The physician who attended to the sister of Oscar and Emmy award-winning Sharmeen Obaid has been fired from his job for “disregarding his ethical values and showing unprofessional behavior.”
Mahjabeen Obaid, the sister of Sharmeen Obaid, visited the Agha Khan University Hospital (AKUH) for treatment. The doctor who attended to her later used her personal information to send a friend request on Facebook.
Sharmeen took the issue to social media and labeled the incident as “harassment.”
Days after Sharmeen raised her voice against the medical practitioner and the breach of ethical values, he was kicked out of the hospital. However, what Sharmeen did not anticipate was the backlash she would face.
Although people initially backed her for raising the voice regarding the matter but thought that getting someone fired over a “mere friend request” was absurd.
Some people claimed that Sharmeen used the word harassment without actually “educating herself” as to what the word truly meant.
In essence, everyone agreed that the actions of the physician showed extreme lack of professionalism but also called Sharmeen out for “blowing things out of proportion.”
Here’s the response from a coworker of the doctor.
The situation escalated quickly and some prominent names of the industry also questioned Sharmeen and her tactics:
Sharmeen is a renowned documentary-maker. One of her documentaries was about how the powerful got away with throwing acid on women in Pakistan.
So it’s ironic now. One of her documentaries were based on how the influential got away with abuse of power. Many people are drawing parallels based on this observation as well.
No doubt that harassment is a serious issue and that it indeed exists in our society. But the fact of the matter is that every time someone cries harassment without pausing to think of the severity of the allegation and the effect it has on people, the conversation shifts from the act itself to less fruitful waters and that is not good for anyone.
What do you think of this episode? Is Sharmeen correct in labeling her sister’s case as harassment? Or did she overreact? Do let us know in the comments below.