Karachi: Top Pakistani actress Ushna Shah who recently married golf player Hamza Amin was trolled for wearing a red bridal lehenga for the wedding. After her wedding photographs and videos got leaked online and she was slammed by netizens for dressing up like an Indian and Hindu bride. Her photos and videos were widely shared and she blamed a fashion blogger for leaking them. After facing the wrath of netizens, she finally announced to take a break from Instagram.
Ushna took to Instagram to share how she ‘worked very hard’ to keep her wedding private. The actress said that she has felt that her privacy was violated as photos and videos were shared online without her permission. She tried to clarify to trolls that she did not marry in a way which offends Pakistani culture. She said that she was ‘signing off’ from Instagram for a few days ‘for the sake of her mental health.’She also apologized for ‘letting down’ people with her wedding outfit.
In a series of Instagram Stories before deactivating her account, she said that she had received ‘hundreds of thousands of messages’ after she married in her ‘own way’. She further wrote, “I apologized to AB (a fashion blogger) only to save him from trolling and I am getting mercilessly bullied for getting married my way.”
She continued to write, “For desperately trying to keep my shaadi (wedding) my own. For being upset that my nikkah (wedding ceremony) got interrupted by a drone and for feeling violated. Hundreds of thousands of messages. This is beyond cruel. Please forgive me for wearing what I wore and for trying to protect what was meant to be only mine. I did not sign up for any of this. I am bowing out of this narrative.”
“I haven’t reacted to online trolling for years, but I am a human being at a very vulnerable time of my life. A new bride in a new home. From hiring photography teams, who signed NDAs to hiring security and (following) strict guest lists, I wanted to protect our union and only share what I was comfortable with. I worked very hard for this time to be private,” she added.
Ushna Shah took the decision of deactivating her Instagram account after she felt that trolls are not going to stop targeting her. She wrote, “I have read many of the comments, they don’t seem to stop. Please believe that I did not get married to offend our culture. That was not the intention, and if that is what people feel I have done then I apologise for letting them down. I am going to sign off from this platform (Instagram) for a few days for the sake of my mental health and to spend this precious time and energy on my wonderful husband and my new family, who are a blessing. I am also questioning if I am cut out for this job. Thank you for the love and prayers.”
Ushna Shah claimed her outfit was traditional Pakistani while netizens allege that her wedding outfit resembles Indian and Hindu attires.
