Hello everyone! Today I wanted to tell you about Pakistani social media star Qandeel Baloch. She has been spoken of on this website before, and I knew the basics of her case- but with her being spoken about on this website, I wanted to look into her case deeper.
Firstly, Who Was She?
As I said before she was a Pakistani social media star. She was often referred to as the "Kim Kardashian" of Pakistan.
She often posted provocative pictures on social media. She'd also post videos of herself singing and twerking- which a number of people in Pakistan deemed 'controversial'. She gained hundreds and thousands of followers on social media.
In 2015 she was one of the top ten most googled people in Pakistan.
Her Murder:
Qandeel Baloch was murdered on 26th July 2016 by her own brother. He drugged her and strangled her because he disapproved of her photos on social media- he said he killed her for "honour" so the murder of Qandeel Baloch was an honour killing.
Many famous people worldwide condemned her honour killing, even today's Pakistani PM Imran Khan.
What Happened To Her Killer?
In September 2019, justice was served for Qandeel in Pakistan, and her killer was arrested and sentenced to life in prison.
My Opinion On The Matter:
I'm a young British Pakistani girl. Firstly let's talk about Qandeel herself. In my eyes, she was fearless. Living in a country like Pakistan where it isn't a social norm for women to be provocative- and being provoctive, on social media what the whole world can see, that is pretty brave if you ask me.
She faced death threats and was trolled online because of her content and I do not condone this in the slightest- and I completely disagree with anybody who trolled her because of her content. You don't like somebody's content? Don't bully them and threaten them with death! Look at something you do like.
What do I think about Qandeel's content? It's not for me. And it is not something I would look at myself, or follow, or like on social media. I personally do agree with the type of content Qandeel posted, and the content itself was not something I would admire.
But I do not believe she deserved to die because of it. Like I said previously she was often called 'The Kim Kardashian of Pakistan' and Kim Kardashian is not someone I would look up to, or admire- I am not a Kim Kardashian fan at all, and I don't believe she is a good role model.
But Kim Kardashian doesn't deserve to die. Neither did Qandeel Baloch. If Qandeel was still alive today, and posting her content on social media- do you want to know what I would write on her posts? Nothing- because that's not the kind of content I look at, just like I don't write anything on Kim Kardashian's posts because I don't look at her content either.
My point is I dislike those kinds of posts, so I don't look at them in the first place, and if I did happen to come across them, while I may disagree with them because I prefer modesty, I'm not going to shame other women who like to be provocative because:
A) I wouldn't like it if somebody shamed me because I prefered modesty
B) That's what she's doing. That's what makes her feel empowered. It's her body, so it's her choice. Just like I choose to dress modestly, she chooses to dress provocatively.
C) It wouldn't be very modest of me to shame someone for the way they dress. She hasn't hurt anyone- so I don't have a problem with her dressing how she wants.
And I completely condemn Qandeel being killed in the name of 'honour'. I believe that Allah (God) gave us life, so who are we to take it? Yes, Qandeel's immodest ways may have been not permitted in Islam because in Islam both women and men have to be modest in all ways- and that includes in the way we dress, so in Islam she would have been sinning. But who are any of us to judge someone for sinning when we've all sinned? Only Allah (God) can judge anybody. Not us.
And before you ask- do I believe Qandeel went to heaven or hell? I don't know. I can't make that judgement because I am not Allah, only Allah can make that judgement.
I am glad her brother got arrested. Especially for life. Justice has been served in Pakistan. And in Pakistan I am glad a number of people are mourning her death- both men and women. They know her murder was unjust or they wouldn't be mourning her.
Hopefully, her killer will be made an example of to show honour killings are not okay. And I am aware in terms of women's rights Pakistan has a long way to go- but I am sure one day it will get there.
Even in Western countries we are still figuring it out when it comes to 'womens rights' sure, it's much better for women over here- but we still have issues concerning the matter.
The way I see it is, countries such as the USA and the UK improved their womens' rights vastly- it took time, but they did so.
So with Pakistan, women's rights will not improve overnight, but it's getting better slowly. In the July 2018 election, 3.8 million more women signed up to vote- so they're making progress.
Hopefully one day the world will have sussed out gender equality eventually! <3
Thank you for reading :) <3
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