also caused outrage among the people of Pakistan.

The Punjab government had also sacked two senior officials for violating the sanctity of the mosque. After severe criticism and even death threats on social media, Qamar and Saeed had apologized for their act.

He said, “It was a music video which had a nikah (wedding) scene. It was neither shot with any kind of background music nor was it edited into a music track.”

Qamar whose work in Bollywood films was appreciated, also did the biopic of social media sensation Qandeel Baloch. She received death threats on social media for her “un-Islamic” action. She was warned on social media that she might face the fate of Qandeel Baloch, who was killed in 2016 by her brother for ‘insulting family honour’.

Various religious parties, including the Jamaat-e-Islami, also staged demonstrations in the city demanding “severe punishment” for the artist couple for committing a sin.