Veena Malik is in Dubai trying to relax and stay out of trouble after coming into a world of trouble since posing nude for FHM India with ‘ISI’ stenciled on her arm. Her own father publicly disowned the actress! In fact the harried Malik has now actually apologized and said it was a ‘mistake’ to shed her clothes for the camera. Not only were Muslim people shocked and enraged to see a Muslim woman in a state of undress, but Malik pushed the boundaries even further by wearing the ‘ISI’ tattoo. Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence, ‘ISI,‘ is considered a quasi-terrorist organization responsible for attacks in India and elsewhere – including the 2008 Mumbai Massacre.
As if Malik’s situation was not difficult enough, it worsened considerably two weeks back with the issuance of a fatwa excommunicating the actress. The All India Muslim Festival (Tyohar) Committee in Bhopal issued a fatwa excommunicating Malik for “objectionable” photos and for showing disrespect for the sacred institution of marriage (nikah) by signing a contract to choose a groom herself on a reality TV show.
Speaking to Gulf News Malik reiterated that she has all along denied that she was entirely nude and has said that the magazine morphed her photos.
“It’s like they cheated on me — big time,” she said. “I have already faced so much in my life they shouldn’t have done this to me. But if I had known their mentality, I would not have done the photo shoot with that magazine.”
“When I looked at my photographs, I was shocked too. The first thing I asked my manager when I saw the published photos was: ‘Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? But this is not the picture that I shot for. Yes, of course, both the images were morphed. My upper portion was covered with tattoos. I think if I could rewind this time, I would like to delete. I feel cheated,” Malik added.
“But we all make mistakes, I have made a mistake, learned from it and want to move on,”Malik said. “It has been tragic and traumatic, really sad. It has been very difficult,” she added.
Is Malik really apologizing? We think not. As we reported last week when Rakhi Sawant compared Malik to Saddam Hussein, Colonel Gaddafi, and Osama Bin Laden – Malik has said that attitudes in Pakistan were from the ‘Stone Age’, adding: “The things I have done in life, I have the guts to stand by. This is my body; this is my life.”
Veena Malik seems to do what she wants and to not allow anyone, or any religious body, to impose their limits upon her – it would be encouraging to see her get some support from the West, especially from feminist organizations.
