Ali Zafar Leak Fuels Further Scandal

Is Ali Zafar treading on thin ice? The Patari scandal is yet another negative notch on the singer’s record.

A local daily newspaper has written in detail about the most recent Ali Zafar fiasco, an incident which adds fuel to an already burning fire. Singers Faris Shafi (the brother of Meesha Shafi) and Ali Sethi issued a statement after a screenshot was leaked, which provided evidence that Ali Zafar manipulated 'Patari' -- Pakistan's famous online musical platform -- to remove a musical track by Faris and Ali from the 'top' of a New Releases list.



Earlier this year, Zafar was accused of sexual misconduct by Meesha Shafi, though the case lodged by both parties is currently pending before the relevant authorities. Commentators on social media took issue with Zafar's tracks being promoted by Patari, seeing this as more evidence of the startup enabling a culture of harassment.

Moreover, the leaked screenshot above suggests Patari was entertaining requests by Zafar that sought to undermine fellow artists.

The reaction on social media to this information has been a negative backlash against Ali Zafar --  with people criticising Ali Zafar for using his musical clout in a incorrect and suspicious manner. People have reacted with anger, shock and disappointment at the news of the leaked screenshot and the undermining of the Shafi-Sethi musical track.

All this comes at a time when Patari, the company, is also riddled with its own harassment scandal with accusation on Khalid Bajwa, Patari co-founder by several women in April of sexual misconduct. He was meant to step away from the company, but the recent resignation by six Patari employees, on protest that Bajwa was still a decision-maker in the company -- went to prove his continued involvement. Patari’s new management, however, has spoken in detail about how the Ali Zafar fiasco happened because of a lack of leadership, however, the situation has been amended and Patari says that they have taken several steps to ensure that unethical situations would not be entertained. Meanwhile, Patari also decided not host Teefa in Trouble’s music on its online platform.

Meanwhile, the two musical releases so far of Teefa in Trouble are trending with millions of views on YouTube.