Pakistan Ministers Make Fashion Model And Brand Apologise For ‘Bareheaded’ Photoshoot In Gurudwara

A fashion model and the brand of clothes she endorses, have apologised to the Sikh community in Pakistan for a photoshoot that has a gurudwara in the backdrop.

As the woman did not cover her head while getting photographed, the Sikh community’s religious sentiments were hurt.

The pictures appeared on social media on Monday and stirred a controversy.

The model wore a red kurta-and-trousers with dupatta. The shoot was done in front of Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartapur in district Narowal of Punjab province of Pakistan.

The matter picked up when Indian journalist Ravinder Singh Robin tweeted on Tuesday, “Modelling bareheaded for ladies' attire, in the premises of Gurdwara Sri Darbar Sahib at #KartarpurSahib in Pakistan, by a Lahorite woman, has several hurt the religious sentiments of Sikhs. Further the pictures were uploaded on social media.”

Robin tagged Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and a Twitter account named ‘Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony’ in his tweet.

The journalist’s tweet was met with a response by official Twitter account of Punjab police in Pakistan, which said the model was being investigated.

“Punjab Police are investigating all aspects related to this incident and strict legal action will be taken against responsible. Management of concerned brand & model are being investigated. Worship places of all religions are equally respectable,” the tweet said.

Federal information minister Fawad Chaudhry also responded to Robin’s tweet, saying “The Designer and the model must apologise to Sikh Community #KartarPurSahib is a religious symbol and not a Film set.”

However, users trolled Chaudhry for posing ‘bareheaded’ in a gurudwara himself and posted pictures of it.

Readers may be reminded that Fawad Chaudhry is often in news in India for his foot-in-the-mouth statements. In October, he left many amused when he said at a press conference that “Imran Khan is so popular among the general public in India that if he does a rally in Delhi, it would be bigger compared to what PM Modi does (translated).

In July, he said the coronavirus had spread in Pakistan because of Narendra Modi government.

Last year, Chaudhry admitted to Pakistan’s hand in Pulwama attacks in the National Assembly, where he boasted that Pakistan gave a befitting reply to India by entering their territory and attacking them.

”Hamne Hindustan ko ghus ke maara,” he said, and added that the ”success” in Pulwama was success of the people under the leadership of Imran Khan. His statement stirred a massive controversy before he “retracted“ it. The platform to retract his statement was provided to Chaudhry by Indian journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

On Wednesday, Pakistan daily The Dawn reported that the tweet by Robin “put the PTI government on its toes”. Several ministers including Punjab’s chief minister criticised the model and the photoshoot and “ordered action against the staff”, the report said.

The newspaper said that the clothing brand, Mannat, apologised for the incident stating, “We accept our mistake that we should not have posted this content.”

The model, Sauleha Imtiaz, wrote on her Instagram account that she had gone to Kartapur to learn about its history and about the Sikh community. “Recently I posted a picture on Instagram that was not even a part of a shoot or anything,” she said, but proceeded to apologise for the hurt sentiments.