- Veena Malik, 28, distraught after being sentenced over wedding on Pakistan TV breakfast show where a religious recital was performed
- Veena feared she'd lose her baby boy Abram when controversy erupted
- The actress, who caused a storm with a topless FHM cover, said women in Pakistan are now empowered and she had had support in Pakistan
- Veena, who lives in Dubai, hopes to appeal the sentence soon
The
devastated Bollywood actress sentenced to 26 years in prison for
blasphemy in Pakistan has said she has been left reeling by 'the
treatment from my own people'.
Pakistani
movie star Veena Malik, 28, said she was left shocked and speechless
after hearing the verdict and feared she might have a miscarriage when
the controversy first erupted.
Ms
Malik and her businessman husband Asad Bashir Khattak, 30, who have a
two-month-old son called Abram, were given lengthy prison terms for
taking part in a mock televised wedding celebrating their recent
nuptials.
Shocked and angry: Veena and her
husband Asad Bashir Khattak were given long prison terms. The stress
from the ordeal made Veena fear she would lose baby Abram, now
two-months-old
Fears: Veena said: 'I was four months
pregnant when this entire controversy happened. I decided to leave the
country because of my baby, not because of myself, as I did want to have
a miscarriage'
They
were accused of acting blasphemously while a religious recital, or
munqabat, was performed by musicians as part of the breakfast TV skit.
In
an exclusive interview with MailOnline, she said: 'As a person who has
served humanity for 14 years, this is not the treatment I was expecting
from my own people. It is very shocking.
'I
am still in disbelief that Muslim woman, a daughter, a mother, a sister
and a wife can be treated like that. Being Muslim, I know what
blasphemy is.'
'I
was four months pregnant when this entire controversy happened. I
decided to leave the country because of my baby, not because of myself,
as I did want to have a miscarriage.'
But she said she and her husband planned to fight to clear their names and believed justice would be done.
And Ms Malik added she was among a number of strong female role models in Pakistan who were winning praise for taking a stance.
She
said: 'I believe women are empowered in Pakistan. You see a lot of
women in media and in politics. Malala [Yousafzai] is an example.
'I
have always been a strong personality and get a lot of support from
Pakistan. What I see in my country in the future is strong women getting
a lot of support and being applauded by my people.
'I
do not think they should be taken as a threat. It is an asset and a
beautiful thing. I am sure there are people who appreciate strong women
in Pakistan and I see a lot of women emerging in different fields.'
'Blasphemy': Veena during the staged
wedding with Asad on the morning show. Veena said that she was still in
disbelief at the judgement and denied that they were laughing and joking
during the devotional son
Controversy: Mrs Malik's husband, Asad
Bashir Khan, and the chief of the country's biggest media group, Mir
Shakil-ur-Rahman, were also handed 26-year jail terms for their role in
the mock wedding in May (above)
Real thing: The couple married in
Dubai on Christmas Day last year, then followed their nuptials with a
second white wedding on a boat in Washington DC in February
Soured: They planned to have a third
celebration near Quetta, Pakistan, where Mr Khattak's family live, after
the TV show but were forced to abandon their plans and leave the
country
The
scandal erupted in May when Islamabad-born Ms Malik, who was then four
months pregnant, appeared with her husband in a short sketch for Geo
TV.
On
the programme Utho Jago Pakistan [Get Up, Wake Up Pakistan] the pair
dressed in wedding garb and sat like newlyweds while wedding songs, or
qawwalis, were performed.
The
controversy surrounds a few seconds when the pair are seen laughing and
joking together, apparently when a munqabat, or religious verse, about
the Prophet Muhammad's daughter is being performed.
Ms
Malik's accusers filed 150 first information reports [FIRs] - court
documents complaining about criminal offences - against her at police
stations around the country.
I
am still in disbelief that Muslim woman, a daughter, a mother, a sister
and a wife can be treated like that. Being Muslim, I know what
blasphemy is
- Veena Malik
But
the actress, who made her name in Bollywood, insisted she did nothing
wrong. 'While on the show, I was sitting in a very respectful manner,'
she said at her home in Dubai.
'Some
publications were writing that we danced to the qawwali but that is not
true. If you see the footage, while they played the munqabat my husband
and I were sitting in a very respectful manner and did not say a single
word which was disrespectful or blasphemous.
'No
such thing happened. It was a live show and the control of what is
shown on any particular song is in the hands of the cameraman.
'The
very next day, the controversy came up and my husband and I were
completely shocked because we represented ourselves in a very respectful
manner.
'I
thought it was just something that would die down. By the time I left,
FIRs were registering in each and every corner of the world.'
The
couple married in Dubai on Christmas Day last year, then followed their
nuptials with a second white wedding on a boat in Washington DC in
February this year.
Controversy: Veena is no stranger to
controversy. She caused a firestorm three years ago with a series of
raunchy poses for the cover of FHM India
Empowered: Veena said women should not
be taken as a 'threat', adding: 'It is an asset and a beautiful thing. I
am sure there are people who appreciate strong women in Pakistan'
Freedom:
Veena told MailOnline that before this ordeal she 'thought it was my
basic right to live my life the way I want to live' but now she is
'shocked and saddened'
They
planned to have a third celebration near Quetta, Pakistan, where Mr
Khattak's family live, after the TV show but were forced to abandon
their plans and leave the country.
They returned to their apartment in Dubai Marina and Ms Malik later flew to the US to have a caesarean birth.
Whatever I have done, I have done with dignity. I know I have been brutally criticised but I have faced everything gracefully
The
couple were convicted on Tuesday by an anti-terrorism court in Gilgit.
Judges said in a court order they had 'ignited the sentiments of all the
Muslims of the country and hurt the feelings, which cannot be taken
lightly.'
The
pair had hoped to return to Pakistan, where their parents still live,
but fear being jailed if they do not clear their names first. Their
lawyers are mounting an appeal in Gilgit and have managed to quash FIRs
in a number of states.
Ms
Malik said: 'I thought it was my basic right to live my life the way I
want to live but after this whole thing has come up, I am shocked and
saddened.'
Ms
Malik thinks she is being used as a pawn in a media war being waged in
Pakistan. Geo TV has frequently come in the firing line and a month
after her appearance, Geo News was ordered off air and fined £60,000 for
criticising the head of Pakistan's spy service, the ISI.
Ms
Malik said: 'I will fight. There are higher courts and I strongly
believe everything will be rolled back because there is no substance in
this. I still feel Pakistan is my country.'
Fight: Veena said that she believes
Pakistan courts will roll back the sentence because there is 'no
substance'to the case. She added she believed the whole episode has been
politically motivated
Disbelief: Veena concluded that 'as a
Muslim woman, a daughter, a mother, a sister and a wife can be treated
like that. Being Muslim, I know what blasphemy is'
She
added she had no regrets about the decisions she had made in her
career, including causing a storm by appearing on a raunchy cover of FHM
India three years ago.
'At
the particular given time, I made the best decisions in my life and I
don't regret a thing,' she said. 'Whatever I have done, I have done with
dignity. I know I have been brutally criticised but I have faced
everything gracefully.'
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