A local court in Pakistan, on Wednesday, issued arrest warrants against actor and director Saba Qamar, who is best known for her role in the 2017 film Hindi Medium, and singer and musician Bilal Saeed, reported The Indian Express.
The court said that the bailable warrants were issued against Qamar and Saeed for constantly avoiding court hearings of a case registered against the duo for shooting a video in 2020 in one of Lahore’s historical mosques.
In August 2020, Qamar shot a video sequence along with Saeed at the Masjid Wazir Khan in the old city of Lahore for their music video titled Qubool. While Qamar directed as well as acted in the video, Saeed wrote, composed, sang and acted in the video.
After videos offering a glimpse of the shooting in the mosque went viral, the Lahore police registered a case against the duo under section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code, accusing them of ‘desecration’ of Masjid Wazir Khan. According to the FIR, by shooting a dance video, the duo had damaged the sanctity of the mosque.
Following this, Saeed took to Instagram to apologise on behalf of himself, Qamar and the entire team.
“We realize what has happened over the past few days has hurt your sentiments deeply. We as Muslims, as decent human beings and as artists will never, ever trivialize or condone disrespect to Islam or any other religion, race, caste, colour or creed. If we have unknowingly hurt anyone’s sentiments we apologise to you all with all our heart,” he wrote.
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Sharing a video of his apology, Saeed accepted that the duo had shot a nikaah (marriage) sequence in the mosque that created a misunderstanding and ended up hurting the emotions of a lot of people in Pakistan as it gave an impression that the duo had broken the masjid rules by playing music and dancing inside the mosque. However, he further clarified that as a Muslim, he would never do anything like this and said that neither did they play any music inside the mosque nor did they dance. He also claimed that the masjid people were a witness to the same. He added that there have been several photoshoots that have taken place inside the Masjid Wazir Khan in the past.
The mosque sequence is not present in the music video released in August 2020.
The court has adjourned the case to October 6.