Girl mocked on TV for her drawing has multiple scholarships coming her way
Social media highlighted her case after TV show host Mustafa ridiculed her sketch of him
Mocked for her drawing on television, a Pakistani girl now has multiple scholarships coming her way, thanks to social media taking up cudgels on her behalf.
The girl, who was later identified only with her first name — Farheen, showed her sketch of prominent actor and television personality Fahad Mustafa, on his show, Jeeto Pakistan. Upon receiving it from her, he asked her if he “looked that bad” and went on to tell the child to quit drawing.
However, social media took up her case and her story went viral.
It all started with a US-based student, Anum Kausar, who took to Facebook Wednesday to share the humiliation of the child.
Kausar’s post read: “This girl drew a sketch of Fahad Mustafa and personally, I thought the doodle was super cute, but not him, NO. Not only did he make fun of it again and again but he also had the audacity to ask the child not to draw again. That’s crushing someone’s dreams, passion and art right there! How could one artist do that to another is beyond me and that too, on national television.”
Kausar went on to add: “There’s a reason why Pakistan has less artists — because hum unko bannay sey pehlay hi khatam kar detay hain (we end their dreams before they get to become something).”
Serious issue
The student also highlighted a serious issue — children’s mental health. She wrote: “We can all talk about suicide and depression and bullying, but then celebrities like Fahad come on live TV and think it’s alright to insult people and young children, well it’s NOT!”
Her post included a message to the girl: “To the girl who likes to draw, keep on doing that. You’re amazing. Never let … Fahad tell you to stop drawing or to stop following your dreams and passions. I hope this reaches you.”
Soon after, people began to share Kausar’s post on social media, which garnered over 2,000 shares in a day. Users helped locate the girl and identify her.
A women-run news platform, Soul Sisters Pakistan, reportedly took the lead in identifying the young girl. In a Facebook post. They wrote: “… with the power of all-women social media groups, we managed to search out the identity of this young woman! It was so exciting to speak to her mother and let her know we were all rooting for her!”
Mustafa’s behaviour flayed
People widely agreed with Kausar’s sentiments and condemned Mustafa’s behaviour.
Twitter user @aurwaa1 wrote: “The girl bullied by Fahad Mustafa who gave his … statement ‘never to draw again’ has received a scholarship within six hours of the incident, I’m so happy how social media empowers us by bringing positivity, your time’s up ...”
Tweep @dedshanzz wrote: “Fahad Mustafa does not deserve to have such a big platform!”
Another user, Asim Ameer Khan @itsasimameer, highlighted the serious effect such treatment can have on children: “The saddest part is some people think it’s not an issue at all. They don’t realise what impact it can have on a kid.”
So far, Mustafa has not responded to the controversy on his social media channels.
However some netizens came to his defence. Tweep @Ahsan_ Shahzad10 wrote: “I saw that video of Fahad Mustafa show, which people are talking about, that made fun of a little girl’s sketching. He didn’t made fun of that kid, that little girl was actually very happy …”
Scholarships galore
Kausar’s Facebook post ended up getting so much attention, that Lahore University of Management Sciences and Comic Con Pakistan have apparently offered her a scholarship. And the Institute of Business Administration in Pakistan is said to have offered the girl a scholarship in a course of her choice.